[Originally published with Women in the World] Empathy is the act of putting yourself in the shoes of another in order to reach an emotional state where the other person’s emotions are not only understood, but are also felt with equal pain and grit. Radical empathy reaches further, to break up the layers of the […]
[Originally written for Women in the World] The barbaric practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is a primitive practice that grew out of tribal custom predominantly in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. It’s the act of dismembering the clitoris — sometimes brutally with cut glass and no anesthetics — to deter girls […]
Originally published with On Being. There are times when you find yourself completely surrendered to the power of a moment. David Whyte’s voice filled the air one morning, as wave after wave of sound was the siren song turning my head. This was one of those moments. I plunged into the abyss of his words. And in […]
Originally published in the NYT Women in the World Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is the horrific act of cutting off a young girl’s clitoris. Often seen as a humanitarian and women’s rights crisis in third-world countries, FGM hit home in the United States recently when an American-born Muslim doctor was arrested and charged with committing FGM on two girls. […]
Writing for Huffington Post, Amer Aziz submits a response article to my controversial House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on radical Islam, where I engage in a historical discussion on Prophet Muhammad and early Muslims. In typical fashion becoming of Muslims holding onto a crumbling identity under the pressure of free thought, Aziz writes: However, Shireen Qudosi, […]
Americans are wonderfully generous people and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF), which has over $8 billion dollars in assets and ranks as the largest community foundation in the country, is a premier example of this joyful trait. As moderate Muslims, the undersigned appreciate that SVCF has chosen to champion Muslim interests. However, we must […]
Originally Published with The Daily Wire The Left’s vicious attack on Barron Trump’s emotional reaction to a picture mocking his father’s beheading is not that different from the way Islamic extremists push children directly into the line of fire. While Americans from both sides of the divide came together to condemn the horrific mock visual of a […]
Originally Published with Gatestone Institute For a Western audience, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is a complex figure, who was shunned by the Obama administration. There appear truly pressing, immediate priorities in Egypt, such as developing the economy and combating the avalanche of extremist attempts to overthrow him. Among Middle East and North African territories, […]
Originally published in Gatestone Institute The most iconic moment of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East was not his “speech on Islam“; it was his visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The Western Wall is a contested space, and that controversy has bled outside Israel’s borders. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently reignited the debate, […]
Originally published in The Federalist President Trump understands the most direct path to change is to work in people’s self-interest, to cater to advancement through mutual gain — a strategy that also won him the election. President Trump embarked on an iconic first foreign tour this weekend to the Middle East that started with a […]
Originally published with America Matters On First 100 Days, Fox News host Martha MacCallum brought together 8 diverse Muslims as part of a larger 22 member panel to talk about President Trump’s temporary travel ban. While the panel was passionate, the pre and post show dialogue reflected a softer side of American Muslims that often […]
Originally published in The Federalist A Frankenstein’s monster of identity politics, the Women’s March on Washington heaved through the streets of DC one day after the inauguration in a fit of depraved hypocrisy. That hypocrisy shadows activist and National Co-Chair of the Women’s March Linda Sarsour. In the past Sarsour has railed against women spotlighting misogyny in the Muslim world. […]
“Kafir” is one of the most stunning pieces of poetry, penned by Salman Haider. Kafir is a provocative and controversial term in Islam, meaning someone who knows the truth but rejects it; someone who covers up the truth. It is also a widely used term exploited to create division between Muslims and non-Muslims. Haider was one […]
Humanity evolves when we broaden our understanding of what it means to be alive. What does it mean to be sentient, conscious, and alive? Making life about more than just ourselves is an important key step in elevating human consciousness and also getting people to care about conservation and resource protection. New Zealand took a giant […]
