Originally published in FaithStreet I often hear the phrase “Only 20,000 people?” as a critique of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in America, and I was not surprised when this phrase resurfaced after the Ahmadiyya Muslim Caucus launched this month. People may think that a group of 20,000 Americans do not deserve a caucus. If 20,000 Americans signed a petition on the White House website, the White...
Originally Published in Abury Park Press Today, the general public views the religion of Islam with malevolence. I have experienced this myself as a 14-year-old Ahmadi Muslim, living in the suburbs of New Jersey. My mother and sister both cover themselves in public, and I pray five times every day. Because of these practices, people look upon Muslims such as myself as different. The attack on...
Originally Published in The Express Tribune I was born in 1982, in the beautiful American city of San Jose, California. A proud patriotic Muslim American, my dad would decorate our house with lights every Fourth of July. Fast forward to the year 2001, when I got admitted to one of America’s top medical schools – the Harvard Medical School in Boston. Moving from San Jose was hard. I stayed in the...
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 The Orange County Register Most people are often surprised to hear that Jesus is a highly esteemed figure in Islam. My friend once asked, “Is this a new idea within Islam?” thinking that, perhaps, Muslims recently concocted this notion. In reality, Jesus is not only considered a prophet in Islam (a fact many Christians are familiar with). In fact, Jesus is...
Originally Published in The Telegraph As an Ahmadi Muslim, I revere and love Jesus just as my Christian brothers and sisters do. This is because the Quran states, “Oh Mary, God gives thee glad tidings of a word from him; his name shall be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, honored in this world and in the next and of those who are granted nearness to God. (3:46). ...
Originally published in the Orange County Register Most people are often surprised to hear that Jesus is a highly esteemed figure in Islam. My friend once asked, “Is this a new idea within Islam?” thinking that, perhaps, Muslims recently concocted this notion. In reality, Jesus is not only considered a prophet in Islam (a fact many Christians are familiar with). In fact, Jesus is...
Originally Published in the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel One of my favorite lines from Edwin Starr’s 1970 song “War” is “War, huh, yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” It resonated with the people of the time because no war is ever a good war and it is not good for anyone who experiences it. Recently, I have been hearing a lot of buzz that there is...
Originally published in the Sun Opinion Can Muslims celebrate Thanksgiving? Of course they can! Muslims should celebrate Thanksgiving because it’s all about being thankful to God and that is what Islam is all about. As Muslims, we are taught that God blesses us all the time — indeed, every breath we take is a gift from God — and so we should be grateful to God all the time. To this end, Islam...
Originally published in The Sun Opinion and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Can Muslims celebrate Thanksgiving? Of course they can! Muslims should celebrate Thanksgiving because it’s all about being thankful to God and that is what Islam is all about. As Muslims, we are taught that God blesses us all the time — indeed, every breath we take is a gift from God — and so we should be grateful to God...