On the night of Friday November 13th, following the brutal attacks in Paris, an unknown individual fired shots at a mosque in Meriden, CT. The mosque belonged to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and our motto “Love for All, Hatred for None” is inscribed on a sign outside. Luckily, no one was present and only the building sustained damage. It is nevertheless disturbing to hear of such a...
Originally published in Patheos Over the past few years, ISIS has emerged from the shadows of a failed Arab Spring in Syria and sectarian violence in Iraq to become a dominant player in global terrorism. The brutalities, that took the form of beheadings of foreign journalists and aid workers and enslavement of women and children often concentrated in the Middle East, have recently escalated onto...
Originally published in The Duluth News Tribune On Nov. 13, the Islamic State terrorist group, also known as ISIS, killed 130 innocent civilians in horrific attacks in Paris. President Francois Hollande of France called it “an act of war” and committed to “destroy ISIS.” Expressing solidarity with France, President Barack Obama said, “It is an attack on the civilized world.” <a...
Originally published in The New York Post King Abdullah of Jordan called it right when he said the Muslim faith is at war against radical Islam. This is something our president fails to mention. What can moderate Muslims do to defeat radical Islamists? They should banish radical Islamists from their religion. They should speak out against the nonsense of killing innocent Muslims and nonMuslims...
Originally published in The Daily Times Sir: Once again, a minority community in Pakistan is under siege. Be it Shia, Christian, Hindu or Ahmedi, the jahils (illiterates) keep doing what they do best: exert violence for no reason. We are fighting a war against terrorism and the Pakistan army is making every attempt to defeat extremism but the mindset of the common people in Pakistan is not...
Originally posted in Mercury News Just five weeks earlier we were laughing and arguing as mother and son often do. But on Oct. 22, 2015 I hugged my mother, Amatul Karim Nusrat Chaudhry, for the last time. On Sept. 14 all appeared well. On Sept. 17 we discovered end stage cancer in her liver, rapidly spreading throughout her abdomen. By Oct. 22, my mother’s vitals began to fade, and I...
Originally posted on The Boston Herald If Daesh (or the Islamic State) is at war, why doesn’t it follow the rules of war set forth by the Prophet Muhammad (“Crowds slaughtered in French terror attacks,” Nov. 14)? Among other things, Muhammad’s guidance for the battlefield included: “Do not commit treachery, or deviate from the right path. …Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man...
Originally published in The Cleveland The attacks perpetrated on Paris were done by Muslims, not followers of Islam. Doesn’t make sense? Of course, the literal definition of a Muslim is a follower of Islam. But anybody can claim to be Muslim, even if they have never read the Koran. If my holy scripture tells me not to kill others, am I following that book? Obviously, not. So when a person...
Originally Published in The Hartford Courant Amid our heightened prayers, solidarity and speaking out against terrorism, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community CT discovered bullet holes piercing our House of Peace Mosque in Meriden last week. We won’t let this cowardly act of terror scare or stop us in any way, and we thank God no one was injured. As humanitarian Muslims for peace who believe in...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post In the wake of the recent Paris attacks, new atheist writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali is screaming out at her loudest again. “Islam needs reform,” she insists. But is she right? We must understand that Muslims are not a monolith. They come in all colors and sects. I, for instance, identify with the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam. The Ahmadiyya Muslim...