Originally published in the Loudoun Times I am writing this piece in light of the recent shooting in San Bernardino. As an American Muslim, I am providing my perspective on ISIS and the kind of leadership Muslims need in these troubled times. Muslim leaders need to advocate the true Islamic teachings of peace and tolerance. The horrific incident at San Bernardino last week sent a shock wave...
Originally posted in The News & Observer The shocking massacre at San Bernardino that killed 14 innocent souls and wounded 21 people unfortunately adds to the tally of the mass shooting epidemic in the country and must be condemned under no uncertain terms. This time around, the perpetrators were Muslims with links to an ISIS terror group and thus have inflamed the already volatile...
Originally posted in The New York Times As a Muslim-American, I completely agree with President Obama’s comments that Muslim leaders must speak out against not just acts of violence, but also those interpretations of Islam that are incompatible with the values of religious tolerance. Muslim leaders have a major role to play in the war against terrorism. Perverse interpretations of Islam are the...
Originally posted on NewsWeek The great Indian scholar and immigrant Muslim missionary, Dr. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, was immediately detained upon arriving in Philadelphia in 1920. In a racially charged nation, at a time when the KKK was 4 million strong, Sadiq—an Indian missionary for the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community—had little chance of equal treatment. The immigration police feared he...
Originally published on Time.com I’m a Muslim American. On Nov. 15, two days after the Paris attacks, I boarded a plane from Newark to Houston. I had just returned from a formal event, so I was wearing a plain white “shalwar,” a shirt that stops at the knees and is commonly worn by South Asians. As is my routine, I purchased in-flight WiFi to catch up on emails. But the WiFi was out on the plane...
Originally published in Patheos Dr. Stephen M. Kirby is a noted bigot whose mission is only to spread hatred of Muslims. He makes no bones about his hatred for Islam or Muslims. His stated goal is to prove that the violence committed by the likes of ISIS is inspired by the “true” Islam. The problem for him, and others like him, is that when groups like the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC)...
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...
Originally posted at True Jersey The Paris terrorist attacks have fueled rising Islamophobia in America. Presidential candidates have called for a national database of Muslims and surveillance of mosques. The House of Representatives has passed the bill to temporarily halt the Syrian and Iraqi refugee program. As a member of Ahmadiyya Muslim community, I advocate for proper and useful security...
Originally published on Patheos.com Why didn’t we hear the term “Muslim terrorist” or “Jihadist” before the 1980s? Islam has been around for more than 1400 years but “Islamic” terrorist organizations were not to be found prior to 1980. The first Islamist terrorist attack was the bombing of the Tyre Headquarters in 1982. Was Islam different prior to the 1980s or was there some sort of fundamental...
Originally published on GoErie.com By targeting a soccer game, restaurant and concert hall, Islamic State terrorists tried to upset the normalcy of ordinary Parisians. Places like those targeted are the sort of spots where the ordinary young folks of Paris gather on the weekends to unwind after a week of work. Now the responsible powers of the civilized world should give the terrorists an...