Originally published in Patheos Bismillah wa alhamdulillah wa salawat ‘ala Rasulillah. I, Dr. John Andrew Morrow, known as Ilyas ‘Abd al-‘Alim Islam, am honored to address the 69th Annual Convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. I am one of the few Muslim leaders who leads Friday prayers for Sunnis, who performs majlis for Shiis, who participates in dhikr with Sufis, and who speaks on the...
Originally published in Observer Reporter 07/15/2017 Muslims all around the world celebrated Eid last month. The festival of Eid marks the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting, and is celebrated with the sighting of the moon crescent. Eid is an opportunity to celebrate and reflect upon all the spiritual progress made by Muslims in the last month. Apart from abstaining from food and water, Muslims...
Published in the Richmond Times Dispatch on June 22nd 2017: As the month of Ramadan came to an end, Muslims everywhere celebrated with Eid al-Fitr. Typically, Eid is a time for reflection on a month dedicated to abstaining from sin. Muslims fill the month by giving back to their communities and to the needy. This Ramadan was no different as countless Muslims around the world gave food, clothes...
Originally Published in Heartland Now on June 25th, 2017 The billboard on Indianapolis’ I-465 titled “The Perfect Man” which mocked and disparaged Prophet Muhammad, accusing him of rape, beheading, and several other allegations saddened me to the core as a practicing Muslim. The sight, however, did not surprise me because of the current wave of extremism rampant across the globe. With terrorists...
Originally Published in Sheboygan Press on May 25th, 2017 The barbaric attack against innocent people in Manchester is worth all the condemnation its getting. As an Ahmadi Muslim I would like to extend my condolences to all the affected families and the people of Manchester. It also pains me to see the arrival of the Holy month of Ramadhan defamed in this way by terror groups such as ISIS. It is...
When I share the message of Islam to Americans, they absolutely love it and are blown away. But when I tell them that it’s from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), they step back and force themselves to dislike it. Whenever I discuss the condition of Islam and its representation in the world today in my small West African country, The Gambia, we all agree that there is a lot of mess which...
As Published In Daily Times To the Times: Right now Muslims around the world are observing Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and prayer that began on May 27 and ends in late June. The national rhetoric concerning people who are Muslim has been heated and too often hateful. There is always a danger of stereotyping people, especially those we don’t know much about. In an effort to dispel...
Originally Published in The Ambler Gazette To the Editor: I had the opportunity to watch James Comey testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. After watching him I saw a man who was honest, straight-forward, and just. Despite all that has occurred in the last few months, he kept his cool and stuck to the facts, giving the committee all the information that he could give. This reminds...
Letter to the editor published on June 20th in the Orange County Register: Re: “Van veers into pedestrians outside mosque, 1 killed, 10 hurt” [News, June 17]: In the tragic Finsbury Mosque attack yesterday, the local Imam reportedly shielded the captured assailant from an angry mob until the police arrived, so he would not be harmed. In Portland last month, bystanders lost their lives coming to...
Just two weeks after a white supremacist went on an anti-Muslim tirade in Portland that ended with him stabbing three men in the neck, anti-Muslim hate rallies are being organized in over 25 cities across the country this Saturday, June 10th. All are organized by ACT for America, an organization designated as both a hate group and an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. At a time...