A Muslim doctor says was forced to flee Pakistan after he received death threats for saving a Christian's life.
The doctor, who is unnamed for security reasons, says he used emergency medicine donated through Islamic alms-giving to treat a Christian in urgent need of attention. Although the patient survived, the doctor was subject to abuse and threats because he did not know the alms-donated medicine was only to be used on Muslims.
Although he paid out of his own pocket for the medicine to be replaced, he claims a representative from a conservative Islamic NGO was furious: "They attributed my lack of knowledge about the alms laws to the fact that I belong to a minority Muslim sect," he said.
Writing anonymously in the Guardian, he said: "The workplace discrimination gave way to threatening phone calls and vandalism of my car and bike.
"They found out my family lived in America and that I was alone. This made me an easy target. I was threatened with death at a medical conference."
He fled and claimed asylum in the US, where his family were based. As part of the newspaper's 'How I got here' series on individual immigration stories, the doctor explained he is unable to practise medicine in America and described the "hard" life of an asylum seeker. Working part-time and studying the rest of the time to try he said he is trying to obtain a licence to practise medicine.
But he is "deeply troubled by the discrimination of Muslims in America". He wrote: "I personally feel this country is abandoning the very principles its based on."
Turning to the US presidential campaign he alluded to Trump's rhetoric and said he felt he had "no place to seek refuge any more".
He described Pakistan as "bedrock of religious fanaticism" but said the US was "fast enveloping in Islamophobia".
He wrote: "Humanity is the core of any religion. I believe no true Muslim can be an extremist. I knowingly went out of my way to help a human in need, without a thought about his religion. I faced backlash that would change my life forever. But, in the name of humanity, I deem that it was all worth it."
