Originally published in The Charlotte Observer Social and political upheavals dominate the world news today. Innocent lives, property, and wealth are destroyed each year due to social, political, and racial tensions. According to the Bible and the Quran, this vicious cycle of violence in human society can be traced back as far as the time of Adam when Cain murdered his brother, Abel. Since then...
Originally published in The News and Observer In the wake of the despicable terrorist act at the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo and the Kosher supermarket in France, a lot of questions are being asked about the tolerance and peaceful nature of the followers of Islam. Studying the Quran and the prophet Muhammad’s life, however, it becomes abundantly clear that this barbaric act is against the true...
Originally published in The Express Tribune Mr Abbasi stated that judging someone’s faith – whether they were Muslim or not, and how ‘true’ of a Muslim they were – was a prerogative of God alone. Human beings must not judge others, or at least not punish and hurt others based on their own judgment. This is a very simple concept. But in Pakistan, where narrow-minded intolerant religious scholars...
Originally published in The Austin American Statesman The news of 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed being arrested in Irving for bringing a homemade clock to school is disturbing on many levels. The fact that he showed it to his teachers as an accomplishment should have vouched for the fact that it wasn’t mischief. It is equally as disturbing that when it was clearly established to be a clock, the teen...
Originally published in The Pak Tea House In Part 1 of this article published here on Pak Tea House on the 15th of September, 2015, I wrote about how the 1974 Second Amendment to Pakistan’s constitution declaring Ahmadis as non-Muslim reveals a miscarriage of due process in the proceedings. I closed Part 1 by quoting Dr. Mubashir Hassan who said the 1974 event was politically motivated and...
Originally published in The Huffington Post This October, anti-Islam extremists are planning roughly twenty anti-Muslim protests in front of mosques in America. Some of those protests will be armed with loaded and deadly weapons. Those supporting these armed protests claim they do so in the name of “free speech” to maintain justice and the Constitution. I’ve seen this excuse...
Originally published in The Sacramento Bee Re “Clock clash gets student invited to White House” (Page 10A, Sept. 17): I remember ninth grade very well. I was called a terrorist practically every day. When Osama bin Laden was killed, two kids gave me their condolences by shouting, “Sorry about your grandpa!” But I cannot imagine those Islamophobic sentiments being acted upon by teachers. Ninth...
Originally published in USA Today Over the past few days, we have seen a barrage of insensitive comments come from Republican Party candidates in regard to Islam. The most recent came from Ben Carson who said: “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.” He fails to realize the irony of his statement. His views seem to be...
Originally published in The Longview News Journal Welcome, Francis Catholics in the United States have awaited the arrival of Pope Francis for his first visit. As a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, I welcome the pontiff. We applaud his efforts to bridge gaps between faiths and ethnicities and this is in line with the true teaching of Islam, which the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community...
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...