Originally published in the Las Vegas Sun he Islamic State has been making headlines since last year. The group is known for coercion, kidnapping and ruthless public beheadings of innocent civilians, all in the name of creating a caliphate across Iraq and Syria. Furthermore, the Islamic State generates revenue to achieve its vicious goals through extortion and robbery. As a practicing Muslim, I...
Originally published in The Daily Bulletin A May 15 letter states that I should stop my “continual challenge” of Christianity, take heed of the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:3 regarding specks and logs in people’s eyes, and spend my time correcting the “shortcomings” of my own religion of Islam. Any “challenges” I have issued in the form of questioning Christian beliefs have been in defense of the...
Originally published in CantonRep Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev are the alleged perpetrators behind the Boston Marathon tragedy that took place last year, causing the deaths of three people and injuring 264 others. Dzhokhar claimed his brother said that these bombings were done to protect Islam from attack. I disagree. These attacks are completely opposite the teachings of Islam and are what...
Originally published in Duluth News Tribune One year removed from the Boston Marathon bombings, people raise eyebrows about Muslims’ loyalty to the United States or Islam’s viewpoint on terrorism. The bombings had no relationship with the beautiful teachings of Islam. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the bombings. The holy Quran condemns all forms of cruelty, violence or extremist...
Originally published in The St. Louis Dispatch As we reflect on the tragic events that unfolded at the Boston Marathon a year ago and try to understand what brought the perpetrators to this dark place, let us not blame the Islamic faith. There is no place in a true Islamic conversion experience that allows for the wanton killing of other people. The Holy Quran, the main sourcebook of Islam...
Originally published in Religion News Service (RNS) Sentenced for professing his atheism, Alexander Aan was recently released after 18 months in an Indonesian prison. Masood Ahmad has already served over two months in a Pakistani prison for reading the Quran as an Ahmadi Muslim. Pastor Saeed Abedini languishes in an Iranian prison for preaching Christianity. They are but a sliver of the...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post As the freezing winds pierced through Washington DC this past weekend, Tehran warmed up to a nuclear peace deal. Since you may have gotten an earful about the three decades of US-Iranian diplomatic quagmire, the two decades of Israeli-Iranian mien of ancient warriors, and a decade old label of “Axis of evil,” I won’t dwell over it...