Originally Posted on The Huffington Post Hindus worldwide will soon observe Krishna Janmashtami, a celebration of Lord Krishna’s birth. While many recognize the differences between Islam and Hinduism, few may appreciate that according to Islamic principles and Prophet Muhammad, Lord Krishna was a true Prophet of God. The obvious question that emerges is that if the same God sent Lord...
Originally Published in The Chicago Tribune The shooting at a local Sikh temple outside Milwaukee is extremism in its worst form. It was an attack on all places of worship and on religious freedom. My heart aches for my Sikh brothers who have lost loved ones in this tragic incident; my faith (Islam) teaches me that all places of worship are precious and should be protected. The First Amendment of...
Originally Published in The Middletown Press Last month, there was uproar over a comment made by Indiana Congressman André Carson that U.S. public schools could learn from U.S. “madrassas,” an Arabic term for Islamic schools. I, too, doubt whether you can get any useful information from a Taliban-style school system. But I do think there are Muslim-American groups we should take a closer look at...
Originally Posted on The Huffington Post If you know a Muslim, you are sure to have heard about Ramadan and the tradition of fasting in Islam. Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic calendar. Millions of Muslims across the country and many more across the world will spend the month fasting. Even though it is singular in its details, the practice of fasting as a form of spiritual...
Originally Published in The Express-Times, Lehigh Valley Edition This weekend I attended an annual youth convention in Milwaukee with the theme, “For the sake of my country, faith and nation.” Participants took part in workshops and various educational and sports competitions. It was an atmosphere of real brotherhood, positively impacting the lives of our youth. The event was not organized by the...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post “As a Jew, I am offended to my core. Muslims have no right to invoke Moses and Abraham. This is a delegitimization of Judaism. It is offensive and vile. And while Jesus is not my guy, the same thing goes for him. It is a delegitimization of Christianity. These are not Muslim prophets.” This typical quote from Pamela Geller perfectly...
Originally Published in The Duluth News Tribune On May 21, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed legislation barring all Kansas state courts from considering “foreign” law in their rulings. While many other states, including Minnesota, attempted in vain, Kansas became the fifth state to successfully enact such legislation, joining Oklahoma, Arizona, Louisiana and Tennessee. The undertone of “foreign”...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post “We’ve been waiting for you.” People say this all the time when I teach coursesabout Islam and peace at colleges, universities and places of worship. With the Muslim world erupting in chaos from the Libyan shores of Bin Ghazi to the tribal areas of Pakistan, this yearning for peace is becoming a global phenomenon. But name a Muslim...
Originally Published in IndiaWest: Your Global Indian Community. Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth Khalifatul Masih (the successor of the Messiah) for the world’s tens of millions of Ahmadi Muslims, will deliver keynote addresses over three days to an expected crowd of 10,000 Ahmadi Muslims during the Community’s 64th annual U.S. convention in Harrisburg, Penn. The three-day event will be...
The Summer 2012 issue of The Muslim Sunrise, entitled, “In Defense of Islam: Confronting the Critics,” responds to anti-Islam allegations made by 10 infamous critics of Islam. The Muslim Sunrise invites these critics to debate representatives of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community publicly, in an effort to expose their allegations “as either baseless, dishonest, or criticisms of...