Refugee stories are part of our common history. Prophet Muhammad was a refugee. Jesus was a refugee. Mary, his mother, was a refugee. Joseph, too. Moses was a refugee. Abraham was a refugee. Rejecting the most vulnerable among us is an affront to the prophets. How would Muhammad himself approach a refugee crisis? I answered…… Continue reading A Prophetic Call To Welcome Refugees – Muhammad’s Example
Rice University News and Media has written the first news article about Islam, Race, and Pluralism in the Pakistani Diaspora. This book is due to be published on July 11, 2017. Many of the young Pakistani men that I interviewed in Boston and Dublin see Pakistan, their country of origin, as being alien to them, but at the…… Continue reading Rice University News and Media Introduces “Islam, Race, and Pluralism in the Pakistani Diaspora”
How do Christians engage with Muslims? For some Christians, there is no engagement at all. Polls have actually found a correlation between a lack of engagement with Muslims and Islamophobia among Christian Americans. Other Christians in the United States and around the world engage with Islam in an energetic way. Pope Francis is one such…… Continue reading Pope Francis Calls on Christians to “Cross Over to the Other Side” to Meet Muslims
An important article in The News International was published today. It touches on whether Muslims should greet Christians with Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The author of the piece, Aijaz Zaka Syed, was taken aback by the convoluted logic that Muslims are “aping the West” by sending warm greetings to Christians. Syed claims that the…… Continue reading Tolerance Is a Vital Part of the Islamic Faith
You know I’m a proponent of interfaith studies. I’ve studied Islam as a Catholic for over 12 years now. One thing I’ve realized is the importance of studying together – like actually sitting down with someone outside of your specific tradition. Go over the texts together. Interpret together. Dissect controversial passages together. Break bread together.…… Continue reading When People of Faith Meet Around Their Scriptures
By John Smelcer and Craig Considine Sometime between 622 and 632 A.D., during what is called “The Medina Years,” the Prophet Muhammad decreed a series of covenants specifically addressing Christians in the region… For the most part, these covenants have been neglected or forgotten in the Western world, although religious scholars have been aware of their…… Continue reading The Sum of Our Fears – Islamophobia, Faith and Non-Violence
Rice Magazine (Summer, 2016: p. 19) wrote a short piece on my research paper on Prophet Muhammad’s covenants with Christians. Author Amy McCaig wrote: “Prophet Muhammad believed that freedom of religion and civic rights were important components of a ‘Muslim nation,’ according to a new analysis of the prophet’s covenants with Christians. Research by Rice…… Continue reading From Islamic History, Lessons on Religious Freedom
I sometimes think about the glories of “Islamic Spain,” or Al-Andalus. Starting around 711 and ending in 1492, Muslim rulers maintained a spirit of convivencia, a Spanish term meaning “living in togetherness” or “coexistence”, which allowed for an unprecedented level of interfaith engagement on the European continent. While Al-Andalus may represent the pinnacle of cooperation among Muslims, Christians…… Continue reading The Other Al-Andalus – When Muslims and Christians Flourished Side By Side in Sicily
Countries in the so-called “Western world” often depict themselves as the true torchbearers of democratic principles and religious freedom. In setting themselves up in the binary of the “Western world” versus “Islamic civilization,” Western leaders suggest that Muslims worldwide are less tolerant and accepting of religious minorities. Such an argument is a gross misrepresentation of Islamic…… Continue reading Pluralism in the Prophet’s Covenants: A Christian Perspective on Interreligious Solidarity Against Discrimination
Published in Islam Today (magazine) – Online version – Magazine print version It is no secret that Christians are being persecuted in the ‘Muslim world’. According to the World Watch List for 2015, nine out of the top ten countries where Christians suffer ‘extreme persecution’ have populations that are at least 50% Muslim. Much of…… Continue reading Under the Government of Prophet Muhammad
Support for Donald Trump is surging across the United States. This is particularly troubling because in recent weeks, he has called for banning Muslim immigration, shutting down mosques, spying on Muslims, making Muslims carry ID badges, and a few other blatantly Islamophobic things. It’s like Hitler, American-style. Clearly, Trump and his supporters (maybe not all of…… Continue reading What Trump and His Supporters Can Learn From Muslim Leaders
I am excited to share the news of author Qasim Rashid’s forthcoming book Talk To Me: The 5 Conversations We Need To Have But Aren’t, available in November 2015 in time for the holiday season. Rashid describes Talk To Me on his Facebook page as “a new kind of book with a new exciting approach to story telling.” The…… Continue reading Qasim Rashid’s New Book “Talk To Me: The 5 Conversations We Need To Have But Aren’t”
I woke up yesterday to some horrific news. Muslims attacked a Church during mass in Youhanabad, a predominantly Christian-populated area of Lahore, Pakistan. 14 Christians were killed and more than 70 were injured. Both Christianity and Pakistan are close to my heart. I’m a Catholic American of Irish and Italian descent. I’m also a scholar who researches the Pakistani…… Continue reading A Message to Pakistani Muslims Who Attack My Fellow Christians
Note: Akbar the Great, ruler of most of South Asia in the 16th and early 17th century, rejected bigotry and made unprecedented moves to help non-Muslims feel at peace in his Mughal empire. Below is passage from my article Finding Tolerance in Akbar, the Philosopher King, published in April 2013. You can also watch my short…… Continue reading What Does Akbar the Great Teach Us About Tolerance in Islamic History?
