Originally Published in Patheos The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association has been conducting a successful #MeetAMuslim campaign across the country where our youth take to the streets to introduce themselves to the community and spread peace and understanding. Taking note of this campaign, an anti-Islam website called JihadWatch put together a set of questions for their readers to ask: . Several of...
Originally published in The Huffington Post My uncle passed away in Pakistan last week. But because of serious threats for my criticism of religious extremism in my motherland, I was unable to travel back for his funeral. For fellow Americans, I am a Muslim, a physician and a human rights activist. But to the State of Pakistan – and the mainstream Sunni clergy –...
Originally published in Patheos My dear son, Assalaamo Alaikum With all that’s going on, it’s time for a father-son talk. A lot of people are saying Muslims are bad. I want you to know you’ve done nothing wrong and have no reason to be ashamed. You see, sometimes we adults forget what it’s like to be a child. Mark Twain once wrote “Nothing that troubles us can be called little. A child’s loss...
Originally Published in OnFaith Growing up as a Brown Muslim in Central PA in the early 90s, I was so rare that I thought I was white like everyone else. But 9/11 made sure I knew I wasn’t. While I grieved like any other American, many Americans didn’t see me as the once chubby jokester any longer. Our neighbors, a father (a proud Republican and former Marine), mother, and two adorable young...
Originally Published in The Michigan Daily January 31st, 2017 Shortly after the inaugural address, the Obamas and the Trumps descended the steps of the Capitol building in a beautiful display of peaceful transitioning. Chills came over me as I remembered descending those very steps in the summer of 2012 as a part of another display of peace. I walked down the steps of the Capitol building in the...
Originally published in The Baltimore Sun In 1974, the Pakistani government declared Ahmadi Muslims, a minority sect of Islam, as non-Muslims. Ever since, Ahmadi Muslims have been victims of mosque burnings, massacres, targeted killings and other atrocities. Ahmadis in Pakistan are banned from reading the Quran, banned from calling their places of worship “mosques” and banned from...
Originally Published in USA Today President Trump’s travel ban bothers me to my core. But what bothers me more is the false sympathy that’s present because of it. Whether it’s a 40-year-old hijabi woman like my mother or a 15-year-old high school student like myself, any Muslim American can share her experience with veiled Islamophobia since 9/11. This ban lifts the veil. Sadly, we’ve learned to...
Originally Published in The Hill © Getty Images President Trump has vowed to accomplish what the previous two administrations since 9/11 have not been able to: “eradicate” radicalism and terrorism “from the face of the earth.” If he is sincere, he would need to discover what the previous administrations may have overlooked: a strategy addressing the radical ideologies and regimes that suppress...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post Like many other Americans, I am struck with disbelief over the new executive order by President Trump restricting Muslim refugees. I have a personal reason to be outraged. I am a Muslim refugee myself. I was born in Pakistan and raised by devout Muslim parents. In 1974 and 1984, through a constitutional amendment and presidential ordinance...
Originally Published in the Australian Broadcasting Corportation by Tayyib Rashid In 1987, 30 years ago, I emigrated to the United States from Pakistan, the land of my birth. A short time later, I became a naturalized citizen. In January 1997, almost 20 years ago to the day, I left for boot camp. I spent the next twelve weeks fully immersed in the training to become a United States Marine. Known...