Originally Published in Al-Bayan: The Muslim Student Publication At The University Of California, Berkeley What if I told you the American Bar Association banned Pepsi from court vendors because it is produced by Christians. You’d probably be dismayed by the irony of injustice perpetrated by an institution of justice, right? Well so was I, friends, when I heard the Lahore Bar Association in...
Originally Published in Al-Bayan Some may disagree with this article’s title. As non-Muslims face religious persecution in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iran, some rightly ask whether Islam can cultivate interfaith inclusion. Just recently, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti called for the destruction of all churches in the Arabian Peninsula. If this heinous act is carried out, it would...
Originally Published in The Record Regarding “Atheist billboard draws shrugs from Muslims” (Page A-1, March 8): As the billboard in Paterson says, I have a choice about my religion — and I am an American-Muslim. An atheist group is putting up billboards in Paterson, portraying Islam as not only a religion of myth but also one of compulsion. I have lived in America all my life, and I...
I thought the question was so absurd to begin with, that it would go away on its own. I was wrong. Four years later, that absurd question, “Do you think Barack Obama is a Muslim?” keeps nagging the American psyche in national and regional polls – despite ample data to the contrary. In 2009, a Pew Research Center poll showed that one in ten Americans believed President Obama was a Muslim;...
Originally Published in The Chicago Sun Times The Saudi Arabian grand mufti’s desire to eradicate all churches in the Arabian Peninsula indicates religious coercion — an act the Holy Quran wholly rejects [“Saudi grand mufti calls for ‘destruction of all churches in region’ ”]. The Quran promotes universal religious freedom, even commanding to protect the “churches and synagogues and mosques...
Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani is currently on death row in Iran for the “crime” of converting to Christianity from Islam. The charges of his initial arrest in 2009 were for protesting, which were later changed to apostasy and evangelism. In Sept. 2010, an Iranian court verbally delivered a death sentence, which was then delivered in writing a month later by the 1st Court of the...
Originally Published in The Concord Journal The recent school shootings in Chardon, Ohio, may prove instructive for the NYPD its controversial surveillance of mosques. The Ohio teenage shooter was described as a loaner, an outcast and a victim of bullying —qualities studies have shown are typical of such people. Such incidents are often avoided simply by reporting what was about to happen. But...
Originally Published in The Columbus Dispatch On Friday, Governor Christie called the NYPD surveillance of Muslims an “abandonment of the core lesson of 9/11”. I agree. I believe that the NYPD would be better off focusing on making allies within the Muslim community, which is far less costly and far more cost effective, than spending millions in controversial surveillance programs...
Originally Published in The Chicago Sun Times The incident of five American soldiers burning the holy Quran in Afghanistan was deplorable, but still does not justify killing of U.S. soldiers. [“Official: Mistakes led to Afghan Quran burnings, “Saturday]). As a Muslim-American who emigrated from that region, I understand why the Afghans are angry and frustrated with our government. But they must...
Originally Published in The Columbus Dispatch I am a Muslim-American, and the Chardon High School shooting spree last week makes me wonder whether law-enforcement agencies are focusing on the right problem. Authorities such as the New York Police Department have spent millions of dollars on controversial security surveillance programs focused on Muslims, when the underpinnings of youth violence...