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.

Christmas Tree in Aleppo

UN Security Council unanimously backs Syria peace plan By AFP – Dec 31,2016 – JORDAN TIMES   Syrians gather around a Christmas tree in Aleppo’s government controlled Aziziyah neighbourhood on Saturday (AFP photo by George Ourfalian)   UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously approved a resolution […]

Terrorized Tunisia

TUNIS – The recent terror attack on Berlin’s Christmas market – which killed 12 and injured more than 50 – cast a pall over this year’s holiday celebrations across Europe. Viewed from Tunis, where I happened to be during the fallout, the attack has also had a major, albeit different, […]

The Next Migrant Wave

STEPHEN GROFF Stephen Groff is the Asian Development Bank’s vice-president for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.   MANILA – Imagine that you are a farmer. Your crops are withering as weather patterns become more volatile, your well water is too salty to drink, and rice is too expensive […]

Ban the Burkini?

(This is one of the ten most read articles  in 2016 of the Project Syndicate) https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/multiculturalism-versus-french-burkini-ban-by-peter-singer-2016-09 MELBOURNE – My parents came to Australia as refugees, fleeing Nazi persecution after Hitler annexed Austria. They arrived in a country eager to assimilate immigrants into its dominant Anglo-Irish culture. When my parents spoke […]

Long battle ahead to curb fake news

VERIFICATION By Geraldine Wong Sak Hoi   DEC 21, 2016  Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California: the tech giant has announced plans to limit the spread of fake news, but whether it’ll succeed remains to be seen. (Keystone) Swiss and European researchers are working on algorithms to detect misinformation circulating […]

Too little too late

Dec 29,2016 – JORDAN TIMES EDITORIAL US Secretary of State John Kerry outlined his vision for peace between Palestinians and Israelis in the boldest manner yet. His blueprint for peace entails Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian lands and Jerusalem as the shared capital of the two sides that would have to […]

Paradise on Earth

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as The Review of Religions, January 1997 Translated by Amatul-Hadi Ahmad On the evening of 16 August 1902, after the evening prayer, the Promised Messiah (as), as was his practice, sat down with his companions, for general conversation and discussion. Someone presented him with a note […]