Category: Dr. Ahmad’s blog
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What’s Next for Pakistan?
I was interviewed by PressTV today on the situation in Pakistan. Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Asif Ali Zardari, who has spent pent a total of 11 years in jail on charges including corruption to murder, but has never been convicted of anything, won 481 of 702 electoral college votes to become Pakistan’s new president. He…
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Politics and Policies are the Real Problem, Not Faith
[Note: This blog entry was originally submitted as an op-ed respond to Monica Duffy Toft’s article, “Why Islam Lies at the Heart of Iraq’s Civil War” in the Christian Science Monitor on June 2.] Although we agree with the policy prescriptions of Monica Duffy Toft’s June 2 op-ed in the Monitor, we must point out…
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Sixty Years of American Support for Israel: Costs and Benefits
Farspress send me some questions occasioned by the sixtieth anniversary of the state of Israel. Here are my answers. Q. Given the damage the image of the West has suffered in the Muslim world by its support of Israel, what are the West’s achievements ? A. While few Muslims would agree that the achievements are…
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The Economic Impact of the Iraq War
Some critics of the war in Iraq have called for a military draft as means of building pressure for growth in the anti-war movement. They forget that the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam followed the ending of the draft by several months. A draft makes extended unjust wars possible. The popular notion to the contrary is…
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Gallup Poll Lets Muslims Speak for Themselves
Jim Clifton’s ears picked up when he heard Donald Rumsfeld answer the question “Why do they hate us?†with the remark that you can’t do a Gallup poll of Muslims. Clifton is the CEO of that prestigious organization, and he asked his experts if they could do a poll of the Muslim world, and they…
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Ignored by Israel, American Policies Alienate Egypt and Strengthen Hamas
Yesterday, at the Carnegie Institute of International Peace, I attended a program sponsored by the American Task Force on Palestine and the Foundation for Middle East Peace on the crisis in Gaza. The speakers were Geoffrey Aronson (Director of Research and Publications of the Middle East Forum) and Mark Perry (Director of the Conflicts Forum).…
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Is This the Shariah?
Someone is smearing Islam. This time, however, Muslims can’t blame the Zionists, Christian Fundamentalists, or neoconservatives. This time they can find the culprits in the mirror. In the past Muslims have been indignant about claims made by non-Muslims that Islamic law calls for the murder of non-Muslims or for female genital mutilation, and they have…
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“Come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!†(Offer may not apply to Palestinian Christians)
“Come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem! (Offer may not apply to Palestinian Christians)†Christmas is supposed to be a happy time. Even though it is not a Muslim holiday, I remember my Mom’s stories of how the Muslims of Palestine used to share in the good will of their Christian neighbors during their holidays.…
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The Betrayal of Islamic Law by Its Self-Appointed Guardians
Any lawyer will tell you that there is great latitude for debating the law in any legal system. The Islamic legal system in no exception. However, certain interpretations of the law are an embarrassing absurdity, and the case of the woman known only as “the Girl of Qatif†is made all the more disgraceful in…
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Benazir Bhutto’s Return to Pakistan
We were recently interviewed by Javier Mendez of Chile’s El Mercurio on Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan. Here are the answers Alejandro Beutel and I gave to his questions. 1) What are the expectation for the return Benazir Bhutto to Pakistan? Musharraf and his supporters, who are in an embattled position, politically against popular sentiment…
