Originally published in Santa Barbara Independent This Thanksgiving, we all will have many reasons to be thankful. I, for one, am thankful for all the women in my life, which at the moment include my mother and sister-in-law. It goes without saying that women are superheroes. It is then rather fitting that Marvel’s newest character, Ms. Marvel, is portrayed as a teenage female Muslim. While we’d...
Originally Published in the Santa Barbara Independant This Thanksgiving, we all will have many reasons to be thankful. I, for one, am thankful for all the women in my life, which at the moment include my mother and sister-in-law. It goes without saying that women are superheroes. It is then rather fitting that Marvel’s newest character, Ms. Marvel, is portrayed as a teenage female Muslim. While...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post As this brown, bearded Muslim was getting ready to pick up his Thanksgiving turkey order from a local Boston Market, news broke of racist graffiti in New York city. Gap had recently launched a holiday ad campaign featuring diverse models. One such ad showcasing the famous designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia, a Sikh American, had been vandalized, its...
Originally Posted in The Baltimore Sun Mr. President, you and I having a similar challenge: selling a military strike against Syria as a “moral imperative.” But we have different audiences. Your constituents come from all parts of the country; mine from different parts of the world. Yours are driven by myriad interests; mine are simply seeking justice. Yours are young and old; mine...
Originally Published in The Washington Post This is the story of two Washington Iftar dinners. First, the Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren invited Muslim leaders to a diplomatic Iftardinner last week and Imam Antepli of Duke University wondered aloud if the event was meaningful. And then the Obama administration invited Muslim leaders to the White House Iftar dinner and Omid Saifi, the Islamic...
Originally published in The NorthWestern As Thanksgiving comes around, many of us will become pre-occupied with food, family, shopping and football – this is Packer nation after all. It would be nice if we were also thankful for all the blessings we enjoy. Thanksgiving should be about tradition and food but it should also include thinking and caring for the less fortunate amongst us. Near...
Originally published in The Huffington Post As this brown, bearded Muslim was getting ready to pick up his Thanksgiving turkey order from a local Boston Market, news broke of racist graffiti in New York city. Gap had recently launched a holiday ad campaign featuring diverse models. One such ad showcasing the famous designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia, a Sikh American, had been vandalized, its...
Originally published in Santa Barbara Independent “Prayer is better than sleep.” At 4:30 a.m., these words echoed through a hall packed with 1,240 Muslim youth during the call to prayer. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Organization, known as Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya (MKA), brought together Muslim youth across the United States for its annual conference. With activities from 4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., the...
Originally published in Akron Beacon Journal As an American Muslim, I was saddened to hear about the Navy Yard shooting, just like anybody else. In our own holy book, the Quran, it states that, “If anyone slays a person, it would be as if he slew the whole people.” We believe that such tragic events should be combated with greater community service, as Islam teaches us that we were made for the...
Originally published in Montgomery News As a Muslim American, I am delighted with the election of a new pope and want to give to him and all Catholics worldwide my heartfelt congratulations. I hope Pope Francis is able to build a strong bridge with the Muslim world and promote greater peace and tolerance. In fact, this is what has been done by the Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza...