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.
Aug 23,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – GLADA LAHN The Syria crisis, which has displaced some 11.3 million people, has exposed the cracks in the conventional humanitarian relief system. And for neighbouring countries like Jordan that host the majority of refugees, it is widening pre-existing cracks in public service systems and […]
It seems that oppression is only when brown men tell you how to dress; when white men do it it’s called liberation. But even French feminism has its roots in […]
After Nice, the Cannes Mayor has also passed legislation that no Muslim Burqini ladies should be seen at the Mediterranean beaches. In the meantime the ban has spread to a third coastal city. The Pakistani DAWN reports: Woman forced to remove clothing on France beach after burkini ban DAWN.COM — […]
The Turks don’t want a Kurdish mini-state on their frontier any more than the Syrians want to lose territory to the Kurds Robert Fisk @indyvoices How the West would love […]
Sheikh Mokhtar Maghraoui | Published — Friday 12 August 2016 Haj in the Arabic language means aim, destination or purpose (qasd). The reason is clear: Haj is the ultimate journey of loving submission (ubudiyah) and conscious surrender (riq) to Allah. Its ultimate destination is your encounter with the House of […]
By AFP – Aug 23,2016 -JORDAN TIMES In this February 27, 2014, file photo, provided by the anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Centre, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian man (right) runs for cover from a Syrian government forces air strike […]
Arms forum Aug 22, 2016 – Switzerland is an active player in the global arms trade (Keystone) Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann has called on all signatories to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) to work together to ensure that global rules are followed in the sale of weapons and munitions. Opening […]
Jobs hope Trying to make Kosovo work By Julie Hunt, Koso Aug 17, 2016 – 11:00 Ethnic flavour boosts tourism in Kosovo (swissinfo.ch ) Kosovo is a country on the mend after the 1999 war. But high unemployment and widespread poverty have spurred many Kosovars to leave. Switzerland is one […]
Just as Erdogan has become pals with Putin, the Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers have been embracing in Ankara with many a promise that their own talks will produce new alliances Robert Fisk @indyvoices Thursday 18 August 2016 The Shias are winning. Two pictures prove it. The US-Iranian photo op […]
MAUDE BRULARD AND JAN HENNOP | AFP | Published — Monday 22 August 2016 Previous Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, a member of Mali’s Ansar Dine Islamist group appears before the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday at the start of his trial on charges of involvement in […]
ARAB NEWS | Published — Monday 22 August 2016 RIYADH: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, deputy premier, minister of interior and chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, has approved the Civil Defense plan to cope with emergencies during Haj, Director General of Civil Defense Lt. Gen. Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al-Amr […]
Could it be that the Sultan is thinking of renewing his old friendship with the Lion of Damascus? Be sure that he is Robert Fisk @indyvoices Sunday 21 August 2016 It says a lot about post-failed-coup Turkey that you can spot the priority list of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign antagonists […]
by Tyler Durden Aug 15, 2016 Submitted by Steven Sahiounie via American Herald Tribune, The day before September 11, 2001 was like any normal day in New York City. September 10, 2001 was unaware of the earthshaking events which would happen the next day. Similarly, one might think the day […]
Jordan: How Close to Danger? Joost Hiltermann Muhammad Hamed/Reuters Poor Jordan. A small, economically precarious country, it shares a two-hundred-mile border with Syria. Yet unlike Syria’s other neighbors, Turkey, Iraq, and Lebanon, it rarely gets any attention in the international press. Indeed, while the world focuses on the European Union’s […]
By THE EDITORIAL BOARDAUG. 18, 2016 A woman wearing a burkini, a swimsuit that leaves only the face, hands and feet exposed, as she swims at Marseille, France. CreditReuters After bans on full-face veils, head scarves in schools and rules about students’ skirt lengths, France’s perennial problem with Muslim women’s […]
The destabilisation of Turkey is good news for Isis as Turkish security organisations devote their efforts to hunting down Gulenists Patrick Cockburn @indyworld Friday 29 July 2016 Coup attempt and purge are tearing Turkey apart. The Turkish armed forces, for long the backbone of the state, are in a state of turmoil. […]
Isis has broken down the precious wall which separates childhood from adulthood, innocence from guilt. This, far more than mass murder, is its final dark achievement Robert Fisk @indyvoices Thursday 11 August 2016 Old Bishop Daly was a hero of mine. In an age when the Catholic Church was betrayed […]
By Bilal Farooqi July 17, 2016 KARACHI: In Pakistan, calling another Muslim a ‘Kafir’ (an infidel) sells really well and is as easy as buying an over-the-counter drug. Not only is it a lucrative affair, but ensures power and dominance too, so the merciless killing of hundreds as a consequence […]
Secretiveness and cult-like practices of the organisation surround it in a thick cloud of suspicion Image Credit: AP Fethullah Gulen, a 77-year-old cleric, runs schools, charities and businesses in Turkey and more than 100 other countries. He has lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1997. Published: 16:25 August […]
Sun Aug 7, 2016 By Humeyra Pamuk and Nick Tattersall ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of Turks gathered in Istanbul on Sunday summoned by President Tayyip Erdogan to denounce a failed coup – a show of strength staged in the face of Western criticism of widespread purges and detentions. […]