Originally Published in The Santa Barbara Independent & Santa Maria Times As a 23-year-old Ahmadi Muslim American, I condemn the actions of the so-called Muslim youth in California arrested for planning to join a terrorist organization. Their belief that Islam advocates violence goes against Islam’s teaching. Prophet Muhammad taught that loyalty to one’s country is part of one’s faith. A...
Originally Published in Mercurynews.com Four Californian Muslims have been arrested on account of their plans to join the Taliban and kill Americans. This comes as a big hit to me as a 23-year-old Californian Muslim. Like most Muslims, I wholly condemn these people. But as a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, denouncing such acts is part of my DNA. My fellow Americans, know that organized...
Originally Published in The Hartford Courant. This holiday season, many of us gather around a table to enjoy good food and company for the sake of Thanksgiving. But how do we really show that we are thankful? As American Muslims of the Ahmadiyya Community, we believe the best way for us to show our thanks is by serving mankind, particularly those of our nation, America. Many Americans have still...
Originally Published on HartfordFavs.com “Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you. No, you can’t. Yes, I can. No, you can’t. Yes, I can…” Though only some know the Broadway musical to which these charmingly obnoxious lyrics belong, all of us are undeniably accustomed to such immature vanity. The real life repercussions of this age-old feud...
Originally Published in The Washington Post and The Express Tribune, Pakistan. Plato may have inadvertently summed up the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 2,500 years ago when he is thought to have declared: “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” The cyclical bloodshed in the Arab-Israeli conflict is a direct...
Originally Published in Cincinnati.com As a Muslim American, I believe that if we set all our differences aside and come together for a good cause, we can make Thanksgiving a true day of thanks. This weekend I had the opportunity to travel to New York and work with Humanity First to offer my services to those suffering from Hurricane Sandy. It was a life changing moment that not...
Originally Published in The Daily Herald I wonder how someone like Pamela Geller can be associated with “American Freedom,” since she seems to be out of touch with Americans. She has alienated many Americans by promoting a narrow-minded view by way of an advertising campaign which has not resulted in any good. Her group’s recent ads, which were essentially forced upon the CTA in the name of...
Originally Published in The Daily Beast. As the volatility between Israel and Gaza continues to transform, one constant remains: rising “collateral damage.” Unrest in Israel traces back six decades but the concept of collateral damage stretches back several millennia. And while in modern times we are allegedly “more civilized,” 11-month-old Omar Masharawi’s funeral, three dead Israelis, and a...
Originally Published in TheNorthwestern.com Here we go again. Pamela Geller is at her best one more time, this time taking her hate campaign to Chicago’s CTA buses. I agree with her in that “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.” The point of contention is about who here is civilized? After millions of years of evolution is this how we define...
Originally Posted on The Hartford FAVS Instead of shopping this Black Friday, why don’t we consider the ones who lost everything? My Ahmadi Muslim brothers had the best response after Hurricane Sandy devasted homes. We traveled to New York and joined volunteers with Humanity First and the American Red Cross. We dove right in to aide several families, removing rubble from destroyed homes. “An...