Originally published in Beliefnet By: Mubarak Bashir As a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, we are saddened by the unfortunate and untimely deaths of the victims of recent hate crimes. We pray for them and their families and hope that justice is served. Over the past few weeks we have seen an increase in hate crimes across the country. A man continually harassed his neighbors because...
Originally Published in Patheos By: Ibrihim Ahmed “The death toll has now risen to 60 people, and gunmen are still inside the two mosques, carrying out continuous killings”, said the news anchor. I was watching the television with horror along with my two younger sisters. My mother called us from work telling us to stay calm and that everything would be alright. What concerned me was that my...
Originally Published in The Northwestern Fifteen years. In a few days, it will be the 15-year anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, a painful day which has become the catalyst of so much that has transpired since then. Every day, every terrorist act, every shred of vile rhetoric, brings increased scrutiny to the faith of Islam and its teachings.As a Muslim living in the United States, I have become...
Originally Published in Dallas News By: Nayyar Ahmed Recently, pictures of French police ordering the removal of a burkini worn by a woman at a beach have gone viral on media. In a separate incident, a mosque construction in a Georgia county is facing strong opposition from locals. To add insight, the caliph of Islam Mirza Masroor Ahmad (fifth supreme head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim...
Originally published in The Baltimore Sun By Adil Khan By the grace of God, I have overcome the worst type of adversity — the type of adversity that is directed at the DNA of one’s very being. You see, to me my faith, Islam, is my everything, comprising the nooks and crannies, the deep valleys and the tall summits, the oceans of my being, my universe. Amazingly, all of these insults and...
Originally published in The Nation Chief Minister,The Government of Punjab. Dear Mr. Shehbaz Sharif, I hope you are doing great. I promise to keep this short and to-the-point. A tweet from the Government of Punjab’s official Twitter handle caught my eye on Sunday. A statement, attributed to you, promised continued crackdown on anyone guilty of inflammatory hate speech. Hate speech and...
Originally published in Arizona Daily Star By Aamir Quraishy The 72 mass graves ISIS has left in its path are a terrifying sight to see. Even more terrible is hearing stories of survivors. The hearts, prayers and love of all Muslims and all humans go out to them. As a Muslim that loves the sanctity of American freedom and safety, it truly tears my hearts to see so many people around the world...
Originally published in Beliefnet My story with non-violence starts with my ancestors who joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Among what inspired my ancestors to join this community was the strong condemnation of violence in the name of Islam by the community’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Ahmad believed that unnecessary violence was not only prohibited in Islam but was a great misfortune for...
Originally published in Patheos As a Muslim-American, I am attracted to both Islam and America because of the idea inherent in both that all people are created equal. Both Islam and America have been stained by people who subvert them for their own political agendas and in America’s case, it was subverted right from the beginning. America became what it is at the expense of African Americans who...
Originally published in Muftah After intense international pressure, France’s highest court overturned the “Burkini” ban on Friday, August 26, 2016. Before the move, over a dozen French cities had banned the burkini. Most recently, armed officers forced a Muslim woman to dress down under threat of pepper spray and arrest, essentially criminalizing modesty. That this act of forced uncovering...