Originally published in The Daily Times Sir: Once again, a minority community in Pakistan is under siege. Be it Shia, Christian, Hindu or Ahmedi, the jahils (illiterates) keep doing what they do best: exert violence for no reason. We are fighting a war against terrorism and the Pakistan army is making every attempt to defeat extremism but the mindset of the common people in Pakistan is not...
Originally posted in Mercury News Just five weeks earlier we were laughing and arguing as mother and son often do. But on Oct. 22, 2015 I hugged my mother, Amatul Karim Nusrat Chaudhry, for the last time. On Sept. 14 all appeared well. On Sept. 17 we discovered end stage cancer in her liver, rapidly spreading throughout her abdomen. By Oct. 22, my mother’s vitals began to fade, and I...
Originally posted on The Boston Herald If Daesh (or the Islamic State) is at war, why doesn’t it follow the rules of war set forth by the Prophet Muhammad (“Crowds slaughtered in French terror attacks,” Nov. 14)? Among other things, Muhammad’s guidance for the battlefield included: “Do not commit treachery, or deviate from the right path. …Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man...
Originally published in The Cleveland The attacks perpetrated on Paris were done by Muslims, not followers of Islam. Doesn’t make sense? Of course, the literal definition of a Muslim is a follower of Islam. But anybody can claim to be Muslim, even if they have never read the Koran. If my holy scripture tells me not to kill others, am I following that book? Obviously, not. So when a person...
Originally Published in The Hartford Courant Amid our heightened prayers, solidarity and speaking out against terrorism, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community CT discovered bullet holes piercing our House of Peace Mosque in Meriden last week. We won’t let this cowardly act of terror scare or stop us in any way, and we thank God no one was injured. As humanitarian Muslims for peace who believe in...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post In the wake of the recent Paris attacks, new atheist writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali is screaming out at her loudest again. “Islam needs reform,” she insists. But is she right? We must understand that Muslims are not a monolith. They come in all colors and sects. I, for instance, identify with the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam. The Ahmadiyya Muslim...
Originally Published in Patheos There are millions of Syrian refugees who are longing for a glimmer of hope to breathe freely, to live a respectable life and to be able to give their children a better future than the dismal situation they find themselves in. A single act of insanity like the French attack may jeopardize the chances of millions of legitimate refugees who are searching for a better...
Originally Published in The Canton Repository Everyday, we, as people of this world, hope and pray that the world will eventually get safer. Unfortunately, the recent barbaric Paris terror attack strikes this notion at its heart. My condolences go out to the victims and their grieving families and I pray that they may cope with their suffering. But, what bothers me more than the attack is the...
Originally posted on The Buffalo News I have previously written in this space condemning radical and cowardly attacks. Again, with deep sorrow and frustration, we see that ISIS recently massacred nearly 170 people in attacks on the cities of Beirut and Paris one day apart. And this will not be the last time. Radicalization and its eerie reach are getting worse, and beating back this terribly...
Originally posted on SJR I just turned the TV on after coming home from a weekend spent in New Jersey with Muslim Youth Leaders around the country who came together to discuss how to stop radicalization, how to #StopTheCrISIS — and my heart almost exploded with pain when CBS 60 Minutes played an interview of one of the victims who was shot during the Paris attacks, but lived to talk about it. As...