Originally published in The Davidsonian If any Church or other place of worship stands in need of protection, they will find us standing shoulder to shoulder with them.” (Message to Pope Benedict XVI, 6 December 2011) Who wrote this to Pope Benedict XVI? His Holiness, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the spiritual successor or “Khalifa” in Arabic of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His Holiness is the leader...
The Narrow-Mindedness of Islamophobes
Originally published in The Mooresville Tribune Although most Muslims believe that defensive wars are permissible in Islam, this man realized that the only way to really defend Islam in this day and age is simply through dialogue and that this was the “Jihad of the age.” This man’s name is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian and he was recognized as the Messiah by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Many...
Muslims are not fighting America
Originally published in The Roanoke Times “Make America Great Again!” a quote used by the GOP front runner Donald Trump repeatedly where he is aiming supposedly to make America great but so far all we have heard from the candidate is to ban Muslims or remove Muslims from America. I would like to let Trump know that it is not the Muslims that America is at war with but it’s this radical extremist...
The Dangerous Side of the Free Speech Debate
Originally published in the Huffington Post With last week’s release of Charlie Hebdo’s newest edition, marking the one-year anniversary of the infamous terrorist attack on its offices that killed 12 people, once again the debate about free speech has been ignited. In its recent publication, the editors at the magazine decided to take aim at all religion and blame God for terrorism...
Why Islam is Not the Problem
Originally published in the Hufington Post You’re seven times more likely to be shot by a right wing extremist in the United States than you are to be shot by a Muslim extremist. But I guess facts don’t stop many Americans from being deathly afraid of all Muslims. I know it’s crazy to think that just because a few radical extremists do something horrifying, the faith of Islam is...
Muhammad and the Christians
Originally Published in The Beliefnet We recently held an interfaith event at our mosque in Seattle, during which, an audience member asked, “Muhammad killed anyone who did not convert to Islam, why did he teach his followers to kill Christians?” With the atrocities committed against Christians by terrorists such as Daesh (also known as ISIS) and other terror groups claiming to commit their...
CT Muslims thank Courtney for invitation to State of Union address
Originally Published in CT Viewpoints The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Connecticut wholeheartedly thanks God and the honorable U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, 2nd District, for graciously inviting Dr. Mohammed Qureshi, our statewide president, as his guest at State of the Union 2016. We are honored to join the Congressman representing patriotic Muslims for peace who believe in the Messiah Ahmad at...
Don’t forget about the Muslims who actually follow the teachings of Islam
Originally published on Patheos This is a challenging time for all Muslims in America as the despicable actions of a few put Islam in a terrible light. This situation is not made any easier when there is blatant hate being spread by educated members of society. Recently Joe Walsh, a former US Congressman of Illinois, put a video on his Facebook page where he says, “I think Islam has a real...
Help Muslims defuse an unfair backlash after San Bernardino
Originally published in The Roanoke Times As member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, my heartfelt condolences go out to the victims and their families. We also condemn such attacks on innocent humanity such as the San Bernardino attack of Dec. 2. Before any investigative reports surfaced providing evidence of the perpetrators having been radicalized, countless individuals on social...
Muslims aren’t the enemy
Originally published in The News Virginian “Make America Great Again” is a quote used by the GOP front runner Donald Trump repeatedly where he is aiming supposedly to make America great, but so far all we have heard from the candidate is to ban Muslims or remove Muslims from America. I would like to let Mr. Trump know that it is not the Muslims that America is at war with but it’s this radical...