By Dr. Bilal Rana             My dear son,   Assalaamo Alaikum.   With all that’s going on, it’s time for a father-son talk.  A lot of people are saying Muslims are bad.  I want you to know you’ve done nothing wrong and have no reason to be ashamed.  You see, sometimes we adults forget what it’s like to be a child.   Mark Twain once wrote “Nothing that troubles us can be called little.  A... Read more

by Labeeb Ahmad As a devout Muslim who doesn’t believe Islam needs to be reformed, but instead Muslims themselves, some of Omer Aziz’s words in What ISIS Really Is are agreeable – that ISIS is not Islam, that Islam is not a monolith, and that many factors come to play when discussing extremist organizations. However, with his cliffhanger questioning regarding the nature of Islam and his subtle jabs at the “Rightly-Guided Caliphs,” Aziz’s conclusions require serious scrutiny. Who determines what... Read more

by Seidu Malik  In 2016, we witnessed an unprecedented level of violence against citizens. Men and women who have sworn to defend the community during day and night as well as adverse weather conditions tragically lost their lives in the line of duty. At unprecedented rates, civilians with no training or possession of firearms lost their lives at the hands of some law enforcement personnel. These unfortunate developments set of chains of violent demonstrations across the country and soul searching... Read more

by Musawar Syed To whom it may concern, “The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of Bad people, but because of the silence of good people.” – Napoleon Bonaparte In the Quran, Allah the Most Gracious and Merciful says: 1. “For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.” (109:6). 2. “Whoever kills a person [unjustly]…it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had... Read more

by Kwabena Osman The world has watched in horror the events that unfolded in Aleppo, Syria. The siege in that city has left hundreds of people dead and thousands of people displaced.  This war between pro-government forces and rebel groups has put the citizenry in a very devastated situation especially the vulnerable one’s among them like women, children, the old and orphans who may have nothing to do with this war. In a recent report and video, orphans were seen pleading... Read more

by Nayyar Ahmed  Social unrest is now the narrative of the day, a new ‘order’ that extremists are dictating for the world to follow. As we ease into our holiday season, the Grinch is always lurking around the corner, ever ready to pounce at us with a rude surprise. The truck attack in Berlin and the cold-blooded assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov and the ensuing grotesque images of the assassin standing next to the body are... Read more

by Ibrahim Ijaz Is anyone surprised that hate crimes have increased 31% in 2016? This year has been exceptionally revealing in terms of hidden, hateful sentiments. But hate based crime isn’t just an American issue. Unlike apple pie, hate based crime is on the rise globally as well. My religious community, The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, is especially familiar with violence stemming from intolerance in Pakistan. On Monday, December 12th, a mob of 1,000 attacked an Ahmadi Mosque while worshippers were inside. This incident occurred... Read more

by Zahid Mian That the world is increasingly moving towards instability is not shocking.  Riots and protesters are common on the streets of countries across the world.  Neither the rich nor the poor are immune from these eruptions.  Greece, Egypt, South Africa, Iceland, Venezuela, Pakistan, Myanmar, and even the United States have seen their share of protesters. In the United States, movements like Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, environmental protesters, and those like the “alt right” that take their... Read more