The scientific world today is ecstatic with the discovery of the Higgs boson particle, commonly known as the "God particle," which it is believed gives rise to mass in matter. It is unfortunate that the first Pakistani physicist to win a Nobel Prize, Dr Abdus Salam, who predicted the "God particle" in 1970, despite being a devout Muslim and a leading figure in Pakistan's space and nuclear programme, has suffered the fate of his work and achievements being taken off the record books in his own country, because he is an "Ahmadi."
It is such religious bigotry in the world of Islam today, which lacks the research and scholarship characteristic of the early Muslims, that has plummeted the perception of Islam as a religion of terrorists driven by gun-toting mullahs. Even though I do not consider myself even near to the pedestal of this illustrious Muslim scholar, I feel a sense of comfort, since I have also been banned in my own country from performing the hajj this year, by one of our mullas who is a licensed hajj operator. His reason is that I am considered a "high-profile Ahmadi."
Imaam Iqbal Hydal
Felicity