Leading Christian cleric joins Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike
DAILY SABAH ISTANBUL A leading Christian cleric in Jerusalem announced he will join hunger strike on Monday in support of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners who are on the 21st day of […]
Author Archives
Rafiq A. Tschannen
Rafiq A. Tschannen is a Swiss national. He converted to Islam and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at the age of 16 after reading the German translation of the Holy Qur'an. He worked in 15 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, first as Finance Director in the private industry and later as Chief Executive Officer of NGOs and International Governmental Organizations. He is now devoting his time to The Muslim Times as Editor for Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Switzerland and as Associate Chief Editor.
US sends new military convoy to support YPG after Turkish airstrikes
DAILY SABAH ISTANBUL PublishedMay 6, 2017 Some 250 U.S. soldiers and 48 military vehicles have entered the town of Malikiyah in Eastern Syria, near the Turkish border, to support the outlawed terrorist group PKK’s Syrian offshoot Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian Local Coordination Committee (LCC) reported Friday. According to […]
In the crosshairs: Ahmadi gunned down in Rahim Yar Khan district
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE By Rana Tanveer Published: May 5, 2017 PHOTO: REUTERS LAHORE: An Ahmadi man was shot dead on Wednesday night in the Saddar area of Rahim Yar Khan district. Basharat Ahmad, 61, was on his way to his house in Green Town from his own petrol pump on […]
Egypt’s Al-Azhar university replaces head in apostasy row
Reuters International MAY 6, 2017 – General view of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, April 17, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (reuters_tickers) CAIRO (Reuters) – The head of Egypt’s Al-Azhar […]
LIES! CAMPAIGN Zurich opposes Koran distribution by Salafist group
MAY 5, 2017 The Koran distribution campaign “Lies!” (Read!) originated in Germany.(Keystone) Zurich cantonal authorities say they have concrete indications that actions by the Salafist group ‘True Religion’ are aimed […]
The Westphalian model to resolve Mideast conflicts
Raghida Dergham | Published — Saturday 6 May 2017 The prestigious German think-tank Korber-Stiftung recently raised a question regarding whether the Westphalian model can be implemented in the context of peacemaking efforts in Middle Eastern conflicts, while surveying the identities of the local, regional and international players and their roles, […]
Cheating Britain out of Europe
May 06,2017 – JORDAN TIMES – Jacek Rostowski Several months ago, I predicted that British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government would fall by next month, when the British people realised that the “soft Brexit” they had been promised was impossible. How wrong I was! May has now called an early election, […]
Some deal for Syria, finally?
May 06,2017 – JORDAN TIMES EDITORIAL The endorsement of a plan to establish four major deescalation zones in Syria by the sponsors of the Astana peace talks on the Syrian […]
Donald Trump hasn’t quite thought through his first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican
Jerusalem will be a great gig because Trump will be able to ask Netanyahu for help against Isis without – presumably – realising that Israel bombs only the Syrian army […]
True Dreams
” Oh, Allah, bless my sleep and grant me true dreams, dreams that are beneficial to me and dreams that remain in my memory. “ According to the German Orientalist Dr. Annemarie Schimmel in her book “Die Traeume des Kalifen” the above prayer was recited by Hadhrat Aisha, wife […]
Merkel backs defence minister in scandal on racism in military
Reuters International MAY 3, 2017 – German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen addresses journalists, after her visit at the 291st fighter squadron based at the “Quartier Leclerc”, a military […]
U.S. State Dept. seeks tougher visa scrutiny, including social media checks
Reuters International MAY 4, 2017 – FILE PHOTO: International travellers arrive at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas, U.S. February 4, 2017. REUTERS/Laura Buckman (reuters_tickers) By Yeganeh Torbati and […]
Trump to wade into Middle East politics on first foreign trip
Reuters International MAY 4, 2017 – U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attend a National Day of Prayer event at the Rose Garden of the White House […]
‘DISCOVERY SEMESTER’: Refugees get a taste of Swiss university life
By Veronica DeVore MAY 3, 2017 The University of Zurich, Switzerland’s largest university, recently launched its first “discovery semester” for refugees(Keystone) Students at Swiss universities have banded together to […]
Will Israel reciprocate Hamas’ gesture?
May 04,2017 – JORDAN TIMES – Rami G. Khouri I was in Doha, Qatar, Monday evening when Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, issued a new policy statement that amended some of the long-standing hardline positions on Israel in its charter. The next day I also took part in a public panel […]
Route to Raqqa dotted with discarded veils, burned cars
By AFP – May 05,2017 – JORDAN TIMES A female fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces, which consists of an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, stands near Tishreen Farms, some 17 kilometres north of Raqqa, on Tuesday (AFP photo) MAZRAAT TISHREEN, Syria — Dozens of black veils dotted […]
Russia, Turkey, Iran ink deal on safe zones in Syria
By AFP – May 05,2017 – JORDAN TIMES Russian mediator Alexander Lavrentiev, Iranian deputy foreign minister, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov and UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura attend the signing of a memorandum on creating safe zones in Syria during the fourth round […]
If Theresa May is happy to call out anti-Semitism in other parties, isn’t it time she addressed Islamophobia in her own?
The number of incidents is truly staggering. These have not, however, been sufficient for the Conservatives to hold an independent inquiry into Islamophobia Miqdaad Versi a day ago 252 comments It is quite reasonable to expect that in this day and age, all bigotry will be challenged and scrutinised rigorously. […]
Egyptian President al-Sisi is employing militia in the Sinai – a sign of how desperate his war against Isis has become
Egyptian police and soldiers are now attacked daily and civilians are disappearing, either for fear of Isis or because they are seized by the army’s ‘collaborators’ Robert Fisk Cairo @indyvoices […]
Recognition of Imam Mahdi
Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad rh The Review of Religions, March 1997 Presented below is an answer by Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the Fourth Head of the Ahmadiyya Community, to a question raised in a Question/Answer session held in London on 4th January 1986. Question Questioner: (The question was asked through […]