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.
Refugee crisis: Thank God for Germany taking responsibility – the rest of Europe appears to have forgotten the age-old lessons of history Thousands of years of our history can be traced via the movements of refugees. Often, they have been welcomed, and the societies receiving them enriched. Yet the same […]
583. Commandment – You shall not shed your blood or turn your people out of your homes [2:85] And remember the time when We took a covenant from you: ‘You shall not shed your blood or turn your people out of your homes;’ then you confirmed it; and you have been witness to it. […]
By Robert Fisk, for the Independent Once, the country was quite happy to send those it disliked to Germany… Funny what a weather-vane the Second World War becomes in the hands of politicians and journalists. Europe faces the biggest refugee crisis since the 1939-1945 conflict, we are solemnly told. And […]
582. Commandment – And create not disorder in the earth after it has been set in order [7:57] And create not disorder in the earth after it has been set in order, and call upon Him in fear and hope. Surely, the mercy of Allah is nigh unto those who do […]
581. Commandment – And if two parties of believers fight against each other, make peace between them 581. Commandment – And if two parties of believers fight against each other, make peace between them [49:10] And if two parties of believers fight against each other, make peace between them; then if after that one […]
Asylum’s Dark Side: The Deadly Business of Human Smuggling REUTERS Every day, thousands of refugees entrust their lives to human smugglers as they make their way to Europe — and many of them die en route. The smugglers, meanwhile, are making handsome profits, and aren’t particularly concerned about safety. By […]
Sep 07,2015 – JORDAN TIMES Malaysia’s efforts to modernise were not easy; they met resistance and obstacles, but with determination and the cooperation of all segments of society, including ethnic groups that were at loggerheads almost half a century ago, this Southeast Asian country managed to achieve great successes. The country’s […]
By Michael StephensRoyal United Services Institute (Rusi), Doha Image copyrightReutersImage captionTens of thousands of Syrian refugees are heading westwards into Europe Images of Syrian refugees stuck at borders and at train stations, not to mention the harrowing picture of three-year-old Alan Kurdi lying dead on a Turkish beach, has spurred […]
580. Commandment – Regarding Jizya (kind of tax) [9:29] Fight those from among the People of the Book who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor hold as unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have declared to be unlawful, nor follow the true religion, until they pay […]
In this May 10, 2014 file photo, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Iyad Madani speaks to The Associated Press during an interview at his office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (AP) ARAB NEWS Published — Monday 7 September 2015 JEDDAH: The secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation […]
Sep 06,2015 – JORDAN TIMES – Bernard-Henri Lévy Europe’s migration debate has taken a disturbing turn. It began with the creation of the catch-all concept (a legal freak) of a “migrant”, which obscures the difference, central to the law, between economic and political migration, between people escaping poverty and those driven […]
By Saeb Rawashdeh – Sep 06,2015 – JORDAN TIMES In this recent photo, Kufic inscriptions are seen at the site of Wadi Shireh mosque, which dates back to the Umayyad era (Photo courtesy of Glenn Corbett) AMMAN — Two scholars from the American Centre of Oriental Research (ACOR), Glenn Corbett […]
© Business Insider© Provided by Business Insider A photo of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from US Army files relating to his time as a detainee in Iraq. The world knows little of the Islamic State terror group’s brutal leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but a new article from counterterrorism expert Will McCants […]
SEP 6, 2015 – 15:09 BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s foreign ministry on Sunday condemned British “interference” in its affairs, after a senior government minister signalled Britain was moving closer to military action in the war-torn country. State news agency SANA said the foreign ministry had sent two letters to United […]
Photo: Norddeutsche Rundfunk/Screenshot Palestinian TV teen given German residency Published: 05 Sep 2015 11:29 GMT+02:00 A Palestinian teen threatened with deportation who burst into tears during a televised debate with German Chancellor Angela Merkel has got a residency permit for “humanitarian reasons,” a statement said Friday. In the encounter last […]
Sep 05,2015 – JORDAN TIMES It has been a tough year for Nigeria. In the last 12 months, the country has suffered attacks by child suicide bombers and brutal massacres by Boko Haram. The vast majority of the 276 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok last year are still missing. And […]
By JT – Sep 05,2015 – JORDAN TIMES Migrants wait to board a train after crossing the border between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece near Gevgelija on Saturday (Reuters photo) AMMAN — Jordan has said that the world community’s failure to aptly address the refugee plight has led […]
SPIEGEL ONLINE For months, the Islamic State visited its reign of terror on the city of Derna, Libya — until it was stopped by an al-Qaida offshoot. Farrah Schennib describes the horrors of daily life under the IS in his diary. Only 300 kilometers (186 miles) separate dream from […]
SEP 5, 2015 – 05:00 By Krisztina Than HEGYESHALOM, Hungary (Reuters) – Hundreds of exhausted migrants streamed into Austria on Saturday, reaching the border on buses provided by an overwhelmed Hungarian government that gave up trying to hold back crowds that had set out on foot for western Europe. After […]
Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar visits the headquarters of the pilgrim establishment for Arab states in Makkah on Thursday. (AN photo Ahmad Hashad) ARAB NEWS Published — Saturday 5 September 2015 JEDDAH: A total of 172,000 pilgrims have arrived via 861 flights from around the world at King Abdulaziz International Airport […]