Originally Published in the Northwest Herald “It is the duty of all believers, to whichever religion they belong, to proclaim that we can never be happy pitted one against the other, the future of humanity will never be able to be secured by terrorism and by the logic of war.” Pope John Paul II made this powerful statement back in 2003. Today, I am reminded of this same sentiment as I hear Pope...
Originally Published in the Huffington Post Feb. 28 came and went, and thus ended Pope Benedict’s short tenure. According to most, no claimant to Divine office remains on Earth, at least until the next pope is elected. On the contrary, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the world’s only Khalifa and head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, continues his lifelong Divinely...
Originally published in The Daily Herald On Jan. 21, I celebrated one of the most important aspects of being free. Regardless of one’s political affiliation, the pride and honor we feel in being free to choose our nation’s leader is humbling. Considering in many parts of the world individuals do not have a choice I’m thankful I do. As a Muslim, I will pray for my country and its...
Originally Published in the Dailyherald.com Living in this beautiful country grants us freedom. But unfortunately, the land of the free isn’t free of horrific tragedies. The senseless and brutal killings of innocent people at the elementary school in Connecticut has shocked and saddened the entire nation. The lone gunman took his own life after taking 26 others, that included 20...
Originally Published in The WashingtonPost.com As a Muslim American, #MyJihad begins every night—get to bed on time so I can wake for pre-dawn prayer and nourish my soul. #MyJihad is not skipping a healthy breakfast—as our Starbucks society is prone to tempt—and thus properly nourish my body. #MyJihad ensures I spend time daily in service to humanity—charity, volunteer work, and mentoring—to...
Originally Published on Goerie.com and The Hartford Courant. On Thanksgiving, this Muslim American gave thanks for enjoying religious freedom in America. The first pilgrims to the New World, the Puritans, wearing their traditional bonnets and trousers, fled an intolerant Europe. Today, in places like France, Muslim women are banned from wearing headscarves in public places. What’s worse...
Originally Published on HartfordFavs.com “Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you. No, you can’t. Yes, I can. No, you can’t. Yes, I can…” Though only some know the Broadway musical to which these charmingly obnoxious lyrics belong, all of us are undeniably accustomed to such immature vanity. The real life repercussions of this age-old feud...
Originally Published in IndiaWest: Your Global Indian Community. Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth Khalifatul Masih (the successor of the Messiah) for the world’s tens of millions of Ahmadi Muslims, will deliver keynote addresses over three days to an expected crowd of 10,000 Ahmadi Muslims during the Community’s 64th annual U.S. convention in Harrisburg, Penn. The three-day event will be...
During his 1960 Presidential campaign, then Senator John F. Kennedy said that if a conflict arose between his Presidency and his loyalty to the Pope, he would give up his Presidency. A few weeks ago, Reverend Gregory, while referencing my monthly column, essentially questioned whether being a Muslim and American was possible. His reasons, however, left me scratching my head. The Reverend...
I thought the question was so absurd to begin with, that it would go away on its own. I was wrong. Four years later, that absurd question, “Do you think Barack Obama is a Muslim?” keeps nagging the American psyche in national and regional polls – despite ample data to the contrary. In 2009, a Pew Research Center poll showed that one in ten Americans believed President Obama was a Muslim;...