Sohail Ahmad

It's been a long time coming. I have several new articles that were held to go out with my video. They have now been released. All of them. This video is my coming out message. Peace and love to you all; whatever religion you may believe or not believe. youtube.com/watch?v=4-jPHr…

I've had a few friends send me this news item, seeing 'Ahmadi' in the title. FYI - the 'Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light' has nothing to do with the 'Ahmadiyya Muslim Community' (whose members are referred to as Ahmadi Muslims). x.com/Telegraph/stat…

The Old Testament is full of immorality (including a license of genocide). Here, Alex O'Connor relays just a glimpse of this. Remember the 'God' who authored it is the SAME moral monster underpinning the apparent about face of the New Testament that underpins Christianity.

Chuck Schumer has got to go. Appealing to 2000+ year old mythological claims and divine real estate grants to reconcile modern geopolitics. Religious appeals like this are poison for the peace and security of our global society and humanity.

I think we've been talking past each other, Rabbi. I don't believe a secret cabal of Rabbis is controlling the US president. As an ex-Muslim who's seen various degrees of casual anti-semitism in the Islamic world and criticized this phenomenon, I agree that the depiction of that particular scene in the video is a trope. It's difficult to depict AIPAC/adjacent billionaires in the scene, and so I'm sure the Iranian regime went for the easily recognizable caricature that you correctly identify as inaccurate for Chasidic Jews. Respectfully, I don't believe antisemitism is the focal point of the meme video or of the geopolitical crisis (I say this as someone who would love to see the theocratic regime in Iran removed, if that could be done without mass civilian casualties). Your focus on antisemitism seems to discredit the actual criticisms in the video that the American public should be concerned about (the Israel government's incredibly strong influence over US policy, despite this war not being 'America First', the Epstein class and cover ups, etc.) Journalism requires talking to the enemy, interviewing them, and letting our people know what they're saying about us. The electorate needs to be informed and encouraged to use their own critical thinking. It is patriotic to challenge one's own current government when they are violating their own promises to the nation, and their own constitution. The right to protesting, our freedom of speech, and other cherished rights are curtailed if we're "forbidden" to evaluate all sides. Without those freedoms, it's no longer a meaningful democracy. IMHO, Drop Site has been excellent in reporting on conflicts in the Middle East.

You seem genuinely serious... There are issues throughout the video. But just to highlight the one here: Having a secret cabal of Rabbis controlling the USpresident is untrue and Antisemitic. What's more, modeling generic Jews after Jews dressed like Chasidic Jews, ones more likely to be theologically non or even anti-zionist, as a stand in for the Israeli government, which is largely secular, is Antisemitic...

🎶 Iran-linked accounts are circulating a new LEGO-style propaganda video portraying U.S. and Israeli leaders as corrupt elites tied to the “Epstein files,” part of a broader online campaign aimed at undermining support for the war. The animation depicts President Donald Trump as an “orange pig” controlled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, depicting the entire war as a project to “make Israel Great Again.” The chorus repeats: “Your government is run by pedophiles. They ordered you to die for Israel.”

@Mottel @DropSiteNews Correction: "just because some Jewish..."

Just become some Jewish people support Zionism and the Israeli regime does not make the political criticism of Israeli policy and actions 'antisemitic'. You cheapen the legitimate scourge of antisemitism with this conflation. You dishonour those brave Jewish people who reject zionism.

Islamic culture has had a casual to moderate antisemitic ethos for several centuries now, predating the existence of modern Israel or even Zionism. That doesn't mean criticism of Israel by Muslims is necessarily on antisemitic grounds. But "the Jews" are referred to in the Qur'an in a way that very plausibly lends itself to a disparaging, suspicious reading of Jewish people generally. Most educated Muslims who integrate well in the West, even if religious, tend not to read into the tropes the scripture and traditions give them an opening to. I think Mayor Mamdani is one of those inclusive progressives who integrated well (whatever you think of his economic policies) and is the kid of modern, integrated Muslim we want to encourage. Many such Muslims take a very progressive view, just as the Judeo-Christian world can distance itself from the savagery of the Old Testament. In my personal experience, however, that cultivation of progressive values and readings is fragile and tends to erode when immigration in the West is too concentrated, too fast, or not selective enough.

@IonaItalia @shadihamid I'm guessing killing Jews is not part of Muslim culture and tradition any more than avoiding shellfish and stoning adulterous women is for Judeo-Christian culture and tradition. There will always be radicals who diminish the ability of religious minorities to integrate.

If you think my article is a case against immigration, that probably says more about you than it does about me. All I'm arguing in the piece is that Muslims shouldn't have to give up on their religious and cultural traditions to be fully American. It's not a big ask.

