Tagpeace

Thankful

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      Originally Published in the Tulsa World This might surprise some but Thanksgiving always has been a very special day to me, not only as an American but also as a Muslim. While many religions rightfully emphasize that one should be thankful to God for the many bounties that we are given, Islam goes one step further. The Prophet Muhammad has said, “He who is not thankful...

How Prophet Muhammad’s Humility Could Shape the US-Iranian Peace Deal

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Originally Published in The Huffington Post As the freezing winds pierced through Washington DC this past weekend, Tehran warmed up to a nuclear peace deal. Since you may have gotten an earful about the three decades of US-Iranian diplomatic quagmire, the two decades of Israeli-Iranian mien of ancient warriors, and a decade old label of “Axis of evil,” I won’t dwell over it...

Boston bombings and a Muslim identity crisis

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Originally Published in The Christian Science Monitor We have seen the pictures of the Tsarnaev brothers. We know their names, and we are learning facts about their lives – one a boxer, and the other a student. But we still don’t really know their identity. And neither did the brothers, as they allegedly planted those bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathonlast week. Or at least, that’s...

How Prophet Muhammad’s Humility Could Shape the US-Iranian Peace Deal

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Originally published in The Huffington Post As the freezing winds pierced through Washington DC this past weekend, Tehran warmed up to a nuclear peace deal. Since you may have gotten an earful about the three decades of US-Iranian diplomatic quagmire, the two decades of Israeli-Iranian mien of ancient warriors, and a decade old label of “Axis of evil,” I won’t dwell over it...

Islam Advocates Peace

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Originally Published on The Miami Herald Prior to 1954, many schools were segregated because of fear and a lack of understanding. Nearly 60 years after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision we find ourselves in a similar situation with the parents in the Volusia County School District who are pushing to remove chapters on Islam from a history book because, as they see it, Islam...

Islam advocates peace

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Originally published in The Miami Herald Prior to 1954, many schools were segregated because of fear and a lack of understanding. Nearly 60 years after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision we find ourselves in a similar situation with the parents in the Volusia County School District who are pushing to remove chapters on Islam from a history book because, as they see it, Islam...

The ‘Peace’ Monstrosity

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        Originally published in the Pak Tea House With the death of anti-Pakistan outlaw Hakimullah Mehsud, our right-wing anchors and politicians have begun howling foul and have termed his killing as ‘murder of peace’. As head of TTP, Mehsud had taken responsibility for (i) the attacks on Mehran naval base, (ii) the killing of Pakistan army officers and soldiers, and (iii)...

The Peace Monstrosity

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Originally published in Pak Tea House With the death of anti-Pakistan outlaw Hakimullah Mehsud, our right-wing anchors and politicians have begun howling foul and have termed his killing as ‘murder of peace’. As head of TTP, Mehsud had taken responsibility for (i) the attacks on Mehran naval base, (ii) the killing of Pakistan army officers and soldiers, and (iii) numerous suicide attacks against...

Religion of peace

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Originally published in The Star-Telegram &  Dallas Morning News   According to former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Islam promotes “murderous mayhem” and rioting on its holiest days. As an American Muslim, I am not shocked that he did not cite a verse from the Quran. I mean, after all, it is tough to cite such an accusation from a religion which literally is defined as “religion of peace.” If Gov...

Night of Destiny

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Originally published in Oshkosh Northwestern A Muslim will never find a major difference between the words “Night of Power” and “Night of Destiny” because both describe a night of spiritual empowerment. The way to attain it is through an arduous effort of prayer and meditation during the last ten days of Ramadan. Recently, CNN changed this whole context by the story on the recent worldwide terror...