Originally published in The Daily Times Barely over a year ago, the Taliban attacked a school in Peshawar and took 144 innocent lives, mostly children. And now, they have struck again. Once again, the target of their terror was harmless students. As peace activist and Pashtun hero Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s death anniversary was being commemorated at Bacha Khan University earlier this week...
Originally published on Patheos.com Why didn’t we hear the term “Muslim terrorist” or “Jihadist” before the 1980s? Islam has been around for more than 1400 years but “Islamic” terrorist organizations were not to be found prior to 1980. The first Islamist terrorist attack was the bombing of the Tyre Headquarters in 1982. Was Islam different prior to the 1980s or was there some sort of fundamental...
Originally posted on The Tribune Five years ago, I lost close friends in one of the most gruesome terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil. In twin attacks on two major Ahmadi places of worship in Lahore, 88 worshippers were martyred by the Taliban. It was a painfully bloody day. This weekend, I woke up to sad news from Pakistan that made me relive some of that pain. Fourteen worshipers were martyred...
Originally posted on The Tribune NEW JERSEY: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack on two churches in Lahore. In 2013, a similar church attack in Peshawar claimed more than 80 innocent lives. These extremists defy the teachings of the Holy Quran which instructs Muslims to protect all places of worship, explicitly mentioning churches. The perpetrators of...
Originally published in Lansing State Journal When I heard about the horrific attack on a military school in Peshawar, I was deeply saddened at the progression of Taliban terrorism in Pakistan. But when I heard that they targeted and killed over 130 innocent children, I was speechless. How could anyone who claims membership of my own faith commit such an act of inhumanity? Especially with...
Originally Published in Faith Street We’ve all heard the story of Pakistan’s most courageous teen—Aitzaz Hasan—who stopped a suicide bomber before he killed hundreds. Aitzaz could have run and saved his own life. He could have pretended it wasn’t his responsibility. He could have been selfish. But instead Aitzaz gave his life to save countless more. And as a result, Pakistan and Muslims worldwide...
Originally Published in The Daily Caller Al Qaeda, Taliban extremists, and Mike Huckabee have at least one thing in common — all believe Islam is a violent religion. In a recent tirade, Huckabee wondered, “why it is that we tiptoe around a religion that promotes the most murderous mayhem on the planet in their so-called holiest days. … the most likely time to have an uprising of rock throwing and...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post After a gruesome reelection campaign, President Obama should unwind. And instead of playing basketball, he should watch a movie. How about the 2007 biographical drama, “Charlie Wilson’s War”? It’s about the period when the United States was leaving Afghanistan after wrapping up its covert anti-Soviet operation there. Tom Hanks...
Originally Published in The Daily Times, Pakistan. On October 30, Pakistan took the proverbial human rights ‘hot seat’ in Geneva at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s second ever Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This unique process mandates that all 193 UN Member States submit to an examination of their human rights record once every four years. In the span of four hours, all UN Member...
Originally Published in The New Haven Register I was shocked to learn that 15-year-old Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai was recently shot in the head by a Taliban gunman just because she advocated for a woman’s right to an education. Did these trigger-happy extremists know or care that the Prophet Muhammad had said that educating your daughters will earn you paradise? Based on this advice, my...