Originally Appeared on the Rochester Hills Patch In order for someone to be a Muslim, he or she must recite the “kalma”, or pledge. “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger.” Of course there is so much more to being a Muslim than just reciting words. A Muslim must be pious, peaceful, loving, submissive to God, and a servant to Mankind. But rarely do we see these...
Originally on the CNN Belief BLOG (Repost Courtesy: CNN) Editor’s Note: Qasim Rashid is a national spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. Follow him on Twitter @MuslimIQ. By Qasim Rashid, Special to CNN (CNN)–My New Year’s resolution is to not die for my faith. I’d hoped that 2012 would bring a revolution among Muslims and Muslim-majority nations to free oppressed minds. Yet I find...
Originally Published on Goerie.com and The Hartford Courant. On Thanksgiving, this Muslim American gave thanks for enjoying religious freedom in America. The first pilgrims to the New World, the Puritans, wearing their traditional bonnets and trousers, fled an intolerant Europe. Today, in places like France, Muslim women are banned from wearing headscarves in public places. What’s worse...
Originally Published in Hartfordfavs.com The recent film “Innocence of Muslims” which sparked riots and protests around the Muslim world was not the worst or last deranged attempt to ignite unjust hatred. Indeed, since Prophet Muhammad’s birth to a beautiful couple named Aminah and Abdullah, the meek, poor, unlettered orphan of Arabia’s desert has tearfully been the target of...
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 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 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 Published in The Finger Lakes Times With the Taliban’s horrific attack on 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, some insist that Islam permits women’s education. Such a position is downright offensive and wrong. Islam does not permit women’s education – it mandates it. As a board member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association USA (www.muslimyouth.org), I passionately...
Originally Published in The Daily Times, Pakistan. On October 30, Pakistan took the proverbial human rights ‘hot seat’ in Geneva at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s second ever Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This unique process mandates that all 193 UN Member States submit to an examination of their human rights record once every four years. In the span of four hours, all UN Member...