In Perspective

Today is the Feast of the Sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, commemorating Hazrat Ibrahim’s and Hazrat Ismail’s willingness to sacrifice everything to God. Traditionally, some sort of animal is sacrificed to symbolize our willingness to do the same. While I appreciate the symbolic value, I’m also a firm believer in the adage about teaching someone to fish; right now the sacrificed meat is distributed to the needy. I remember the story as being Hazrat Ibrahim being asked to sacrifice what was most dear to him, and now that is money. With all of the above in mind I tried to get a…

CNN is reporting that there have been several people detained for the Spain bombings, and it appears more likely now that they are killing in the name of Islam. Since they have chosen to use a thin veneer of religion to justify their blind, ignorant hate, allow me to respond to them with religious language. Damn them! May God take the people responsible for these attacks and burn them in the hottest hell-fires. May they feel the fear, pain and anguish they have inflicted upon others a thousandfold. Damn them! If they want to use religious language, let them. True…

I do have a multihyphenated experience and identity. I think that makes me an American. It’s not mutually exclusive to be Muslim, Pakistani, and American. Sometimes that very simple message gets lost when fearmongering is stoked by individuals with selfish agendas. via www.americanprogress.org My boy Wajahat Ali give a great interview with the Center for American Progress on the Power of Storytelling