Originally published in OnFaith Earlier this week, the NYPD disbanded its Muslim surveillance program. Good riddance. Through all the pain, suffering, and headlines this operation caused over the course of a decade, it generated zero leads. A decade of surveillance should have crushed anyone’s hope for a hopeful future. So how did New York Muslims cope in the past few years? In 2008, civic-minded...
Marathon bombings contradict teachings of Islam
Originally published in Duluth News Tribune One year removed from the Boston Marathon bombings, people raise eyebrows about Muslims’ loyalty to the United States or Islam’s viewpoint on terrorism. The bombings had no relationship with the beautiful teachings of Islam. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the bombings. The holy Quran condemns all forms of cruelty, violence or extremist...
Heinous act
Originally published in The Wichita Eagle The taking of innocent lives at the Jewish community center and senior living facility in Overland Park was a heinous act against mankind – and I’m deeply sorry for the families that lost their loved ones. As a Muslim American, I share the same mutual respect and love the Jewish community holds for the Israelite Prophets. This week, as my Jewish friends...
Cowardly act
Originally published in The Chicago Tribune It’s quite tragic that three individuals were killed senselessly and mercilessly outside of a Jewish community center and senior center in Kansas. The suspected gunman, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, was spewing anti-Semitic responses before he went on his violent rampage and showed no remorse after being apprehended by the police. This alleged...
In step with Boston
Originally published in Philadelphia News As a Muslim American, I feel pain from the Boston bombings. But our history shows that we grow stronger after such attacks (“Struck down, stepping up,” April 13). Islam condemns the killing of innocents. In honor of the victims, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community held a blood drive at Boston City Hall. I wish the participants and spectators a safe...
Muhammad wouldn’t condone Boston bombing
Originally published in The Washington Times April 15 usually reminds me as an accountant of taxes, but this year I remembered the horrific events of the Boston Marathon tragedy, where Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, claiming to be Muslims, mercilessly harmed more than 260 people. As a Muslim, I cannot understand how any Muslim could be so vicious. In his lifetime, the Prophet Muhammad showed...
Terror in the Midwest
Originally published in The Orange County Register As a Muslim, I offer my deepest condolences to victims of a shooting that targeted Jews outside a Jewish community center and senior-living facility in Kansas [“3 shot to death at Jewish center, retirement enclave,” News, April 14]. Terrorism has no race or religion and should be condemned in all of its ugly forms. May God give comfort to the...
Harming people is not in the true teachings of Islam
Originally published in The St. Louis Dispatch As we reflect on the tragic events that unfolded at the Boston Marathon a year ago and try to understand what brought the perpetrators to this dark place, let us not blame the Islamic faith. There is no place in a true Islamic conversion experience that allows for the wanton killing of other people. The Holy Quran, the main sourcebook of Islam...
Peace on Passover
Originally published in Chicago Sun-Times The innocent lives taken at the Kansas Jewish community center and senior living facility was a heinous act against mankind — and I’m deeply sorry to the families who lost their loved ones. As a Muslim American, I share the same mutual respect and love the Jewish community holds for the Israelite Prophets. This week, as my Jewish friends celebrate...
Local Muslim Community Bleeds With Boston
Originally published in The Daily Herald The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon, and ranks as one of the largest and most popular events of its type worldwide. Tragedy struck this grand event last year when two bombs went off near the finish line, killing three and injuring around 275 others. Condolences and condemnations poured in from all around the world. American...