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.
By AFP – Apr 14,2016 – JORDAN TIMES Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (centre) poses with Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah (left), King Salman of Saudi Arabia (2nd left), and Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah (2nd right), and Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev (right) for a […]
By contributors | Apr. 10, 2016 | Niqash.org | Baghdad | – – Iraq’s Crises Highlight Major Divide Between Country’s Shiite Politicians The Shiite political alliance that dominates Iraq is cracking under pressure from the country’s crises. But some who appear to be foes today, may actually be friends once […]
Sankt Catharinae church in Ribe. File photo: Scanpix Danes leaving the church in droves Published: 08 Apr 2016 05:47 GMT+02:00 The Danish Atheist Society has used a new campaign to encourage members of the Church of Denmark (Folkekirken) to withdraw, leaving priests concerned about the economic consequences. Denmark’s second-largest religion […]
QUARTERLY FIGURES APR 14, 2016 – swissinfo.ch Heightened EU border security has reduced the flow of asylum seekers (Keystone) Asylum requests in Switzerland drastically declined in the first quarter of this year, with 45% fewer registered than at the end of 2015. Migration authorities attribute the slide to fewer people attempting […]
Russian authorities in Crimea ban Tatar governing body Mejlis COMPILED FROM WIRE SERVICES MOSCOW Mufti sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin (L) speaks with a Crimean Tatar woman during the extraordinary session of the Kurultai (national Congress) of the Tatar people, Crimea, Ukraine, 29 March 2014. (EPA Photo) The Russian authorities in Crimea […]
Charlotte Silver Lobby Watch 13 April 2016 An image published by Elder of Ziyon from the textbookGlobal Politics, as part of the anti-Palestinian blogger’s successful campaign to pressure McGraw Hill over maps depicting land loss in Palestine. A group of American and international scholars is urging publishing giant McGraw-Hill Education to reverse its recent […]
By Brian Dooley As peace talks resume in Geneva, one thing is clear: Syria will need to address sectarianism if it is to succeed. Syrian sectarianism is often presented as insoluble, derived from age-old divisions, and impossible to control or contain. But new research suggests that it may not be […]
Book can be downloaded for free from April 15 midnight, and offers comprehensive advice on fasting for all categories of diabetics Published: 17:03 April 14, 2016 Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary, Senior Reporter Dubai: Of the 132 million diabetic Muslims around the world, nearly 100 million can fast safely during Ramadan provided […]
Apr 13,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Michael Jansen The two sides involved in the intra-Syrian peace talks resuming in Geneva this week are taking seriously the dictum “you don’t win at the peace table what you don’t win on the battlefield”. Between this round and the last, the Syrian regular army, backed […]
Apr 13,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Daoud Kuttab It has been proven true over the years that victors write the history. Nowhere is this fact more obvious than in Jerusalem, where Israelis are trying unsuccessfully to rewrite centuries-old history. By changing facts on the ground the Israelis are desperately trying to […]
An ancient and valuable fragile Chinese vase had been found by the villagers. There was an argument in the teahouse as to its exact capacity. During the wrangling, Mulla Nasrudin entered. The people appealed to him for a ruling. ‘Simple’, said Nasrudin. ‘Bring the vase here, together with some sand.’ […]
Averting mistrust between religious communities is one of the key objectives of our time, but this study plays into the hands of those who seek to spread hatred Maha Akeel Trevor Phillips is fronting a Channel 4 documentary about British Muslims, based on new research about their attitudes Charlie Forgham-Bailey […]
SOURCE: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36035089?ocid=socialflow_twitter Police in Jordan have shut the headquarters of the main opposition movement, the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood (MB), group officials say. The building in the capital Amman was cleared and sealed on city governor’s orders, an MB leader told Reuters. No reason was given for the closure, the […]
The Darbi family, resettled in New Jersey last July, has found that forced socialization often contributes to intense feelings of alienation. 04/12/2016 Willa Frej Reporter, The Huffington Post Rowaida Abdelaziz World Social Media Editor, The Huffington Post Damon Dahlen/The Huffington Post The Darbis — Nabiha, Amira, Mohamed, Hajar and Shaker, […]
April 13, 2016 TEHRAN – “We are happy that we are getting close to a political solution of the [Syrian] crisis,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Tuesday. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of his meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Tehran, […]
Seeing something glittering in the gutter, Mulla Nasrudin ran to pick it up. It was a metal mirror. Looking at it closely, he saw his face reflected in it. ‘No wonder it was thrown away – nothing as ugly as this could possibly appeal to anyone. The fault is in […]
Deana Nassar Published — Friday 1 April 2016 Islam with its universal concept of brotherhood rejects all artificial and man-made marks of distinction. When listening to the radio, reading newspapers, surfing the Net or watching television, we are confronted daily with the same sad news: Violence, crime, wars and disasters. […]
AMAZING QUR’AN: Afghan calligrapher Mohammed Sabeer Hussaini, center, and apprentices work on a page for the world’s largest Qur’an at the Hakim Nasir-e-Khusraw Balkhi Cultural Center in Kabul. Dr. Gary Miller Published — Friday 8 April 2016 IF one assumes that the Qur’an is the product of a man’s […]
STRONG ALLIANCE: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at the Presidential Palace in Ankara on Tuesday. (ARAB NEWS Published — Wednesday 13 April 2016 JEDDAH: Once chilly ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia have improved rapidly over the past year, with […]
Apr 12,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Ishac Diwan Discussion of education in the Arab world has focused only rarely on the role of schooling in changing social and political mores. This is unfortunate, because educated citizens of Arab countries tend to be much less emancipated politically and socially, on average, […]