Originally on the CNN Belief BLOG (Repost Courtesy: CNN) Editor’s Note: Qasim Rashid is a national spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. Follow him on Twitter @MuslimIQ. By Qasim Rashid, Special to CNN (CNN)–My New Year’s resolution is to not die for my faith. I’d hoped that 2012 would bring a revolution among Muslims and Muslim-majority nations to free oppressed minds. Yet I find...
The Muslim Writers Guild of America (Majlis Ansar Sultan ul Qalam, USA) is holding regional conferences across the country. The aim of these conferences is to emphasize the significance of utilizing the pen in spreading the beauties of Islam and defending the honor of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The conference schedule is as follows: 1) Harrisburg, PA on Jan 5 2) Houston, TX on Jan 12 3) Milwaukee...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post and The Washington Post Every December, Muslim youth, parents and converts in the Western countries face a familiar dilemma: Why (or how) should they “celebrate” Christmas? On this issue, Muslim scholars are divided. Integrators like the British Cabinet Minister, Baroness Warsiadmonish immigrant Muslims to “celebrate Christmas...
Originally Posted on The Huffington Post And so as we lay 26 innocent souls to rest, we ask yet again — for the 19th time in the past 60 months alone — is this the America we envisioned? Please spare me the “it isn’t the right time to talk about gun laws” talking point. In fact, the right time was much earlier — like after Oak Creek, Boulder, or after...
Originally Published in The Huffington Post Last week, I was taking pictures at my son’s elementary school’s winter concert. The kindergartners were dressed as elephants, monkeys and other animals; my son was wearing the zebra costume. The children were singing; the parents were clapping. It was like watching The Lion King on Broadway. Then on Friday, as I was getting those pictures...
Originally Published in The Washington Post As we prepare to lay 26 souls to rest in Newtown, Conn., countless are left behind, alone. As long as good people have existed, bad things have happened to them. And as long as religion has existed, believers and non-believers alike rightfully ask, “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?” Islam’s answer to the question of suffering does not...
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 Published in The Daily Beast. As the volatility between Israel and Gaza continues to transform, one constant remains: rising “collateral damage.” Unrest in Israel traces back six decades but the concept of collateral damage stretches back several millennia. And while in modern times we are allegedly “more civilized,” 11-month-old Omar Masharawi’s funeral, three dead Israelis, and a...
Originally Posted on The Hartford FAVS “Labbayk” or “Here I am and ready to serve” was what we exclaimed when Hurricane Sandy made her devastation known. Four of us from the Meriden- based Connecticut chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community energetically left for New York on Saturday (Nov. 3) for a three hour trip to provide assistance to those in need. On the way we filled...
Originally Published in The Asbury Park Press I am an Ahmadi Muslim of Pakistani origin. Now 41 years old and a recent naturalized U.S. citizen, I shall, for the first time in my life, exercise my right to vote. I consider this civil right to be of utmost importance, but could not freely vote in my native Pakistan. To vote in Pakistan, the Pakistani constitution requires that I first declare...