There recently have been murders of people simply because they were Muslims. In New York City, it was a Muslim imam and his assistant and in Oklahoma, a man of Arab ethnicity.

As a teenage American member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, I'm saddened and troubled by the surge of such attacks. My Islamic faith condemns the harming — let alone the killing — of members of any religion.

In response to the July murder of a priest in France by ISIS-inspired assailants, the spiritual head of my community, his holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmed, the Khalifa of Islam, decried the act as “abhorrent and entirely opposed to Islam's teachings.” Working in solidarity with other faith leaders, the khalifa praised Pope Francis' recent comments that the “world is at war, (but) it is not a religious war.”

He also warned the media about the widespread practice of showcasing a handful of Muslim extremists rather than the sea of peace-loving Muslims who wholly condemn hatred in the name of religion. Repeated images of these renegades in traditional garb create an environment of fear around all Muslims who don a headscarf or a prayer cap.

If we truly are to make America great again, we need to focus on the murders of innocents, regardless of their beliefs or appearance, and bring to light the message of champions of peace, with the Khalifa of Islam at the forefront.

Khalid Husain

Indiana Township

The writer is a junior member of the Muslim Writers Guild of America.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---