Originally published in Patheos Recently The Atlantic published a piece titled, “What ISIS Really Wants.” The lengthy piece makes numerous fallacious claims about ISIS and its relation to Islam and Islamic doctrine. Accordingly, and significantly, it misses the strategy necessary to counter and overcome ISIS terrorism. Perhaps most frustrating about the article is it offers no new insights...
Originally published in Huffington Post “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship. That has nothing to do with business of state.” Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, spoke these words on the eve of the end of British rule over India. Despite these words, his country has fell to painful depths at the...
Originally posted in Portland Tribune Nearly 200 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association recently traveled to London in a historic trip to meet with the Khalifa of Islam. Unlike many news stories today depicting radicalized youth traveling abroad, the story of these young men was far different. They met with the head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mizra Masroor Ahmad. Ahmad has been...
Originally posted in Rochester Media Why are our Christian brothers and sisters being murdered so brutally? It sickens me that ISIS executed 30 Ethiopian Christians the other day. And while grieving for my fellow human beings, I am both angered and puzzled. The terrorist organization known as ISIS are sociopaths. I have accepted the logic behind that. What I cannot accept is their inhumane...
Originally posted in The Oregonian Power, not religion: As an American Muslim, I read about the atrocities committed by ISIS and my heart is filled with grief and anguish. To think that someone could commit such heinous crimes against humanity is beyond comprehension to me. As an Ahmadi Muslim, I have been taught that Islam condemns the taking of an innocent life. In fact, the Quran teaches that...
Originally posted in Duluth News Tribune On April 2, a Somali-based terrorist group called Al-Shabab attacked a Kenyan school, killing nearly 150 students, mostly Christians. Al-Shabab’s spokesperson told BBC it attacked the school because “it’s on Muslim land colonized by non-Muslims.” The baseless rationale behind Al-Shabab’s despicable act reminded me of an old Christian lady I met a few years...
Originally posted in Advisor and Source Newspaper And so the carnage continues. A Bengali blogger, Oyasiqur Rhaman, was hacked to death on Monday morning by three assailants after posting satirical comments against extremist Muslims. These so called “Muslims” should be punished by the full extent of the law, and those that have been promoting and influencing people to commit such...
Originally posted in Philadelphia Enquirer Recently, I traveled with 200 of my Muslim brothers in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association from across the country to London to visit the head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mizra Masoor Ahmad. He advised us to return with a message to encourage people to establish a relationship with their God. He also advised us to proactively share the true...
Originally posted on The Tribune Five years ago, I lost close friends in one of the most gruesome terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil. In twin attacks on two major Ahmadi places of worship in Lahore, 88 worshippers were martyred by the Taliban. It was a painfully bloody day. This weekend, I woke up to sad news from Pakistan that made me relive some of that pain. Fourteen worshipers were martyred...
Originally posted on The Tribune NEW JERSEY: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack on two churches in Lahore. In 2013, a similar church attack in Peshawar claimed more than 80 innocent lives. These extremists defy the teachings of the Holy Quran which instructs Muslims to protect all places of worship, explicitly mentioning churches. The perpetrators of...