Originally Published in The Santa Barbara Independent About 85 years ago, a man was brought into the world who forever challenged racism in America. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of creating a racism-free America has since challenged racial inequality in various ways. But even before the advent of Dr. King, Prophet Muhammad of Islam challenged racism in the world 1,500 years ago...
Originally published in Zion-Benton News As Americans, this Jan. 20th we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We dedicate the day to his achievements and his successes. Dr. King was a legend who combated racial inequality through nonviolence. Dr. King organised the 1963 march on Washington, D.C. calling it, “the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” As...
Originally published in The Times Herald What is the best way to achieve world peace? With President Obama’s inaugural ceremony just taken place, scholars will propose what the president should do, indirectly answering the question above. As a Muslim-American, I want to first congratulate the president on his re-election and pray that he will lead the nation effectively during his second term. I...
Originally published in The Daily Caller Some 1400 years ago the unjust Meccan government criminalized the Qur’an. They arrested, beat, and murdered those who insisted on reading it. Today, another unjust government has criminalized the Qur’an and once again, those who insist on reading it are arrested, beaten, and murdered. Today, as Dr. Masood Ahmad sits in prison for the crime of reading the...
Originally published in Springfield News-Leader I am the new imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, St. Louis chapter. I have dedicated my life to the service of God and mankind. Our mosque (Baitul Hafeez Mosque) is located at 4529 Emerson Ave. in St. Louis. At our mosque we hold five daily prayers, Friday prayers, weekly meetings and Interfaith symposiums. All are welcome, Muslim or non-Muslim...
Originally published in Zion-Benton News It is unfortunate that 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 for the service of God and Mankind. I have recently been assigned as the Imam (a title for a Muslim religious minister) for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of...
Originally published in The Huffington Post Last week, the Grand Mufti of Kyrgyzstan was forced to resign amidst allegations of adultery with a woman he says is his second wife. He claimed he had the proper Islamic marriage ceremony with her, but since Article 153 of Kyrgyzstan’s criminal code forbids polygamy, this woman could not have legally been a second wife. Thus came allegations of...
Originally published in The Daily Star I was born in Pakistan, a few months before the war which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971. And it was only after I moved to the US that I recognised the magnitude of human rights abuses the Pakistani army committed against their Bengali “brothers and sisters in faith.” So now, whenever I come across a Bengali in the...
Originally Published in Daily Bulletin My column last month entitled “Focus on God should not be split” generated a few letters in response. You can read my Dec. column here. One letter came from Mr. George C. in Ontario and another from Mr. Tom V. in Chino Hills. Thank you both for your letters — I always welcome them. And while Tom wrote a polite two-page letter quoting many Bible verses to...
Originally Published in the Herald-Mail Media When jazz master and Grammy award-winning musician Yusef Lateef left this world on Dec. 23, the music world lost one of its greatest giants. That same day, however, the world of Islam also lost one of its greatest giants. His name was also Yusef Lateef, and he was the man behind the music. The man who, for the last 30 years, chose not to perform at...