Category: Dr. Ahmad’s blog

Here are my answers to some questions posed by Fars Press, an Iranian news agency in Iran. Q. What is NATO’s function to bring stable and security to Afganistan, and as we see Afganistan is unstable and insecure and also the Taliban threat has increased, how do you evaluate it? A. Lord Ismay, NATO’s first…

Here is a remarkable development. According to an article in the Chrsitian Science Monitor (“West Bank Scholars Push for Spiritual Reply to Hamas Extremism”), Muslim supporters of Fatah like Shaikh Sad Sharaf of Al Rawda College have engaged in ideological confrontation with Hamas on religious grounds and lobby for the creation of a spiritual association…

It is interesting that the US would add the Iranian “Revolutionary Guard Corps” (RGC, Iranian Unit to Be Labeled ‘Terrorist’, Washington Post) since branding a national group like the RGC as terrorist goes against the definition in U.S. law (U.S. Code Title 22, Ch.38, Para. 2656f(d)(2)): “the term ‘terrorism’ means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated…

Why has Israel decided to release 250 Fatah members, but refuses to release 400 women and children? Especially when the release of the innocent civilians would lead to the release of its own soldier held captive by Hamas? Israel makes contradictory statements about this strange decision. In one sentence Israeli Prime Minister Olmert says the…

Javier Mendez of El Mercurio (Santiago, Chile) has posed some questions about the current situation in Palestine/Israel. Here they are, with our answers. 1) What are the expectations for the meeting between Olmert and Bush? Our expectations for the meeting between Olmert and Bush are very low.      HAMAS is nowin a situation similar to…

The edited transcript of the Minaret of Freedom Institute annual dinner on “Challenges to Objective Media Coverage of Islam and Muslims” with Caryle Murphy, Nadia Charters-Bilbassy and Alison Weir is available, as are audio files of the event. Speakers: Caryle Murphy Nadia Bilbassy Charters Alison Weir (Click on the name of a speaker above to…

I was interviewed this weekend by Fars Press (Iran’s first private news agency” about the talks that begin today between the United States and Iran over the security situation in Iraq. Similar talks were held previously regarding Afghanistan, and although the talks were helpful to the joint objectives of the United States and Iran, the…

Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad Minaret of Freedom Institute www.minaret.org The situation in Iraq will not stabilize until the issue of the oil (and gas) industry is resolved. Accusations are flying that the new oil legislation under consideration will throw open the Iraqi oil and gas wealth open “for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies.” That is only…

I was asked once whether I would state that extremists hew to later Suras of the Qur’an and “ignore all the teachings of love and tolerance that came before that.” The question was repeated to me again recently in the form of whether “sweeter pre-Medina surahs” were “abrogated” by “vengeful later surahs.” As there is…

Our website now has a copy of my tribute to Nobel prize winning eocnomist Milton Friedman in which I at the application of his ideas on choice and education to the issue of Muslim madrasas. This may seem like an odd pairing of topics. Milton Friedman was an intellectual who championed freedom of choice and,…