Originally published in The Washington Post On May 21, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York is scheduled to release “The Rise of Al Qaeda,” a seven-minute film telling the story of the attacks. Full disclosure: I have not watched the film. But last week, The New York Times reported how American Muslims were concerned that the film uses words such as “Islamist” and “jihadist,”...
Originally published in Santa Barbara Independent He wore a red bandana. Despite seeing the blood of those dying around him, he decided to go back into the smoky building. Despite the noise of the stricken building, his soothing voice calmed the injured. Despite being just a young 24-year-old among fleeing civilians, he was found buried among firefighters, emergency personnel, and other heroes...
Originally published in Fox News I was invited to appear alongside Dinesh D’Souza as a guest on Fox News’ “The Kelly File” on Tuesday night, May 13, to answer the question of why many Muslims and non-Muslims have taken issue with the film “Rise of Al Qaeda,” which is set to air within the new National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York City. Museum officials screened the...
Originally published in NewsDay Sept. 11 changed everything — for America and its Muslims. Thousands were killed in the attack — nearly 500 from Long Island — leaving scores of families and friends with gaping wounds. And for Muslims, who were average Americans a day earlier, public scrutiny bore down like never before. In the 13 years since the terror attacks, Muslims: have...
Originally published in The Santa Clarita Valley Signal The United States government recently launched the Ahmadiyya Muslim Caucus chaired by veteran Republican Congressman Frank Wolf. The caucus will strive to secure religious freedom for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which suffers from severe persecution in some Muslim countries. Ahmadi Muslims number around 20,000 in America and tens of...
Originally published in MySanAntonio Re: “No target, motive ID’d yet in Pennsylvania school stabbings,” Nation, April 12: As an American-born Pakistani Muslim, I am all too familiar with the violence in Pakistan. But when an event of such violence occurs in this nation, it can be even more upsetting. It is with the heaviest of hearts that I extend my condolences to all those affected by the...
Originally published in The Duluth News Tribune On April 9 a terrible incident occurred at a Pennsylvania high school. A teenage boy wielding two kitchen knives went on a stabbing rampage and injured 21 people, including 20 students and one adult. I would like to extend my sincere condolences to all those who were harmed because of this tragedy. At the same time, I also would like to commend all...
Originally published in Montgomery News and The Intelligencer Once again, unfortunately, there has been senseless violence against our nation’s youth in the recent stabbings at Franklin Regional High School. This time, the violence occurred in our home state of Pennsylvania. First and foremost, I would like to extend condolences to the families of those that were hurt by this tragic event. With...
Originally published in CantonRep Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev are the alleged perpetrators behind the Boston Marathon tragedy that took place last year, causing the deaths of three people and injuring 264 others. Dzhokhar claimed his brother said that these bombings were done to protect Islam from attack. I disagree. These attacks are completely opposite the teachings of Islam and are what...
Originally published in Dallas News Last week, the small town of Murrysville, Pa., was shocked when Alex Hribal, a 16-year-old high school student, went on a stabbing rampage, critically injuring 20 students. Fortunately, no student was fatally injured. However, a small place such as Franklin County definitely felt the distress caused by such a chaotic and horrible attack. This news shocked me...