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LETTER Building bridges, not walls
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This is the greatest global weapon against terrorism
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Originally Published in The Hill © Getty Images President Trump has vowed to accomplish what the previous two administrations since 9/11 have not been able to: “eradicate” radicalism and terrorism “from the face of the earth.” If he is sincere, he would need to discover what the previous administrations may have overlooked: a strategy addressing the radical ideologies and regimes that suppress...
Hate-Sanctioned Attack on Ahmadi Mosque in Pakistan Not The First
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Originally Published in Patheos Is anyone surprised that hate crimes have increased 31% in 2016? This year has been exceptionally revealing in terms of hidden, hateful sentiments. But hate based crime isn’t just an American issue. Unlike apple pie, hate based crime is on the rise globally as well. My religious community, The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, is especially familiar with violence...
An Ahmadi Muslim’s Letter To Sunni Muslim Leaders In America
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Originally published in The Huffington Post On July 8, 2016, prominent American Muslim cleric Imam Omar Suleiman gave a brilliant speech at the Dallas Police memorial: My faith requires me to speak out against hatred and injustice of all sorts… (O God!) We stand before you, ready to stand up … against any oppression, in any name, for any cause, from any position, and against any of...
Non-Violence: A Muslim Response to Islamaophobia
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Originally published in Beliefnet My story with non-violence starts with my ancestors who joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Among what inspired my ancestors to join this community was the strong condemnation of violence in the name of Islam by the community’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Ahmad believed that unnecessary violence was not only prohibited in Islam but was a great misfortune for...
A Country Where Selling Books Is an Act of Terrorism
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Originally Published in The Huffington Post Imagine a local bookseller in the United States being arrested by the federal government in his own bookstore and being charged with a federal crime. His crime: the sale of books deemed hurtful or hateful to another religious group’s beliefs. His punishment: eight years in prison. Any American would find this unbelievable and absurd for something...
If Donald Trump was a Muslim in Pakistan…
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Originally uploaded in Dawn A month ago, an 81-year-old Muslim bookseller in New York was caught with a copy of the Holy Quran. The FBI arrested him promptly, and just two days back, an anti-terrorism court in Washington DC sentenced him to eight years in prison with a hefty fine. Christian leaders across the US are congratulating the government for protecting the soul of Christianity by...
Muslims: To Stop ISIS and Other Terror Group from Disparaging Islam, We Must Clearly Explain the True Concept of Jihad
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Originally published on Patheos The year 2015 can be remembered as the year Daesh (ISIS) dominated the news media in the Western world, from beginning to the end. It began with the merciless attack on the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo that drew worldwide condemnation, enslaving of Yazidi women, burning of a Jordanian pilot and ending with a spectacular attack in France and inspiring mass murder...
really ‘shirk’ to wish someone a Merry Christmas?
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Originally published in the Express Tribune As Christmas is nearing, I am starting to see the occasional anti-Christmas messages on the internet that say that greeting on the occasion of Christmas is haram (forbidden) according to scholarly consensus. Some are claiming that saying “Merry Christmas” is tantamount to committing “shirk” or associating partners with Allah. Of the many clerics that...
Is Pakistan Just a Huge Trumpistan?
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Originally published in The Huffington Post I am a Pakistani immigrant to the United States. With the recent rise of Islamophobia here in America, we Pakistanis have suddenly become experts on minority rights. My social media timelines are filled with my friends urging the West to accommodate Syrian refugees escaping persecution, and be more accepting of pluralism. I also see them condemning the...