Kashif Chaudhry

Graduate of King Edward Medical University in Lahore, currently completing residency training in New Jersey, USA. Kashif writes for various American newspapers and Pakistani publications and blogs at the Huffington Post. His interests include Medicine, Pakistan affairs and Muslim-American community affairs.

Is Dr. Yasir Qadhi an Extremist ?

Shaikh Yasir Qadhi is an American Sunni Muslim scholar and Dean of Academic Affairs at the Al-Maghrib Institute. In a very passionate Facebook Post, Mr. Qadhi recently lamented the rise of sectarianism and the practice of Takfir (anathematization, or refusing to identify sect of Islam as Muslim) amongst Muslims. He said: “Sadly, sectarianism is still well and alive in the Ummah. Recently, a large group of scholars, primarily of a Sufi/Ashari trend, gathered in Chechnya for a conference whose pre-planned and coordinated conclusion was to claim …

Thank you, Hamza Ali Abbasi, for supporting my right to be Ahmadi

Pakistani actor, Hamza Ali Abbasi, is always in the headlines for one reason or another. Recently, I wrote an article criticising his comments that apparently belittled Pakistan’s minorities. However, this time I am writing to congratulate him on supporting Pakistan’s minority Muslim communities – or at least those that self-identify as such.

Happy Birthday Mother – When will you accept me as your own?

It was August 14, 1984. I was only two-years-old. My father decorated the veranda of our small house with lights and green buntings. My parents were excited, as were my elder brother and I. Though I was too young to remember, pictures of that day bring on a strong sensation of déjà vu. Yet, and sadly, before the following Independence Day, we had to leave Pakistan. Persecution, which gained momentum under President Ziaul Haq, forced many Ahmadis to leave for …

Pakistan, when will you accept me?

Though I was born in Pakistan, I was still a baby when my dad had to move to The Gambia in West Africa. The Gambia is a small peaceful country. Here, I remember my mother teaching me the Urdu  Qaida and telling me interesting stories about Pakistan. I could see she missed Pakistan a great deal. She would sometimes break down in tears, relating stories of the persecution she had witnessed growing up in her hometown in Sindh. My father …