Over the years I have penned many articles to highlight the pluralist spirit of the U.S. founding fathers. Independence Day is an opportunity for Americans and people worldwide to celebrate human rights and religious tolerance. The founding fathers were by no means perfect, and neither is America, but their vision for the U.S. is something…… Continue reading Understanding the Pluralism of the Founding Fathers
The founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, is much like Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and intellectual behind the American Revolution. Both men were educated, trained as lawyers, and powerful figures behind the independence movements of two countries, Pakistan and the United States of America. At the moment, Jinnah is in the…… Continue reading Tales of Two Founding Fathers: Jinnah and Jefferson
Akbar the Great is an extraordinary figure in history. Who is he? What did he stand for and what can we learn from his legacy? These are some of the questions which are touched upon in this short documentary. *Feel free to watch/write a review in the comments section. Thank you.* Reviews: “I have tears of…… Continue reading Finding Pluralism in Akbar the Great (A Short Documentary)
Akbar the Great is an extraordinary figure in history. Who is he? What did he stand for and what can we learn from his legacy? These are some of the questions which are touched upon in this short documentary. It is inspired by some research I conducted for an article in the Huffington Post Religion. Related articles…… Continue reading Short Documentary: “Finding Pluralism in Akbar the Great”
A great interview with Interfaith Youth Core founder Eboo Patel is up on Real Clear Religion. Patel, who wrote a nice review of Akbar Ahmed’s documentary Journey into America, which I directed, is one of the most important leaders in the U.S. today for his impressive work in promoting pluralism and interfaith dialogue. RealClearReligion: What is…… Continue reading Pluralist working towards making interfaith cooperation a norm in U.S.
Although they are typically seen to represent overwhelming opposites, the Prophet Muhammad and America’s founding fathers shared many common characteristics and beliefs, which can be seen in historical documents. By comparing the speeches and texts that they left behind, we can learn of the similar viewpoints that Muhammad and the founding fathers held on issues…… Continue reading Documents Show Prophet Muhammad and US Founding Fathers Were Kindred Spirits
Go on a journey into the heart of Islam’s mystical side – Sufism. Explore the roots of Sufi music, art, poetry, etc. Sufi music is particularly thrilling and attracted me to study more about Islam. I highly recommend this short piece from Channel 4. The presenter takes the audience to Sufi shrines of the Virgin…… Continue reading An Anecdote to Negative Stereotypes of Islam
I have started putting my research into video format on You Tube. These passages from Washington, Adams, Franklin and Jefferson have been taken from my Huffington Post article. I hope this message of peace and tolerance reaches more people around the world.
Syed Taj, who happens to be a Muslim American immigrant, is running as a Democratic candidate for Congress in Michigan. His opponent has just run a nasty add on television claiming that he wants to ‘advance Muslim power’ or something of that ridiculous nature. When asked how he felt about the commercial, Taj responds with:…… Continue reading Syed Taj Reinforces the Pluralist Vision of the Founding Fathers
One Film 9/11 and Journey into America continue to receive attention. Read my latest article, ‘What would America’s Founding Fathers say about Islam?’, in Common Ground News Service: Americans and Muslims worldwide shouldn’t be surprised when they see that the writings of America’s Founding Fathers reveal an open perspective and absolute acceptance of Islam and,…… Continue reading Work: My latest article on Founding Fathers and Islam in Common Ground News Service
Note: A quote from a speech that JFK gave on September 12, 1960, before the Greater Houston Ministerial Association. My comment is that I would have liked to see other references to Muslims, Hindus, etc, as there were certainly non-Christians and Jews living at this time in the United States. I believe in an America…… Continue reading Religion: JFK’s speech on religious freedom
In a treaty with the Islamic nation of Tripoli initiated by George Washington, completed by John Adams, and ratified by the US Senate in 1797, the Founding Fathers declared that … the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion… So, for the love, please spread this around, especially…… Continue reading A quote for the Christian-American right
We can gain a sense of young Benjamin Franklin’s thoughts on religion in A Witch Trial at Mount Holly, which raised the concern of his Puritan parents that he held ‘erroneous’ religious opinions. Franklin was not himself an emphatically religious man; while he believed in God, he did not subscribe to one particular creed. What we do…… Continue reading Benjamin Franklin’s Case for Pluralism
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