Originally published in Patheos Experience has shown that many natural phenomenon or processes are initially discovered with limited understanding or benefit to society. However, with pain staking effort and unbiased approach to the phenomenon, many of the unknown qualities that were initially observed as bad turn out to be good upon further examination. A case in point is the annotation of human...
Originally Published in San Jose Mercury News As a Muslim, I condemn the horrific attack that occurred in Paris as inhumane and un-Islamic. I express my heartfelt condolences and prayers to the families of the victims. It is very troubling that there has been a rise of such horrific acts being carried out in the name of God and Islam. There is no room in Islamic teaching for such violence. The...
Originally published in The San Antonio Express As a moderate American Muslim, it is painful to watch my faith be hijacked on a daily basis and see the damage that groups like ISIS are doing. As Japan weeps for Haruna Yukawaand Kenji Goto, and Jordan grieves for Muath al-Kaseasbeh, so do I. I condemn any and every action of ISIS in the strongest possible words. ISIS is an enemy of humanity...
Originally published in San Antonio Express The violence continues and more blood has been shed; ISIS has beheaded two Japanese hostages, Huruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto, and released a video of the Jordanian pilot, Muath Kaseasbeh, being burned alive. This self-proclaimed “Islamic State” continues to show the world its cruel and violent ways through these continuous villainous acts. As a member of...
Originally published in The Charlotte Observer This attack has revealed an unfortunate double standard within the mainstream media. When a Muslim perpetrates violence, the foremost aspect of the incident brought to light is the religion of the perpetrator, and every news channel reports on it repeatedly. The moment a vocal anti-theist like Craig Hicks commits such an act, the perpetrator is...
Originally published in Statesman The execution-style murder of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, N.C., is heart-breaking to read about; even worse, however, is the delay and lack of coverage by the mainstream media. Though unfortunate, the muted response wasn’t at all surprising. Had the killer been a Muslim who, like Craig Hicks, spewed bigoted comments online, we would have had 24-hour...
Originally published in The Sacramento Bee The merciless murders of three Americans at Chapel Hill, N.C., are troubling. Wait, three Americans? Yes, they were Americans, born and raised, who happened to be Muslim. Whether this brutality was a villainous hate crime, a response to a petty parking dispute or both remains undetermined, but it has sparked a necessary discussion on the intensifying...
Originally published in Erie The Islamic State militant group committed yet another gruesome act by burning a Jordanian pilot alive, and then publishing the horrific video online. This act is completely outside the teachings of Islam. The life history of Prophet Muhammad tells us a different story. When the Meccans attacked the Muslims in Medina, they incurred a horrible defeat and many of...
Originally published in The Star Tribune On Wednesday night, the Al-Madinah Cultural Center at the University of Minnesota held a candlelight vigil for the three Muslims who were shot to death in Chapel Hill, N.C. While sources suggest the motives were due to parking disputes, one can’t simply ignore the fact that anti-Islamic sentiment portrayed in the media has been on the rise and may have...
Originally published in San Francisco Chronicle
For decades, I have been a die-hard “NBC Nightly News” viewer and as such have repeated information reported by Brian Williams as fact. I am all about forgiveness as I realize that as a regular guy, he is subject to the same kind of minor embellishments as the rest of us. But not this time, not this kind, and not in his position.