Originally published: MyRecordJournal.com (09/14/2017) The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association held its national Meet A Muslim day this past Saturday, with Muslims from nearly 70 chapters located throughout the United States participating. Because there are a staggering number of Americans who do not personally know a Muslim, AMYA sought to help people understand the true teachings of Islam. Our...
Originally published in Observer Reporter 07/15/2017 Muslims all around the world celebrated Eid last month. The festival of Eid marks the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting, and is celebrated with the sighting of the moon crescent. Eid is an opportunity to celebrate and reflect upon all the spiritual progress made by Muslims in the last month. Apart from abstaining from food and water, Muslims...
A COUPLE days after the Paris attacks, I found myself in Connecticut praying in a mosque with fresh bullet holes. This mosque is just like one in Lynnwood, it hosts blood drives in honor of the 9/11 victims, donates turkeys to food shelters for Thanksgiving and participates in gift drives during Christmas. There was a chill in the air that day and it wasn’t because the holes in the walls let in...
Originally Published in The Hartford Courant Amid our heightened prayers, solidarity and speaking out against terrorism, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community CT discovered bullet holes piercing our House of Peace Mosque in Meriden last week. We won’t let this cowardly act of terror scare or stop us in any way, and we thank God no one was injured. As humanitarian Muslims for peace who believe in...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post In the wake of the recent Paris attacks, new atheist writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali is screaming out at her loudest again. “Islam needs reform,” she insists. But is she right? We must understand that Muslims are not a monolith. They come in all colors and sects. I, for instance, identify with the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam. The Ahmadiyya Muslim...
Originally Published in The Canton Repository Everyday, we, as people of this world, hope and pray that the world will eventually get safer. Unfortunately, the recent barbaric Paris terror attack strikes this notion at its heart. My condolences go out to the victims and their grieving families and I pray that they may cope with their suffering. But, what bothers me more than the attack is the...
Originally Published in The Charlotte Observer – The rate at which some vulnerable youth are becoming brain-washed into believing ISIS propaganda calls for a serious dialogue on the issue. Any youth contemplating joining ISIS should bear in mind that the barbaric killings of Christians, destruction of ancient artifacts and murder of innocent people in the region under the control of ISIS...
Originally published in Foreign Affairs Last week’s massacre of 132 schoolchildren in Peshawar by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was horrific. It sparked a wave of sympathy—world leaders expressed their solidarity with the country—and also criticism—for years, Pakistan has given safe haven to terrorist groups. TTP’s ghastly attack in Peshawar was hardly surprising. In the spring of 2010...
Originally published in the Express Tribune Religious clerics in Pakistan celebrate September 7th as a day of victory for Islam and Pakistan. Officially dubbed the “Khatme Nubuwwat Day” or “Finality of Prophethood Day,” many mosques come alive with celebrations this day, sweets are distributed and intense speeches are made in large religious gatherings. Forty years ago this day, Pakistan passed...
Originally published in The Huffington Post March 8 is International Women’s Day. One crime against women that continues to plague humanity is FGM, i.e female genital mutilation. Experts estimate that some 3 million women suffer through FGM annually. The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book titled EXTREMIST. This excerpt specifically repudiates the barbaric myth that Islam in any...