Originally published in The News Journal “Swords can win territories but not hearts.” This was stated by the 4th Caliph (or Khalifa) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is a great description of ISIS, which has taken arms to establish an Islamic Caliphate (or Khilafat) in Iraq and Syria. Their actions obviously go contrary to the true teachings of Islam, which prohibits the use of compulsion in...
Originally published in the Huffington Post Some 15 hours into my fast in the blistering Virginia heat my head hurt–but it wasn’t a symptom of Ramadan. Rather, I found myself digesting The Times columnist David Aaronovitch’s latest piece, “Moderate Muslims — it’s time to be outraged.” Aaronovitch argues that, “there is no Islamic peace movement...
Originally published in Time Islam places immense emphasis on privacy in ways that Western governments today have only begun to match with privacy laws. Whether it’s a legal scholar or a 7-year-old child that’s bullied on the playground, it’s hard to argue with this Harvard Law Review definition of privacy from 1890: “The right to be left alone.” Add to this simple concept a detailed U.S...
Originally published in Journal Sentinel Two terms used in the media today in conjunction with each other are ISIS and “Caliphate.” The former is the acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an extremist militant group waging a territorial war in that region; the latter is a divinely guided spiritual leadership from the perspective of Islam. These two things cannot possibly...
Originally published in The Santa Clarita Valley Signal As a Muslim-immigrant to the United States of America, I find special meaning in the Fourth of July, an occasion symbolizing the struggle for freedom. As testimony to our nation’s commitment to freedom, I often reflect upon how Americans have upheld freedoms for Muslims in the aftermath of 9-11 — despite the negative stereotypes. Such...
Originally published in StarTribune The leader of the extremist group ISIL recently declared himself to be a caliph and called on Muslims to pledge their loyalty to him. However, within the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, the system of caliphate was established in the year 1908. The current fifth caliph, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, in his keynote speeches addressing the British House of Commons, the...
Originally published in Foreign Policy On May 13, 2014, police in the province of Punjab announced that they had registered a complaint of blasphemy against sixty-eight lawyers who had been involved in a protest against a police officer. The protest started after a senior officer allegedly detained and beat one of the lawyer’s colleagues. During the protests, the lawyers had called out the...
Originally published in Religion News Service If a Muslim reads a Catholic newspaper in the Malay language and sees the word “Allah,” he might mistake it as a reference to the Quran and become a Christian when he learns those are actually references to the Bible. At least, that’s the reasoning Malaysian Muslim groups used when they pushed Malaysia’s Supreme Court to ban a Catholic newspaper...
Originally published in The Oregonian Q. Let’s start with the book title itself: “Demystifying Islam: Tackling the Tough Questions.” What do you think are the two or three most common misunderstandings among Americans about Islamic faith and culture? Zafar: First, there seems to be a major misconception that Islam is a monolithic entity, bereft of true diversity (of both...
Originally published in Dayton Daily News Dr. Mehdi A. Qamar, a cardiologist living in Pickerington was gunned doqn and martyred recently in front of his wife and two-year-old son while visiting an Ahmadiyya Muslim Cemetery in Rabwah, pakistan, allegedly for no reason than belonging to the minority group, the Ahmadiyya Muslims Community. He had taken a sabbatical to Rabwah Pakistan as a volunteer...