Originally Published in The Richmond Times-Dispatch The presidential debates are history, leaving us cherishing Big Bird, binders full of women and horses and bayonets. America’s future now rests in the voters’ hands. Yet, about 90 million of us won’t vote this November — a trend that stretches back for decades. Americans have not broken the 60 percent voter turnout barrier for...
Originally Published in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This 12 year old Muslim-American wants to know why an offensive movie was made against his holy founder the Prophet Muhammad. The film portrayed him as a warmonger, whereas he lived and taught peace and harmony. I belong to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, and we were very hurt by the news of the film. Instead of violent protest, however, we...
Originally Posted on PakTeaHouse More than 40,000 civilians and 5,000 soldiers dead at the hands of religious fanatics leaves every Pakistani guessing – where did we go wrong? Can we point out any single day in our 65 year history which symbolizes our collective decision to surrender to the Mullah? Thirty eight years ago, on 7th of September 1974, the Parliament of Pakistan brazenly...
Originally Published in The Express-Times, Lehigh Valley Edition and The Morning Call Eleven years have passed, yet memories of the horrific event remain fresh. On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 American civilians were killed. The mastermind professed Islam as his religion, even though we read in the Holy Quran, “whosoever killed a person … it shall be as if he had killed all mankind.”...
Originally Published in The Express Tribune Consider this before buying your next Umra package: Jabbarsahib can grab your shoulder, beam you to the Kaaba from anywhere in the world, where you can offer prayers and return back home in no time. The idea is laughable on many accounts. It rejects physical laws, discards scientific evidence, and makes a mockery of Islamic practices too. Add to the...
Originally Published in The Express-Times, Lehigh Valley Edition This weekend I attended an annual youth convention in Milwaukee with the theme, “For the sake of my country, faith and nation.” Participants took part in workshops and various educational and sports competitions. It was an atmosphere of real brotherhood, positively impacting the lives of our youth. The event was not organized by the...
Originally Published in IndiaWest: Your Global Indian Community. Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth Khalifatul Masih (the successor of the Messiah) for the world’s tens of millions of Ahmadi Muslims, will deliver keynote addresses over three days to an expected crowd of 10,000 Ahmadi Muslims during the Community’s 64th annual U.S. convention in Harrisburg, Penn. The three-day event will be...
Out of the silent night, two men moved swiftly through the mosque’s front gate. Magazines loaded and safeties off, one stopped at the front door, the other proceeded through. All that separated a fully loaded Kalashnikov in the hands of a madman from 50 innocent worshippers was a straw curtain that hung helplessly in the doorway. “In the end, they killed eight of my brothers, and shot...
Though I was born in Pakistan, I was still a baby when my dad had to move to The Gambia in West Africa. The Gambia is a small peaceful country. Here, I remember my mother teaching me the Urdu Qaida and telling me interesting stories about Pakistan. I could see she missed Pakistan a great deal. She would sometimes break down in tears, relating stories of the persecution she had witnessed growing...
During his 1960 Presidential campaign, then Senator John F. Kennedy said that if a conflict arose between his Presidency and his loyalty to the Pope, he would give up his Presidency. A few weeks ago, Reverend Gregory, while referencing my monthly column, essentially questioned whether being a Muslim and American was possible. His reasons, however, left me scratching my head. The Reverend...