Can we all just get along? Yes, we can, a Muslim says (The Charleston Gazette)

Posted in Op-Eds on May 26th, 2011
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — I am a Muslim physician. For the past decade, I have taught a simple principle to my medical students: Never jab your patients where they hurt. Not because you don’t have the freedom to do so. But exercising your freedom recklessly would not foster trust between you and your patients. If you must examine such an area, do it gently, with their permission. This principle seems to be at the heart of the debate over Islam, so aptly captured by the May 19 editorial in the Gazette. And in this debate, we are all doctors; we are all patients. Just look at how many times in...
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Muhammad Never Tortured Prisoners of War (Huffington Post)

Posted in Op-Eds on May 22nd, 2011
  Thanks to my friend, Farid, for sending this joke: Wikileaks released the following taped conversation between President Obama and Pakistan’s President Zardari, who is well known for taking kickbacks. President Obama: Mr. President, I am going to make the announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death to the world. Would you like to take any credit for this operation? President Zardari: No, sir. No credit. I take cash only. Jokes aside, bin Laden’s death has ignited the “who gets the credit” debate. Who gets the credit for his death, who gets the credit for ...
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Seeking a Commander-in-Chief for True Islam (Huffington Post)

Posted in Op-Eds on May 9th, 2011
I wonder if an ad went up on some websites on May 1, seeking applicants for a new commander-in-chief for al Qaeda? Trust me. Al Qaeda Inc. is not going to allow a leadership vacuum to develop — no matter how decentralized their operations become and how many terror franchises they open. It’s a stark reality: Bin laden is dead, but his ideology is not. And inspirational leadership is the best catalyst for ideologies to thrive. Today, the Islamic world is facing a hard choice: follow the militant ideology or revert to our roots of peaceful Islam? Choose militant figures or follow...
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‘Muslimericans’ React to Bin Laden’s Death (The Huffington Post)

Posted in Op-Eds on May 3rd, 2011
What a difference a decade can make! I remember seeing a patient with a gangrenous foot a few hours after the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001, trying to convince him that an amputation would save his life. As the events of the terror attacks unfolded, I as an American Muslim felt torn and divided: The American in me felt angry, sad, and depressed (even though my anger and sadness would do no one any good) and the Muslim in me felt embarrassed, hurt, and molested (even though no formal connection of the terrorists with Islam had been established yet). On the...
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