Originally Published in Time I’m an immigrant, an American Muslim and I have family overseas. A Muslim ban would materially impact me — but I can’t help but thank President Trump. I thank him, but not because I think the ban is a necessary — it’s not. Our immigration and refugee process is already one of the most thorough on Earth. Since 9/11, refugees have committed a statistically insignificant...
Originally Published in The Baltimore Sun On Friday, our nation stood united to inaugurate Donald Trump (“Donald Trump sworn in as 45th president of the United States of America,” Jan. 20). As an American and Ahmadi Muslim, I value the democratic transition of power and appreciate the fact that we live in a country that gives us our inalienable rights of religious freedom and...
Originally published in The Ambler Gazette Regarding vandalism of religious building To the Editor: As a Muslim I condemn the senseless vandalism at a Jewish religious building in Northeast Philadelphia. My faith tells me that it is my duty to respect all religions and to protect all places of worship. In the Quran it clearly states “…And if Allah had not repelled some people by means of others...
Originally Published in OnFaith “There is no compulsion in religion” (Qur’an 2:257) Throughout the dark ages and the periods before this, Europe was very intolerant toward religious differences. The Puritans faced persecution in England and consequently migrated to the Americas to seek out religious freedom. However, this did not immediately lead to religious freedom across North America. In...
Originally Published in The Philadelphia Inquirer Today marks the 31st Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As a Muslim American, I encourage my fellow citizens to reflect on the importance of this day. King famously stated, “I look to the day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” This profound notion has always been a...
Originally Published in Patheos In 2016, we witnessed an unprecedented level of violence against citizens. Men and women who have sworn to defend the community during day and night as well as adverse weather conditions tragically lost their lives in the line of duty. At unprecedented rates, civilians with no training or possession of firearms lost their lives at the hands of some law enforcement...
Originally published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer Some reports from Trump and his surrogates point to a database that will include Muslims, even those who are U.S. citizens. If Trump decides to create such a database, he risks not only alienating Muslims in general but also innocent Americans who have no connection to extremism and are actually fighting the extremists elements. Developing this...
As a devout Muslim who doesn’t believe Islam needs to be reformed, but instead Muslims themselves, some of Omer Aziz’s words in What ISIS Really Is are agreeable – that ISIS is not Islam, that Islam is not a monolith, and that many factors come to play when discussing extremist organizations. However, with his cliffhanger questioning regarding the nature of Islam and his subtle jabs...
Originally Published in Beliefnet For many Americans last week looking to spend some holiday time with family and friends at the mall, what they thought was going to be cheerful moments taking pictures with Santa and flying new toy drones in their local Brookstone store turned into a nightmare with panic and terror. All across the country, we were witness to waves of disorder and chaos at our...
Originally Published in Patheos by Musawar Syed To whom it may concern, “The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of Bad people, but because of the silence of good people.” – Napoleon Bonaparte In the Quran, Allah the Most Gracious and Merciful says: 1. “For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.” (109:6). 2. “Whoever kills a person [unjustly]…it is as though he has killed...