Originally published in Courier Post As a Muslim-American, I welcome Pope Francis to America. Pope Francis’ attitude towards Islam — from praying in the Blue Mosque of Istanbul facing Mecca to his comment, “Authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Quran are opposed to every form of violence” — is refreshing and encouraging. With rising Islamophobia in America and with GOP presidential...
Originally published in The Pak Tea House In Part 1 of this article published here on Pak Tea House on the 15th of September, 2015, I wrote about how the 1974 Second Amendment to Pakistan’s constitution declaring Ahmadis as non-Muslim reveals a miscarriage of due process in the proceedings. I closed Part 1 by quoting Dr. Mubashir Hassan who said the 1974 event was politically motivated and...
Originally published in The Huffington Post This October, anti-Islam extremists are planning roughly twenty anti-Muslim protests in front of mosques in America. Some of those protests will be armed with loaded and deadly weapons. Those supporting these armed protests claim they do so in the name of “free speech” to maintain justice and the Constitution. I’ve seen this excuse...
Originally published in USA Today Over the past few days, we have seen a barrage of insensitive comments come from Republican Party candidates in regard to Islam. The most recent came from Ben Carson who said: “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.” He fails to realize the irony of his statement. His views seem to be...
Originally published in The Longview News Journal Welcome, Francis Catholics in the United States have awaited the arrival of Pope Francis for his first visit. As a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, I welcome the pontiff. We applaud his efforts to bridge gaps between faiths and ethnicities and this is in line with the true teaching of Islam, which the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community...
Originally published in New Jersey Local News On the horrific day of Jan. 7, twelve innocent lives were taken in Paris (“Police detain 9 in hunt for Paris attack suspects,” Jan. 8, nj.com). This heinous crime has left the vast majority of the Muslim community in shock and we all send our prayers out to the victims’ families. Terrorists were angered by previous publications made by the...
Originally Published in San Jose Mercury News As a Muslim, I condemn the horrific attack that occurred in Paris as inhumane and un-Islamic. I express my heartfelt condolences and prayers to the families of the victims. It is very troubling that there has been a rise of such horrific acts being carried out in the name of God and Islam. There is no room in Islamic teaching for such violence. The...
Originally Published in The Daily News The violence continues and more blood has been shed. ISIS has beheaded two Japanese hostages, Huruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto, and released a video of the Jordanian pilot, Moaz Kasabeh, being burned alive. This self-proclaimed “Islamic State” continues to show the world its cruel and violent ways through these continuous villainous acts. As a member of the...
Originally Published in Daily Times Sir: Keeping pending the murder case of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has been a mockery of justice. Here we have a self-confessed killer Mumtaz Qadri, who has been made a celebrity by religious parties. The government has failed to appoint a prosecutor and claims to have lost the case file, which shows its lack of seriousness...
Originally Published in The Express Tribune The appeal hearing in the Islamabad High Court for Mumtaz Qadri is an abomination. Here we basically have a self-confessed killer, who has been made into a celebrity by religious parties. The government has failed to appoint a prosecutor in the appeal and claims to have lost Qadri’s case file, which shows its lack of seriousness in upholding the rule of...