Originally posted on The Detroit News The recent spate of violence conducted by the Islamic State in France, Lebanon and Sinai is a cause of deep concern for all. The extremists have committed outrageous acts that bring disrepute to Muslims over the world. There is a false perception that some media outlets have promoted that all Muslims are passively sitting and do not condemn atrocities by...
The Dangerous Side of the Free Speech Debate
Originally published in the Huffington Post With last week’s release of Charlie Hebdo’s newest edition, marking the one-year anniversary of the infamous terrorist attack on its offices that killed 12 people, once again the debate about free speech has been ignited. In its recent publication, the editors at the magazine decided to take aim at all religion and blame God for terrorism...
A Call for African-American Empathy towards Muslims
Originally published in Patheos Americans have become more worried about terrorism in the face of recent terrorist attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, and, more recently, Istanbul. In recent conversations with relatives and friends in my African-American community, this fear is palpable and real. Hijab wearing African-American Muslim sisters recount how routine visits to a local grocery store has...
Muhammad and the Christians
Originally Published in The Beliefnet We recently held an interfaith event at our mosque in Seattle, during which, an audience member asked, “Muhammad killed anyone who did not convert to Islam, why did he teach his followers to kill Christians?” With the atrocities committed against Christians by terrorists such as Daesh (also known as ISIS) and other terror groups claiming to commit their...
A Country Where Selling Books Is an Act of Terrorism
Originally Published in The Huffington Post Imagine a local bookseller in the United States being arrested by the federal government in his own bookstore and being charged with a federal crime. His crime: the sale of books deemed hurtful or hateful to another religious group’s beliefs. His punishment: eight years in prison. Any American would find this unbelievable and absurd for something...
CT Muslims thank Courtney for invitation to State of Union address
Originally Published in CT Viewpoints The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Connecticut wholeheartedly thanks God and the honorable U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, 2nd District, for graciously inviting Dr. Mohammed Qureshi, our statewide president, as his guest at State of the Union 2016. We are honored to join the Congressman representing patriotic Muslims for peace who believe in the Messiah Ahmad at...
If Donald Trump was a Muslim in Pakistan…
Originally uploaded in Dawn A month ago, an 81-year-old Muslim bookseller in New York was caught with a copy of the Holy Quran. The FBI arrested him promptly, and just two days back, an anti-terrorism court in Washington DC sentenced him to eight years in prison with a hefty fine. Christian leaders across the US are congratulating the government for protecting the soul of Christianity by...
Help Muslims defuse an unfair backlash after San Bernardino
Originally published in The Roanoke Times As member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, my heartfelt condolences go out to the victims and their families. We also condemn such attacks on innocent humanity such as the San Bernardino attack of Dec. 2. Before any investigative reports surfaced providing evidence of the perpetrators having been radicalized, countless individuals on social...
Muslims aren’t the enemy
Originally published in The News Virginian “Make America Great Again” is a quote used by the GOP front runner Donald Trump repeatedly where he is aiming supposedly to make America great, but so far all we have heard from the candidate is to ban Muslims or remove Muslims from America. I would like to let Mr. Trump know that it is not the Muslims that America is at war with but it’s this radical...
The true message of Islam is one of peace, not violence
Originally Published in The Cleveland I was deeply saddened by the recent Paris terror attacks, and shootings in San Bernardino. Since then I have been praying that America is able to stop ISIS and defeat terrorism motivated by a perversion of Islamic teachings. In the face of these terror attacks, we have a responsibility as Americans to think over how and why such terrorist attacks happen. In...