Standing With Our Sikh Brothers This Ramadan

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Originally Posted on The Huffington Post


I was fasting but had to fight the incessant urge to vomit, as my Twitter feed spiked with tweets about a shooting at a Sikh Gurdwara. Hoping against hope it was a mistake, my heart began to race and my teeth clenched as several news reports confirmed the incident. Another terrorist attack against innocent souls, this time just south of Milwaukee, but an hour from where I grew up.

The Qur’an imposes upon Muslims a fundamental duty to protect all houses of worship. Allah proclaims, “Those who have been driven out from their homes unjustly only because they said, ‘Our Lord is God’ — And if Allah did not repel some men by means of others, there would surely have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of God is oft commemorated. And Allah will surely help one who helps Him. Allah is indeed Powerful, Mighty –” (Quran 22:41).

Six innocent Sikhs and a terrorist lost their lives today. Many more are injured. Today, at this dark hour, I say to my Sikh brothers — We Are With You! Through every hardship and trial, we stand united with you against all forms of religious persecution, discrimination, and violence. We honor and revere His Eminence Guru Nanak who taught that, “There is but One God, His name is Truth, He is the Creator, He fears none, He is without hate, He never dies…”

— Qasim Rashid (@MuslimIQ)

 

 

About the author

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Qasim Rashid

Qasim Rashid is a best-selling and critically acclaimed author, practicing attorney, visiting fellow at Harvard University's Prince AlWaleed bin Talal School of Islamic Studies, and national spokesperson for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA.

Qasim’s new book #TalkToMe: Changing the Narrative on Race, Religion, & Education is due out in December 2015. #TalkToMe is a non-fiction memoir on how the power of dialogue can overcome racism, xenophobia, intolerance, and violence.

Previously, Qasim published EXTREMIST: A Response to Geert Wilders & Terrorists Everywhere (2014), which became an Amazon #1 Best Seller on Islam.

Qasim’s first solo-authored work is the critically acclaimed book, The Wrong Kind of Muslim: An Untold Story of Persecution & Perseverance (2013).

Qasim regularly publishes on TIME, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Daily Caller, and CNN. His work has additionally appeared in USA Today, The Daily Beast, National Public Radio, Virginia Pilot, among various other national and international outlets. He also regularly speaks at a variety of universities and houses of worship, and interviews in a variety of media including the New York Times, FOX News, Pittsburg Post-Gazette, Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International, Huff Post Live, Al Jazeera, NBC, CBS, Voice of America, among several other national and international outlets.

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Mike Ghouse

SIKH TEMPLE MASSACRE IN MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

We pray for the innocent people who died in the senseless shooting at the temple, and condemn the acts of terror. It is a shame, as an American, as well as an Indian and a Muslim, I stand by the sikhs and hope we find the individuals and their affiliates responsible for this crime.

It is our duty to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting the peace in a society and it is our duty to track down the source of such hate and work on mitigating it. We have an obligation to maintain a balance in the society.

CNN – http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/05/breaking-reports-of-shooting-at-sikh-temple/

Mike Ghouse represents America Together Foundation, The Foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim Congress, all committed to nurturing pluralistic values.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on the topics of Pluralism, Coexistence, politics, interfaith, Islam and cohesive societies. He is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and the public.

Published at:
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/08/sikh-massacre-in-milwaukee-gurudwara.html http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/mike-ghouse/44751/sikh-temple-massacre-in-milwaukee-wisconsinhttp://MikeGhouseforIndia.Blogspot.com

arif najmi

I feel saddened, and writing from Pakistan to share the grief over wisconsin shooting.

FM1986DK

As a Muslim and as a human being I give my deepest condolences to the people affected in this incident and the Sikh community.

Avatar photo By Qasim Rashid