Originally Published in The Finger Lakes Times I never got a chance to meet the Sandy Hook 20. But if I had, I’d ask about their favorite food, their goals, their views on the world, what makes them laugh, and if they were happy. I’d tell them that if Jesus met them, he’d remind them they belong to “the kingdom of God,” if Muhammad met them he’d hug them, if Buddha...
Originally Published in The Richmond Times-Dispatch Being the exception is a good thing, right? Maybe not, if you’re Pakistan. Christians have endured persecution for so long in Pakistan that it may rightly be considered commonplace. Therefore, I had little hope for a pending case against Rimsha Masih — a 14-year-old Christian girl, who is also mentally ill, charged with allegedly burning the...
Originally Published in The Finger Lakes Times With the Taliban’s horrific attack on 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, some insist that Islam permits women’s education. Such a position is downright offensive and wrong. Islam does not permit women’s education – it mandates it. As a board member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association USA (www.muslimyouth.org), I passionately...
Originally Published in The Finger Lakes Times My buddy Joseph, whose father’s name is also Joseph, just had a baby. The baby’s name is Joseph. For some unfathomable reason, when the baby’s name was being chosen, “Sardar Anees” wasn’t on the table. Names aside, everyone will agree that a child’s birth ushers in a great deal of happiness – and anxiety. The...
Originally Published in The Finger Lakes Times On July 4th, 2012 American physicists – not politicians – had something grand to comment on: Scientists at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland had discovered the “God Particle.” Formally known as the Higgs boson, its discovery is considered to be on par with Copernicus’ discovery of the sun being the center of the solar system. Among those scientists who...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post Sardar Anees Ahmad remembers exactly where he was when the second plane struck on 9/11: obliviously walking with his professor, going from one class to another at his college in New York. As the tragedy unfolded, and one after another, a Muslim face and name resembling his, started flashing on TV screens worldwide, the 19-year-old Ahmad felt his blood...
Originally Published in The Finger Lakes Times One of the world’s greatest scientists, Albert Einstein was asked to opine on various fields of knowledge – including God. Einstein considered himself a strict determinist, meaning he believed God created the universe but that God did not answer prayers or intervene in human affairs. Einstein’s views resulted from his own remarkable scientific...
Originally Published in The Finger Lakes Times Last month, we ended a discussion about the philosophy of divine punishment with reference to Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) victory over Pharaoh. The “splitting of the sea” was referenced and deserved its own discussion, to which we now turn. Before analyzing the specific events surrounding the “splitting of the sea,” the reader must understand...