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AuthorKashif Chaudhry

Kashif Chaudhry is a Physician, Writer and Human Rights activist. He has served as Chairman of the Muslim Writers Guild of America, and has been published in various American newspapers and foreign publications. He also blogs at the Huffington Post. His interests in life include Cardiology, Interfaith Dialogue and Human Rights

Who Speaks for America’s Muslims? And why Americans Must Know

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 –...

I am a Muslim Refugee. And America is my Home.

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...

An Ahmadi Muslim’s Letter To Sunni Muslim Leaders In America

Originally published in The Huffington Post On July 8, 2016, prominent American Muslim cleric Imam Omar Suleiman gave a brilliant speech at the Dallas Police memorial: My faith requires me to speak out against hatred and injustice of all sorts… (O God!) We stand before you, ready to stand up … against any oppression, in any name, for any cause, from any position, and against any of...

Dear Mr. Shehbaz Sharif, does calling Ahmadis ‘wajib-ul-qatl’ not count as hate speech?

Originally published in The Nation Chief Minister,The Government of Punjab. Dear Mr. Shehbaz Sharif, I hope you are doing great. I promise to keep this short and to-the-point. A tweet from the Government of Punjab’s official Twitter handle caught my eye on Sunday. A statement, attributed to you, promised continued crackdown on anyone guilty of inflammatory hate speech. Hate speech and...

Another tragedy: will we learn from Charsadda?

Originally published in The Daily Times Barely over a year ago, the Taliban attacked a school in Peshawar and took 144 innocent lives, mostly children. And now, they have struck again. Once again, the target of their terror was harmless students. As peace activist and Pashtun hero Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s death anniversary was being commemorated at Bacha Khan University earlier this week...

If Donald Trump was a Muslim in Pakistan…

Originally uploaded in Dawn A month ago, an 81-year-old Muslim bookseller in New York was caught with a copy of the Holy Quran. The FBI arrested him promptly, and just two days back, an anti-terrorism court in Washington DC sentenced him to eight years in prison with a hefty fine. Christian leaders across the US are congratulating the government for protecting the soul of Christianity by...

really ‘shirk’ to wish someone a Merry Christmas?

Originally published in the Express Tribune As Christmas is nearing, I am starting to see the occasional anti-Christmas messages on the internet that say that greeting on the occasion of Christmas is haram (forbidden) according to scholarly consensus. Some are claiming that saying “Merry Christmas” is tantamount to committing “shirk” or associating partners with Allah. Of the many clerics that...

I Don’t Want Another Trumpistan

Originally posted in The Daily Caller In his latest — and most provocative — statement, Trump has called for a ban on all Muslim immigration. I was hoping he would backtrack in the recent GOP debate, but he doubled down instead. Other politicians appeasing America’s far right have voiced similar bigotry in the past, but the fact that a presidential candidate is bagging more influence with his...

Is Pakistan Just a Huge Trumpistan?

Originally published in The Huffington Post I am a Pakistani immigrant to the United States. With the recent rise of Islamophobia here in America, we Pakistanis have suddenly become experts on minority rights. My social media timelines are filled with my friends urging the West to accommodate Syrian refugees escaping persecution, and be more accepting of pluralism. I also see them condemning the...

Why Musaylimah was killed

Originally published in The Daily Times   Extremist clerics and their ignorant followers — and Islamophobes alike — allege that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the early caliphs of Islam killed people for mere difference in belief. Such clerics have long taught masses in Pakistan that Islam ordered Muslims to take up the sword against anyone who claimed to be a prophet or decided to follow one...