On Veterans Day, contemplating a world without war (The Baltimore Sun)
Posted in Op-Eds, Print on Nov 11th, 2010
On this Veterans Day, I fondly think about my time serving as a physician-in-training at a New York Veterans Administration hospital. The year was 2000. The Gulf War was over. Our national debt was $5.7 trillion. Jobs were abundant. And “Gulf War Syndrome” was the biggest health concern for our veterans.
The VA’s motto always resonated with me: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” And I tried my best to care for my patients with Gulf War Syndrome, despite the unexplainable complexity of their symptoms — ranging from...
Juan Williams’ Firing Not Justified (AOL News)
Posted in Online, Op-Eds, Print on Oct 22nd, 2010
(Oct. 22) — “Believe it or not, I prefer driving a car instead of riding a camel.”
I have successfully used this phrase as an ice-breaker in the beginning of my noncredit course titled “Islam: Fact and Fiction” at Harford Community College. The course is interactive and covers a broad range of hot-button issues regarding Islam. In the beginning of each course, we agree on a set of ground rules as a group. Out of approximately 10 ground rules, I always propose that students can ask any questions, without having to worry about my sensitivity. Everyone agrees.
And that makes...
USA: Assimilation? Try “education” instead (Asbury Park Press)
Posted in Op-Eds on Oct 10th, 2010
The assimilation of my wife and I into American culture started in Long Branch in 1996. That is where we, both doctors, settled after moving from Pakistan.
As I started my medical residency at Monmouth Medical Center, she sacrificed her career for our newborn daughter and became a full-time homemaker. Our inability to afford a car left us stranded on weekends.
And even though a NJ Transit train station was right across from our home, round trips to Manhattan were expensive. This always left us one available and affordable excursion: a walk to the beach.
As practicing Muslims, you could recognize us...
Why must we fight to achieve peace? (Orlando Sentinel)
Posted in Op-Eds on Sep 12th, 2010
With increasing incidents of homegrown terrorism in America, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA has led a national campaign to educate its youth about the importance of loyalty to one’s country as a tenet of Islam.
As I used the term “Muslimerican” to capture the essence of our message, a teenager startled me by asking, “Is peace an American value?”
I responded, “Of course.”
“How many times is the word ‘peace’ mentioned in our Constitution?” he probed.
“How many times is the word ‘democracy’ mentioned in our...
Islamophonia and Ground Zero Mosque controversy (NPR Affiliate Radio)
Posted in Radio on Aug 20th, 2010 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...
About Me
