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 Adam Taylor August 17 Mecca Laa Laa, center, is wearing a full-body “burkini” as she sits with other Muslim lifeguards at Sydney’s Cronulla Beach in February 2007. (Anoek de Groot/AFP via Getty Images) Along France’s beaches and swimming pools, there’s a war about how women dress. A number of French […]
Panca NugrahaThe Jakarta Post Mataram | Fri, August 26 2016 Blood for humanity: Displaced Ahmadis donate blood in the Wisma Transito shelter in Mataram, Lombok on Aug. 26. They hold regular blood donation three to four times a year to show they care for humanity despite being neglected by the […]
NAGEHAN ALÇI@Nagehanalci PublishedAugust 26, 2016 Great efforts are being made to destabilize Turkey. In one sense, these are endeavors made by various terrorist organizations and international powers supporting them to turn Turkey into the new Syria. DAESH, the PKK and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) are attacking from every side […]
Turkey last Wednesday initiated the Euphrates Shield military operation aimed at creating a safe zone from DAESH incursions in northern Syria, from the Euphrates River to Afrin, currently in the hands of the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG). Since that day, Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army […]
By Ben Westcott, CNN August 25, 2016 Now PlayingThe enduring appeal of… Story highlights Giant pearl weighs almost five times nearest known rival It was previously used as a lucky charm by fishermen (CNN)One of the world’s largest and most valuable pearls was left forgotten under a bed for more […]
Sunday,August 28 2016, ANKARA AA photo The leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has criticized the government for “going too far” in the implementation of authorities granted by Turkey’s ongoing state of emergency. “I remember [the military coups] of March 12 [1971], Sept. 12 [1980]. There was […]
ANKARA Female police officers in Turkey will now be able to wear a headscarf as part of their uniforms, according to a new regulation published in the Official Gazette on Aug. 27, expanding the scope of previous rulings on the much-debated issue since 2013. According to the new amendment issued […]
A model of the Baitul Futuh redesign, showing the colonnaded front with its porous screens. (John McAslan and Partners) August 08, 2016 In June a British architecture firm released its […]
Businessman Rachid Nekkaz. Photo: AFP Published: 22 Aug 2016 16:24 GMT+02:00 A businessman has been picking up the tabs for the women caught wearing burqinis on French beaches, and tells The Local he’ll keep “fighting to the death” for freedom. Even though the burqini has been banned in over a […]
Photo: Jean Christophe Magnenet /AFP Published: 27 Aug 2016 10:58 GMT+02:00 French resorts were defiant after a ban on the burqini in a Riviera town was overturned, vowing to keep the restrictions in place and continue imposing fines on women who wear the full-body swimsuit. France’s top court suspends burqini […]
Reuters International AUG 27, 2016 – By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Women in India have the right to fully access a famous mosque in the city of Mumbai, a top court ruled on Friday, bolstering a nationwide campaign aimed at securing women their religious rights […]
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Germany bemoans Swiss-transited asylum seekers AUG 17, 2016 – 21:43 Asylum seekers arriving in Switzerland from Italy (Keystone) German officials have complained that the border with Switzerland has more holes than a “Swiss cheese” as asylum seekers head north across the Alps, despite the best efforts of Swiss […]
Lone children seeking refuge in the UK – many of whom have never seen a table tennis match before – find a topspin welcome on the south coast Players at Brighton table tennis club. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian Kate Lyons Friday 26 August 2016 On the wall […]
Source: The Guardian Imam of Mariam mosque in Copenhagen says aim is to challenge patriarchal structures and inspire other women By Harriet Sherwood in Copenhagen t was Friday prayers with a […]
Suspension concerns single ban in southern town but is likely to set precedent for other places that prohibited full-body swimwear A Muslim woman on a beach in Marseille earlier this month. Photograph: Reuters Staff and agencies Friday 26 August 2016 France’s highest administrative court has suspended a ban on […]
Reuters International AUG 26, 2016 – www.swissinfo.ch Police remove the body of a suicide bomber from the scene of an attack in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia on July 5, 2016 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Maulana Surya/via REUTERS/File photo (reuters_tickers) By Randy Fabi and Kanupriya Kapoor SOLO, […]
In a military prison in Damascus, a 34-year old Muslim who wanted to be an Islamist fighter breaks down in tears as he tells us how he lied to his wife. Another man tells me his life is so framed by war that his biggest fear is peace Robert Fisk […]
Aug 25,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – RAMI G. KHOURI My affection and respect for my good friend and colleague from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with whom I discussed current events in the Middle East over a leisurely Lebanese lunch last week. We had very different analyses of how tensions […]
There is a lack of humanist studies in the universities of the Arab world, and an absence of the texts which flourished in the very golden age which Islamists so often proclaim Robert Fisk @indyvoices Thursday 14 July 2016 Two good friends were telling me at dinner a few nights […]
08/21/2016 Michael Rosenblum Founder of Current TV, Past President NY Times TV CARLO ALLEGRI / REUTERS Donald Trump is going to be elected president. The American people voted for him a long time ago. They voted for him when The History Channel went from showing documentaries about the Second World […]