Originally Published in The Davidsonion I want to preface this article with an admission that I do not know much about politics, at least when compared to other people in the Davidson community. However, I think that the political situation in America is dire now with presidential candidates like Donald Trump and Ben Carson running. Recently, terrorism motivated by Islam has dominated the news...
Originally published in The Huffington Post I am a Pakistani immigrant to the United States. With the recent rise of Islamophobia here in America, we Pakistanis have suddenly become experts on minority rights. My social media timelines are filled with my friends urging the West to accommodate Syrian refugees escaping persecution, and be more accepting of pluralism. I also see them condemning the...
Originally published in Huffington Post “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship. That has nothing to do with business of state.” Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, spoke these words on the eve of the end of British rule over India. Despite these words, his country has fell to painful depths at the...
Originally Published in The Daily Herald In recent months, we have witnessed an upsurge of anger that has swept throughout the Muslim world — in response to extremely crude acts by anti-Islam elements. It is now incumbent upon the world at large to respond, especially politicians who have failed to place regulation around the exploitation of “freedom of speech” and those who dictate international...
Originally Published in The Contra Costa Times Probably more than any other community, July 4 gives Muslim-Americans a strong reason to celebrate. July 4 marks the independence of the American colonies from Great Britain — an independence spurred by the need for freedom of religion. Similarly, many Muslims come to the United States to flee persecution they face in their lands. Such is the...
Though I was born in Pakistan, I was still a baby when my dad had to move to The Gambia in West Africa. The Gambia is a small peaceful country. Here, I remember my mother teaching me the Urdu Qaida and telling me interesting stories about Pakistan. I could see she missed Pakistan a great deal. She would sometimes break down in tears, relating stories of the persecution she had witnessed growing...
Originally Published in The Chicago Sun Times The Saudi Arabian grand mufti’s desire to eradicate all churches in the Arabian Peninsula indicates religious coercion — an act the Holy Quran wholly rejects [“Saudi grand mufti calls for ‘destruction of all churches in region’ ”]. The Quran promotes universal religious freedom, even commanding to protect the “churches and synagogues and mosques...