Originally published in Austin American-Statesman With social distancing and work from home, it’s all too easy to get buried in the news coverage surrounding the coronavirus crisis. At the same time, there is a lot of need in our communities. Our food banks are under strain due to increased demand. Our blood banks are in need of life-saving donations. Our elderly and high-risk individuals would...
A tremor of worry has fallen upon Christian America. With 90% of Americans under stay-at-home orders and only one-fifth of religious Americans still attending worship services, many Christians are left wondering, “How will I celebrate Easter this year?” Even President Trump sought to dull the effects of this tremor, considering last weekend to allow churches to open for Easter...
One hundred years ago this week, the Philadelphia Inquirer recorded the arrival in its city of a South Asian man in a green and gold turban. Others noted his “Gospel likeness” and “flowing” beard, as one who “spoke like a Biblical prophet.” Upon seeing him, one young girl would later remark, “Look, Mother, Jesus Christ has come!” Immigration officers denied him entry because they feared...
On Feb. 15, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community will celebrate its centennial in the United States. Ahmadiyya is a revivalist movement in Islam founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in India in 1889. Ahmadi Muslims believe that Ahmad was the symbolic second coming of Jesus in a sense similar to how the New Testament states Jesus of Nazareth spoke of John the Baptist as the second coming of the Old Testament...
Originally published in East Bay Times Even though we are in the 21st century, racism and injustice still exist in the United States and other parts of the world. As an Ahmadi Muslim, I encourage our brothers and sisters in humanity to reflect on this day and ponder upon it on Martin Luther King Day. Over 13 centuries ago, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) offered the same message that Dr...
Originally published in The Columbus Dispatch As an Ahmadi Muslim, I am certainly concerned with the escalation of violence and the absence of peaceful discussions regarding the current conflict with Iran. The Holy Quran states, ”… Let not a people’s enmity incite you to act otherwise than with justice. Be always just, that is nearer to righteousness” (5:9). Additionally, in the case of a...
As a Muslim American, I wish my neighbors and the rest of America a very warm and happy holiday season. It’s a popular belief that Muslims are anti-Christian and that Christians are anti-Muslim. This notion is as bizarre as it is false. I admit, there are extremist elements on both sides of the aisle, but they don’t speak for the majority that pivots on pluralism. Perhaps there is a connection...
As I drove to the local Ahmadiyya Muslim Community mosque in Oshkosh, Wis. the morning of Dec. 3, I was supposed to be conducting cultural sensitivity training at the mosque with police officers from across Wisconsin. Instead I watched as group after group of students, eventually numbering over a hundred, were ushered into the mosque to seek shelter and safety after a stabbing and...
The Thanksgiving holiday truly has a universal and never-ending appeal. The tradition is believed to have started by the early 17th century Pilgrims, who reaped successful harvests and thus were able to make their abode in the land that came to be known as the United States of America. The Pilgrims were also known to have migrated to America to escape religious persecution in their former...
Originally published in The Buffalo News I must admit that, until recently, I was unaware of the American celebration known as Juneteenth. I suspect the same holds true for other Americans. But given its history and meaning, it didn’t take long to get excited about this somewhat obscure celebration. Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, celebrates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in...