Originally published on CNN Saeed Abedini, with his 4-year-old son, was sentenced to eight years in an Iranian prison. When will Iran’s government and clerics stop running from the truth that their religion – which they call Islam – would be unrecognizable to the Prophet Mohammed? On the mere allegation that American pastor Saeed Abedini...
Originally published in The Huffington Post In her recent piece, “7 Things That May Surprise You About Muhammad,” author Lesley Hazleton offers unique insights into Prophet Muhammad’s life. Giving credit where it is due, I’ve enjoyed Hazleton’s TED talk on Prophet Muhammad, and many of her writings on Islam. In fairness, however, several of her “7 Things”...
Originally on the CNN Belief BLOG (Repost Courtesy: CNN) Editor’s Note: Qasim Rashid is a national spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. Follow him on Twitter @MuslimIQ. By Qasim Rashid, Special to CNN (CNN)–My New Year’s resolution is to not die for my faith. I’d hoped that 2012 would bring a revolution among Muslims and Muslim-majority nations to free oppressed minds. Yet I find...
Originally Published in The WashingtonPost.com As a Muslim American, #MyJihad begins every night—get to bed on time so I can wake for pre-dawn prayer and nourish my soul. #MyJihad is not skipping a healthy breakfast—as our Starbucks society is prone to tempt—and thus properly nourish my body. #MyJihad ensures I spend time daily in service to humanity—charity, volunteer work, and mentoring—to...
Originally Posted on The Huffington Post And so as we lay 26 innocent souls to rest, we ask yet again — for the 19th time in the past 60 months alone — is this the America we envisioned? Please spare me the “it isn’t the right time to talk about gun laws” talking point. In fact, the right time was much earlier — like after Oak Creek, Boulder, or after...
Originally Published in The Washington Post As we prepare to lay 26 souls to rest in Newtown, Conn., countless are left behind, alone. As long as good people have existed, bad things have happened to them. And as long as religion has existed, believers and non-believers alike rightfully ask, “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?” Islam’s answer to the question of suffering does not...
Originally Published in The Daily Beast. As the volatility between Israel and Gaza continues to transform, one constant remains: rising “collateral damage.” Unrest in Israel traces back six decades but the concept of collateral damage stretches back several millennia. And while in modern times we are allegedly “more civilized,” 11-month-old Omar Masharawi’s funeral, three dead Israelis, and a...
Originally Published in The Richmond Times-Dispatch The presidential debates are history, leaving us cherishing Big Bird, binders full of women and horses and bayonets. America’s future now rests in the voters’ hands. Yet, about 90 million of us won’t vote this November — a trend that stretches back for decades. Americans have not broken the 60 percent voter turnout barrier for...
Originally Published in The Washington Post As an American Muslim activist, I receive this question all too often: “America is about freedom, free speech, and democracy—why do Muslims hate us?” The question is not at all why they hate us, but why don’t we get it. Many of age Americans remember Sept. 11, 2001—a day we justly cried out for freedom, free speech, and democracy. Fewer, however...
Originally Published in The Washington Post As with many of you, my Twitter feed spiked Wednesday with tweets about an anti-Islam film and ensuing murder of U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens. Moments later and likewise, posts demanding an unequivocal condemnation from American Muslims flooded my Facebook. Though it astounds me that some hold Muslim Americans accountable on behalf of...