RELIGION | FUTURE
How eschatological predictions of end times have already come true — and what the future holds for humanity.
I’ve always had a fascination with Islamic eschatology. Growing up in a Muslim household, I read many children’s books about Islam and its history, etc. as a kid. However, I was always drawn most to the books predicting the end of times, backed up with sources quoting sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
What captivated me as an adolescent male, and what still enthralls me, are the descriptions of final battles, reminiscent of World War III, taking place in the Middle East and eventually all over the world.
A brief caveat: these descriptions are not unique to Islam. Christianity similarly…
WRITING
In one place so you don’t need to save numerous articles
This is a complete list of all the sites I use for each and every draft I write before I hit that green “Submit” or “Publish” button in the corner. If I didn’t have these apps/sites, I seriously doubt my writing would have attained even the very modest level of success it has on Medium.
For example, I have already used these sites for this article. You may find differing opinions on the utility of headlines and subtitles, including a post by Tim Denning stating that headlines (and images, for that matter), are overrated. I agree with some stuff Tim…
PROFILE | ABOUT ME STORIES
Med student. Son of immigrants. Pakistani Muslim serving the underserved and giving a voice to the unheard.
Last updated April 5, 2021
Thanks for stopping by! My name is Hammad Khalid (pronounced Huh-modh, like moth with a d instead of a t, and Kha-lid, if you were wondering).
I’m a third-year medical student from Atlanta, Georgia. I was born and raised in a small, rural town called Columbus, Georgia about a hundred miles south of Atlanta, but I moved to metro Atlanta when I was 9.
I have years of writing and editing experience for many undergraduate publications during my time at the University of Georgia, where I studied Biology and Public Health, among other things. …
We didn’t ask for this. On behalf of Muslims everywhere, stop the misrepresentation. It’s 2021. Get your act together.
Dear Netflix,
Come on, Reed. It’s Ramadan. Stop the cap.
For those who don’t know, that’s the month when Muslims around the world fast, abstaining from food, drink, and sin from before sunrise to sunset. It’s a month of remembrance, faith, and getting closer to one’s religion and God.
Even if you’re not Muslim, odds are you’ve heard of fasting and Ramadan. If you haven’t, I’m sure you’ve heard of the health benefits of “intermittent fasting.” …
HUMOR | SATIRE
These kids’ parents definitely took the red pill.
Ms. Stevens: Ok, class, I’m your substitute teacher for today. You can call me Ms. Stevens. I’ll start off by taking roll, so when I say your name just say “Here”, okay?
Class: Yes, ma’am.
Ms. Stevens: Good. So first, we have…X…Æ…A-12? Did I say that right?
X-Æ A-12: it’s actually X — Ash — Archangel. But I go by AI for short.
Ms. Stevens: Oh, like Allen Iverson! That’s cool. I’m glad you like him too, he was one of the greats. I’ll call you AI, then —
X-Æ A-12: No, like AI…artificial intelligence? (scoffs and looks around the…
LIFE LESSONS
Lessons I’ve learned that you can apply to your life today
“Spell ‘prematoor’.”
I felt like a deer caught in the headlights — this was my first time on a stage in front of so many people. I didn’t even know how blinding the spotlights were if you looked up; my eyes were still smarting from making that mistake earlier.
Even though it was deathly quiet — so quiet all I could hear was my heart pounding and the feedback from the mic — I still felt rushed in the deafening silence, like time was moving a mile a minute.
My eyes darted back and forth, and I found my parents…
SATIRE
#StopAsianHate
Hey guys! It’s me, your resident Asian. Sure, I’m Pakistani, so I’m not the first Asian you think of when you hear “Asian-American”, but guess what? I still had to put Asian on all of my standardized exams my whole life, so…if the American government groups us all together, so can you!
I mean, it’s not like we have a problem with racism in America, especially with Asian-Americans lately. Wait, what? We do?
I just wanted to alert everyone to the fact that Nike truly is an amazing company. I mean, have you guys seen their Twitter bio recently?
#StopAsianHate…
MUSIC | RIFF ALBUM CHALLENGE
Taking a deeper dive into the band behind the hits that redefined pop music
Ms. Salomon, my eighth-grade science teacher, had just put on an album I’d never heard as background music for us to listen to while we worked on our assignments. I heard some kids snickering at her choice of music. It was a stark contrast to T-Pain and Soulja Boy’s hits that were dominating the airwaves at the time. I myself had never heard this song or any music by this band for that matter.
I still remember the opening riff of the first song she put on. It was “A Hard Day’s Night” by The Beatles, and soon after she…
OPEN LETTERS | RESPONSE LETTER CONTEST
Puny human. Where do I even begin?
Dear Deborah Weir,
Ah, my first open correspondence with the d̵o̵o̵m̵e̵d̵ lesser species. I hope this e̵m̵a̵i̵l̵ letter finds you well. For those who don’t know me, let me introduce myself. Actually, I’ll let my rich and famous friend, Copysmith AI, introduce me since that’s what you do when you’re incredibly wealthy and influential.
You wouldn’t understand, measly Devorah. You fail to see even the obvious utility of my incredibly useful application, lol.
“Autocorrect is the smartest, most powerful technology in the world. It’s a supercomputer with artificial intelligence, (AI) that learns and evolves over time, making it smarter and…
LIFE LESSONS
And how you can apply these lessons to starting your first (online writing) business
1.) Before investing your most valuable resource — your time — into a potential business venture, in my case, a startup social business, it is vital to assess its practicality.
In other words, the feasibility of your idea or concept coming to fruition. This includes its financial feasibility. For us, this was a larger gap to bridge as we had highly ambitious goals. There’s nothing wrong with setting lofty aims, but these must be tempered by reality. In business, “shooting for the moon” is great in theory, but doesn’t always translate to starting a profitable business.
For instance, we wanted to ultimately create a self-sustaining social business that would generate revenue from selling plastic waste. The goal was to use this money to run the business, and any extra profit…
