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‘Sharia’ Doesn’t Mean What You Probably Think It Does, America

Originally published in the Good Men Project Sharia, like many Arabic words in a post-9/11 world, is a touchy subject. Enraged thoughts are common from the mere utterance of these words.  This leads to unsubstantiated opinions mixing in with facts. This is evident in Dom’s piece “If Liberals knew these 5 Sharia laws, they’d be ‘Islamophobic’ too”. A writer can, with a few strokes of her pen...

What the NSA Can Learn From Prophet Muhammad

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Originally published in Time Islam places immense emphasis on privacy in ways that Western governments today have only begun to match with privacy laws. Whether it’s a legal scholar or a 7-year-old child that’s bullied on the playground, it’s hard to argue with this Harvard Law Review definition of privacy from 1890: “The right to be left alone.” Add to this simple concept a detailed U.S...

What America, Fourth of July means

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Originally published in USA Today I was looking at my Instagram feed and saw a picture of an American Airlines plane. There was a disturbing comment that insulted America. His comment was made possible by an app that is an American invention, but he wanted to insult America? This comment made me realize how blessed I am to be in the United States. As an Ahmadi Muslim American, I want to thank...

What America, Fourth of July means

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Originally published in USA Today July Fourth is a great event to celebrate. On that day, America gained independence from Great Britain. As Americans, we ought to be grateful to God, who gave us this wonderful country. I am proud of being an American because this is a great nation. We have freedom of speech, and everyone is equal regardless of cast, creed, religion or nationality. Moreover, a...

What Americans should know about Ramadan

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Originally published in Fox News This year, Ramadan starts on June 29. Over 1.5 billion Muslims, despite their sectarian differences, will be united to reinvigorate their faith. In a country where nearly one in four Americans don’t want to have a Muslim neighbor and some employers are not eager to recruit them, this poses a problem. Because in July 2014, folks may notice a change in the...

Celebrate what connects our cousin faiths

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Originally Published in the Times of Trenton Islam and Christianity seem to be completely different. During Christmastime, as a Muslim-American, I think these differences seem to stand out. Islam states that Jesus is not the son of god, while Christianity would clearly disagree. Islam does not recognize Christmas to be the birth of Jesus Christ, while Christianity would clearly disagree. Islam...

Fasting for What? Ramadan. It’s Not Just Another Trendy Diet

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Originally published in Santa Barbara Independent   The atmosphere feels a bit different at 3:50 a.m. Hot summer days are suddenly cooled by the solitude this time of the night creates. Not only are many people at this hour awakening from a drunken stupor, but during the month of Ramadan, 1.3 billion Muslims in the world are awakening to pray and eat before their fast. Muslims throughout the...