A matter of shame (The Express Tribune)

Posted in Letters to Editors, Print on Jul 17th, 2010
MARYLAND, US: As an American Muslim of Pakistani descent, I am appalled and disgusted at reports of what happened to dozens of Hindus after a Hindu boy drank water from a cooler situated outside a mosque situated in Karachi’s outskirts. Such acts find no support either in the teachings of Islam or in the founding principles of Pakistan. Islam is fundamentally committed not only to freedom, but also the protection of minorities. During the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), non-Muslims frequently visited and enjoyed meals inside the vicinity of mosques. Our country’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah,...
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Troubling answer to query ‘Where are moderate Muslims?’ (Boston Globe)

Posted in Letters to Editors, Print on Jul 8th, 2010
NEWS OF suicide blasts at a Lahore, Pakistan, Sufi shrine, which promotes a moderate version of Islam, is unsettling (“Attack on Pakistani shrine leaves 35 dead,175 wounded,’’ Page A6, July 2). Even more disturbing is the backdrop of terror attacks in the same city that killed at least 93 Ahmadi Muslims, another moderate sect within Islam, just over a month ago. Both groups have been labeled as heretics by the Wahhabi school of thought because of their views. During my visit to Pakistan in 2004, I asked friends the question many Americans had asked after Sept. 11, 2001: Where are the moderate...
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Conflicted loyalties of Muslim-American youth (The Baltimore Sun)

Posted in Op-Eds, Print on Jul 4th, 2010
We need to raise a new generation for whom devotion to America and the Quran are integrated July 04, 2010 A few years ago, on a 4th of July cookout, I met a group of youth who were feeling alienated and downright embarrassed about declaring their Muslim identity. “Am I a foreigner Muslim living in America or a Muslim American who was born oversees?” one of them asked. “Being a Muslim and an American is not easy,” remarked the other. This conflict manifests itself when a third-grader calls in sick to celebrate Eid at the end of Ramadan and along the way turns from a...
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