Originally published in The Santa Clarita Valley Signal As a Muslim-immigrant to the United States of America, I find special meaning in the Fourth of July, an occasion symbolizing the struggle for freedom. As testimony to our nation’s commitment to freedom, I often reflect upon how Americans have upheld freedoms for Muslims in the aftermath of 9-11 — despite the negative stereotypes. Such...
Originally published in Shreve Port Times Unfortunately, Islam is a misunderstood religion. As a practicing Muslim living in America, I feel it is my responsibility to clear these misconceptions. To do so, I have dedicated my life to serve God and mankind. I recently moved here to serve as the Imam (a title for a Muslim religious minister) for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of New Orleans Greater...
Originally published in StarTribune The leader of the extremist group ISIL recently declared himself to be a caliph and called on Muslims to pledge their loyalty to him. However, within the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, the system of caliphate was established in the year 1908. The current fifth caliph, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, in his keynote speeches addressing the British House of Commons, the...
Originally published in The Huffington Post We have all heard of Sudan’s death penalty for the “crime” of leaving Islam. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan (since 2007), Yemen and Afghanistan have similar rulings for apostasy. Do these punishments have any basis in the Islamic faith? Does Islam really punish freedom of conscience? I was discussing this on social media when a friend...
Originally published in OnFaith Since the militant group known as ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) declared that the “caliphate has been re-established” in an area straddling the two countries, I’ve been inundated with emails, tweets, and texts asking for my opinion and explanation. I expected this, as in the past few months I’ve written and been interviewed numerous times on His...
Originally published in The Examiner Qasim Rashid is an author, lawyer, member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and an outspoken critic of Muslim extremists. His new book, Extremist: A Response to Geert Wilders & Terrorists Everywhere, attempts to call out both extremist Muslims and extremist anti-Muslims. The following is an e-mail interview I did with Rashid about his book. Greetings...
Originally published in Considine No Muslim has promoted the notion of a “jihad of the pen” more poignantly than Qasim Rashid, Ahmadi spokesmen, Muslim activist and author of the new book EXTREMIST: A Response to Geert Wilders & Terrorists Everywhere. A fervent advocate of human rights and a penetrating writer on Islam, Rashid has been actively promoting religious pluralism, freedom of...
Originally published in Fox News This year, Ramadan starts on June 29. Over 1.5 billion Muslims, despite their sectarian differences, will be united to reinvigorate their faith. In a country where nearly one in four Americans don’t want to have a Muslim neighbor and some employers are not eager to recruit them, this poses a problem. Because in July 2014, folks may notice a change in the...
Originally published in The Daily Bulletin June 29th will be the first day of the fast in Ramadhan this year for all healthy Muslim men and women. The fast, which starts an hour and 20-minutes before sunrise and ends after sunset, will run for 30 days, concluding with the sighting of the new moon on July 28. The following day, July 29, will be Eid-ul Fitr, the festival commemorating the end of...
Originally published in The Daily Bulletin Dear readers: here are 10 ways you can become closer to God. These were written 125 years ago by the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the messiah and mahdi … 1. Do not associate partners with God. This means believing that God is singularly one, the only supreme being and sole creator of the universe. 2. Abstain from...