Excerpt:
Another Ramadan has past, but not without personal opportunity to examine a recent Muslim media darling, Saba Ahmed. The 9/11 Truther and other radical beliefs expressed by Ahmed and her associates during a recent interview make her aspirations of being the "head of the Muslim peace movement" not worthy of further consideration.
After achieving national notoriety with Brigitte Gabriel at the Heritage Foundation and in two subsequent Fox News appearances, further attention for Ahmed, such as a Nation interview, followed. Her lobbying firm "monitor[s] all congressional hearings related to national security," Ahmed explained, "primarily targeting" everything thereby that "has to do with Islamists." According to Ahmed, using this word "to define 'terrorist'" contradicts Qur'an 2:256's message that "there is no compulsion in religion."
Ahmed's recurring requests for interaction with me resulted in a July 17 invitation to an Iftar hosted by Make Space mosque, a "non-judgmental community" with a "strong focus on youth and young professionals." Make Space emphasizes "universal as well as Islamic values of compassion, cooperation and service" as opposed to a "counter-productive focus on controversial issues" in Islam. At Alexandria, Virginia's Dunya Restaurant I removed my shoes and entered to be met by mosque volunteers, including a South Asian-looking, unveiled American woman wearing business slacks and blazer.