Originally Published in The Santa Barbara Independent “While we should be thankful of being able to fast during the month of Ramadan, we should be particularly thankful of the freedom that we have as American Muslims,” Imam Shamshad Nasir related to a packed congregation in the Bait ul Hameed mosque in Chino, California, during Eid-ul-Fitr. Often shorted to Eid, this celebration is at the end of...
Originally published in Santa Barbara Independent While Ramadan may be known as the month Muslims restrict their caloric consumption, Ramadan is also the month the Qur’an came into being. Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad began to receive revelations of the Qur’an in the lunar month of Ramadan. Muslims further believe the angel Gabriel repeated the portions of the Qur’an revealed up to...
Originally published in Hartford Courant Prayers and congratulations emanated from Muslims to Catholics as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio ascended the papacy after Pope Benedict’s resignation. The previous pope had insulted Islam and its holy founder Muhammad in his Regensburg Lecture, whereas Cardinal Bergoglio devoted a large portion of his efforts to strengthening Catholic-Islamic ties...
Originally published in the Twin Cities Daily Planet Cardinal Bergoglio was elected as the 266th pope of the Catholic Church yesterday. In his first remarks after being elected, Pope Francis said: “Let there be brotherhood amongst us.” As a Muslim, verse 65 of Chapter 3 in the Holy Qur’an reminds us that: “Say, ‘O People of the Book! come to a word equal between us and you —...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post and The Express Tribune Never go to a barber shop while you are still mulling over controversial news like, “Obama invokes gay rights in inaugural address.” Because your mind may sputter an even more controversial question like, “Why then we smother the discussion on the topic of first cousin marriages?” And if the question is...
Originally Published in The Washington Post While many celebrated the winter holidays, news broke of the arrest in Saudi Arabia of liberal writer Turki Al Hamad for allegedly insulting Islam on Twitter. We also heard of another Saudi activist, Raif Badawi, who was arrested in June and will now continue with his trial, accused of apostasy for ridiculing Saudi Arabia’s religious police and making...
Originally Published on the Hartfordfavs.com On Thanksgiving, this Muslim American gave thanks for enjoying religious freedom in America. The first pilgrims to the New World, the Puritans, wearing their traditional bonnets and trousers, fled an intolerant Europe. Today, in places like France, Muslim women are banned from wearing headscarves in public places. constantly escaping into the...
Originally Published in The Washington Post Conflict became inevitable when the United Nations approved the 1947 Israel/Palestine partition. Over six decades later, the region’s health continues to suffer and the world hangs precariously close to global conflict. While Palestine’s 2012 upgrade to “permanent observer” is a much-needed step forward, it alone is not enough. In the conflict over...
Originally Posted on The Hartford FAVS Dreams, they are an uncertain yet intriguing dimension. The question is, however, are they simply insignificant ramblings of our own incoherent thoughts lying, apparently, dormant in our subconscious, or are they secret eye-opening communications from unseen worlds that we merely just don’t understand? Maybe both, but who’s really to say? Does the answer lie...
Originally Published in The New Jersey Record. Regarding “Man held in N.Y.C. bombing scheme” (Page A-1, Oct. 18): As an American Muslim, I strongly condemn Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis’ attempt to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He claims that he was inspired by Osama bin Laden’s teachings. While the Quran instructs Muslims not to create disorder in...