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AuthorAmjad Mahmood Khan

An attorney by profession, Khan is National Director of Public Affairs for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA.

Born of a Muslim who overcame an immigration ban, a community celebrates its centennial

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...

ISIS is not and will never be true Islam

Originally posted on The Bronx Chronicle  UCLA law professor, Mr. Amjad Mahmood Khan decries the popular perception in today’s 24 hours news cycle and social media that associate Islam with acts of terrorism. These acts, he noted, were disproportionately emphasized and singled out a recent New York Times report that suggested that after 2001, non-Muslim extremists than by radical Muslims killed...

Pakistan’s Dark Days

Originally published in Foreign Affairs Last week’s massacre of 132 schoolchildren in Peshawar by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was horrific. It sparked a wave of sympathy—world leaders expressed their solidarity with the country—and also criticism—for years, Pakistan has given safe haven to terrorist groups. TTP’s ghastly attack in Peshawar was hardly surprising. In the spring of 2010...

Pakistan’s high stakes review

Originally Published in The Daily Times, Pakistan. On October 30, Pakistan took the proverbial human rights ‘hot seat’ in Geneva at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s second ever Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This unique process mandates that all 193 UN Member States submit to an examination of their human rights record once every four years. In the span of four hours, all UN Member...

Misuse And Abuse Of Legal Argument By Analogy In Transjudicial Communication: The Case Of Zaheeruddin V. State

ABSTRACT: This article explores the risks and limits of transjudicial communication. In particular, I critique the scholarly contention that transjudicial communication can be built upon commonly accepted methods of legal reasoning. I argue that transnational courts do not uniformly understand or apply commonly accepted methods of legal reasoning, especially legal argument by analogy. As a...

Demystifying “Shariah”

By Nasim Rehmatullah and Amjad Mahmood Khan Shariah is a misunderstood and misused concept. Critics of Islam frequently employ terms like “creeping shariah” to stoke fear amongst the masses. The Park 51 controversy and the increasing  media focus on Islam provide an opportunity to educate Americans about the true teachings and practices of Islam concerning shariah. Shariah literally...

Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan: An Analysis Under International Law and International Relations

I. INTRODUCTION Before September 11, 2001, the United States characterized the Pakistani government as an unstable regime with a tarnished history of corrupt dictators, military coups, and territorial violence along its borders. *1 Following the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, Pakistan became a leading partner in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, thrust into a position to...