Day: May 21, 2011

The Flag of Bilal (1): Islam and Constitutionalism

Historically, Islam contributed to the modern concepts of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The concept of the Constitution fits in perfectly with Muhammad’s (s) example of coexisting on the basis of fair treaties guaranteeing freedom of religion and integrity of the individual. Constitutions often embody the same inalienable […]

Where is Jesus? The Case of the Missing Messiah

By Qasim Rashid The case of the missing Messiah is a mystery that has intrigued countless minds through the ages. Pope Innocent III predicted Christ’s return and doomsday in 1284. William Miller made his call in October, 1844. Alexander Dowie launched his campaign at the turn of the 20th century. Edgar […]

500 migrants taken ashore by Italians

ROME (AP) — Police said Thursday that they rescued about 500 migrants from Libya after a small fire broke out on their boat miles (kilometers) off the Italian coast. Police patrol boats spotted the boat and were escorting it toward the small island of Lampedusa when the fire began, Maj. […]

US quietly expanding defense ties with Saudis

Despite their deepening political divide, the United States and Saudi Arabia are quietly expanding defense ties on a vast scale, led by a little-known project to develop an elite force to protect the kingdom’s oil riches and future nuclear sites. The U.S. also is in discussions with Saudi Arabia to […]

College graduates are a new breed of terrorists

Terrorism is attracting an increasing number of creative and intellectual university graduates who differ from its stereotypical adherents of Islamic boarding school (pesantren) students and preachers. For the last several years, college graduates from middle class families have played a prominent role in plotting terror attacks. The recent distribution of […]

Setting the boundaries

The expected UN vote on a Palestinian state in September leaves me, in contradiction to the unofficial rules governing columnists, without a decisive opinion on the matter. On the one hand, despite the doomsday scenarios we’ve been hearing in recent weeks, I’m having trouble getting frightened by what we can […]

Israel 17th most competitive economy

Israel remains in the 17th place among the world’s 59 leading economies in terms of competitiveness, according to the 2011 World Competitiveness Yearbook of the International Institute Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. The annual report ranks countries according to difference economic parameters and is based on data collected from different […]

Netanyahu to Obama: No return to 1967 lines

Washington (CNN) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday firmly rejected President Barack Obama’s call for an approximate return to the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war, telling the U.S. leader that such a move is impossible in light of current security concerns and demographic realities. […]

Maids Who End Up as Wives

by Jamal Abdul Khaliq Muhammad Al-Ghamdi says that he was happily married to his first wife, who bore him three sons. When household duties became too much for her, she asked Muhammad to hire a maid. The maid was a pretty Indonesian Muslim who was well treated by the wife […]

Poll: Most Americans Support Gay Marriage

A Gallup poll released Friday showed that 53 percent of Americans believe that same-sex marriage should be recognized by law with the same rights as traditional marriages. The results were based on Gallup’s three-day Values and Beliefs poll in May, which it has tracked every year since 2004 (the first […]

Humiliating and shameful

I have come about to write this article after much thought and prayer and not without spiritual and psychological anguish, even at this very instant that I write. Over the last few months leading to the referendum, as an official minister of the Catholic Church I have been involuntarily made […]