I agree with you 💯 that "Immigrants should contribute to a country, not just take from it." I didn't get the impression from Shadi's tweet, however, that he believes differently. My own reading of his "shouldn't depend on anything" was more of a style of phrasing, which I'm charitably interpreting as things like expecting one to change one's religion. Agreed, that phrase is dangerously broad if read literally. I suspect in a conversation, you'd both probably find more agreement as you talked through the specifics. I haven't ever read anything from Shadi implying immigrants should be entitled to take from a country and not contribute to it (but happy to be directed to material that might imply this sentiment that you rightly take issue to).

For me, the answer to Shadi's initial question is a resounding yes. Immigrants should contribute to a country, not just take from it. Don't come to a place wanting to be at best estranged from the native population and at worst at war with them.

Sometimes, through comedy, we are presented with a deeply thought provoking conundrum.

@alfkkifine Spot on.

The internet constantly tells women that men are terrible listeners because the second a woman starts venting about her day, the man immediately interrupts to offer a logical solution. We are taught to view this as him being dismissive, emotionally unintelligent, or invalidating our feelings. ​The strict, unpopular truth is that to a man, fixing the problem is his absolute highest, most desperate form of empathy. ​Women vent to connect; we want our partner to just sit in the dark with us and validate the emotion. But men are hardwired to view the woman they love being in distress as an active threat. When he immediately offers a spreadsheet, a strategy, or a solution to your problem, he isn't trying to silence you. His brain has recognized that something in the world is hurting his partner, and his immediate, visceral instinct is to assassinate the thing causing you pain. We constantly shame men for "not just listening," completely ignoring the fact that his attempt to fix your life is his most profound declaration of love.

@VintageFreeMind @HyderMahmood By the way, @VintageFreeMind, I wanted to thank you for your cordial and honest interaction. That doesn't happen often, and I should have acknowledged it earlier, b/c it is not common. I am grateful for the kind interaction, even as we have different points of view. 🙏

I used to have this same view, but it never sat well with me. The God of Islam, according to this view, has been trolling his creation: allowing them to believe in so many ways that there are no more prophets instead of going out of His way to give clear statements in the Qur'an to expect them. Not 'read between the lines and if you squint, you can see more prophets could come', but something clear. Once one allows themselves to think outside this box of inherited religion, these reflections and insights come quickly.

Announcements of ex-communication of members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for marrying outside the community (or for their adult children marrying outside the community). Why not a private removal to only the affected individuals? /1

Your statement implicitly categorizes other Muslims who believe in Muhammad, Allah, and the Qur'an as "outside of the faith". Do you understand how this has created the cycle of takfir, formalized in your faith?

@HyderMahmood @ReasonOnFaith This comes directly from Quran which only permits men to marry outside of faith.

Let me paraphrase for clarity. According to your understanding of Islam, if an Ahmadi Muslim woman married a Sunni Muslim or Shia Muslim man, that act is both "sinful" and "immoral". I appreciate your clarity. And now others can evaluate Ahmadiyyat without the double speak.

@VintageFreeMind @TayyabUMahmood Let me paraphrase for clarity. According to your understanding of Islam, if an Ahmadi Muslim woman married a Sunni Muslim or Shia Muslim man, that act is both "sinful" and "immoral". I appreciate your clarity. And now others can evaluate Ahmadiyyat without the double speak.

@ReasonOnFaith @TayyabUMahmood In terms of ahmadi muslim faith and its commandments, answer would be yes if a woman married an outsider.

@VintageFreeMind @TayyabUMahmood I understand that. I grew up a believing Ahmadiyya Muslim active in tabligh. That was not my question. Sinful/immoral? Can you give me a direct answer? You're welcome to elaborate for readers of this thread.

@ReasonOnFaith @TayyabUMahmood Per ahmadi theology, it is generally not allowed. There can be exceptions with Nizam's permission.

@TayyabUMahmood @VintageFreeMind Do you consider marriage to other Muslims, sinful or immoral?

@ReasonOnFaith @VintageFreeMind note public punishment when act turns public, which marriage is

This is damn good creative AI movie-trailer making. The choice of actors and the lines. Wow. (I just wish us humans didn't resort to war so often to resolve disputes)

Bringing happiness to others is its own reward. A beautiful advert. More please.

I missed something. Did the hosts claim "100% understanding" in the live stream? Or is that a strawman? Merely pointing out one has read it in Arabic is likely pre-emptive against the, "If you read a translation, you are not getting the actual meaning", etc. Does one need a PhD in classical Arabic to qualify as credentialed enough to dismiss its claims of divine origin? What exactly is your standard/benchmark?

@DerekPodcast 😀😀😀Your post seem to assume knowing how to read the quran in Arabic means 100% understanding of its communications. Funny. Quran Arabic is of its own level and it has to be learned

He read the Quran in Arabic. He grew up in Saudi Arabia. He left Islam. I studied the Bible with scholars. I left Christianity. I have also studied some critical scholarship pertaining to the Quran. Tonight we open the phones on MythVision. Muslims, prove the Quran is from God. We're listening. LIVE with Apostate Aladdin. Call in. (Livestream link in comments)