Originally Published in The Chicago Sun Times and The Daily Herald. Life is difficult being an American Muslim, but having to deal with the fear of losing my life is even worse — and Abel Daoud allegedly almost made this fear become reality when his attempt to plot a bomb across from my office failed miserably. As a Muslim, it is not that I deny jihad; in fact, I embrace it because I...
Originally Published in The San Francisco Chronicle As a member of the international Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, I wish to appeal to all Muslims to exercise restraint and patience, for Quran says God is with the patient. Secondly, Quran says not to create disorder on earth whether it is simple misdemeanor or of felonious nature causing property damage or risking human life. Being patient is not...
Originally Published in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel I have a favorite line from a poem, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Our nation needs to work together to fight intolerance regardless of how difficult it is because it will make the difference to...
Originally Published in The Star Ledger What was the aim of the movie “Innocence of Muslims” if not to hurt the feelings of more than 1 billion Muslims across the globe? The moviemaker not only succeeded in achieving this objective, he was indirectly responsible for the loss of innocent lives, including that of the U.S. ambassador to Libya. That said, responding with violence...
Originally Published in The Oshkosh Northwestern Last week a despicable movie was released on youtube as a cheap publicity stunt. Following that we saw an array of wonderful trailers of the movie from around the world. We saw trailers of the movie in Egypt, Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, India, Australia, and Libya. In Libya the promoters of the movie really outdid themselves where they killed the...
Originally Published in The Santa Clarita Valley Signal Eleven years after the most horrific terrorist event of our generation shook us to our core, the long shadow of 9/11 still casts a terrible pall on the world. Recent events have shown how fringe elements, such as a film producer looking to libel a religion, can rile up misguided and extremist mobs in Egypt, Libya and elsewhere. The work of...
Originally Published in The Dallas Morning News The murder of U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens is an abhorrent and inexcusable crime. Murder has no place in Islam. Nowhere in the Quran is anyone permitted to harm, riot or kill anyone for speaking against Islam or Prophet Muhammad. The very actions the rioters took violate the example set by Prophet Muhammad. When a mob was about to...
Originally Published in The Washington Post As with many of you, my Twitter feed spiked Wednesday with tweets about an anti-Islam film and ensuing murder of U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens. Moments later and likewise, posts demanding an unequivocal condemnation from American Muslims flooded my Facebook. Though it astounds me that some hold Muslim Americans accountable on behalf of...
Originally Published in The Perry Hall Patch Sinaan A. Younus, a sixth grade student at Perry Hall Middle School, submitted the following as a letter to the editor. 9/11 Memorial—a monument or a tourist attraction? As an 11-year-old, I was both touched and shocked to visit the 9/11 Memorial earlier this year. I was touched to see how we, as a country, have honored the people who lost their lives...
Originally Published in The Washington Post “You don’t have to do this! You shouldn’t have to. It’s a disgrace.” At the height of the 2010 Park 51 “Ground Zero Mosque” controversies, I, along with thousands of Muslim American youth nationwide, was engrossed in a massive “Muslims for Peace” flyer distribution. Days before the ninth anniversary of Sept. 11, I met my match at a Wisconsin State Fair...