Why millions of Muslims are signing up for online dating
By Lydia Green BBC Arabic Arranged marriages are standard practice in many societies, but the introductions and screening process can be an ordeal for the young people involved – even […]
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.
Qur’an lesson for today: 317. Commandment – Eat of that which Allah has provided for you of what is lawful and good
317. Commandment – Eat of that which Allah has provided for you of what is lawful and good [5:89] And eat of that which Allah has provided for you of what is lawful and good. And fear Allah in Whom you believe. [20:82] ‘Eat of the good things that We […]
The U.S. just refuses to take the blame
Summary Rami G. Khouri, The Daily Star, Lebanon It is exasperating to listen to American officials pontificate about events in the Middle East and offer what sounds like reasonable proposals to resolve the area’s problems, when those same officials and the entire political power structure they represent refuse to acknowledge […]
Iraqi Kurd urges regional rule for Iraqi Sunnis
Summary Iraq’s central government in Baghdad must give up much of its authority to local power centers — and potentially permit the creation of an autonomous Sunni Muslim region — […]
The 20 damning report findings into CIA’s post-9/11 ‘torture’ programme
The US Senate Intelligence Committee has published its highly anticipated and divisive report into the CIA’s detention and interrogation programme employed after the September 11 attacks. Only the executive summary of the 6,700-page classified report has been published, including its 20 findings. The 20 conclusions are presented below, including particularly […]
Muslim woman attacked at Vienna bank
A 60-year-old Muslim woman was seriously injured after being attacked at a bank in Vienna, in an incident which appears to have been motivated by Islamophobia. Pensioner Selver S. was waiting in a queue to collect her pension at a Bawag bank branch in Schönbrunner Strasse (Meidling) when a man […]
Qur’an lesson for today: 316. Commandment – Eat and drink of what Allah has provided
316. Commandment – Eat and drink of what Allah has provided [2:61] And remember the time when Moses prayed for water for his people, and We said: ‘Strike the rock with thy rod,’ and there gushed forth from it twelve springs, so that every tribe knew their drinking place. ‘Eat […]
Activists to meet with Indonesian president over displaced Ahmadiyya – Say the minority Muslim group’s rights have been routinely violated
Ryan Dagur, Jakarta Indonesia December 8, 2014 Human rights activists said Monday they will be pushing President Joko Widodo to find a solution to the Ahmadiyya refugee situation during a […]
Racial Divide: The Tragedy of America’s First Black President
By Markus Feldenkirchen and Holger Stark SPIEGEL.DE On the evening after the city burned, a man in a black leather jacket and white clerical collar is standing on the streets […]
The 390-Euro Man: A Pakistani Slave’s Path to Freedom
By Hasnain Kazim spiegel.de On the day Hanif Masih is to be freed after spending half of his life as a slave, the 28 year old rubs olive oil into […]
TERRORIST GROUPS: Swiss Parliament bans Islamic State, al-Qaeda
Both houses of parliament have voted to ban the al-Qaeda and Islamic State terror groups in Switzerland. The House of Representatives followed the Senate’s lead on Monday and voted 184 to 0 in favour of the ban. It prohibits participating in or supplying the banned organisations as well as distributing […]
Egypt is sad, but also hard to read
Summary by Rami G. Khouri It is tempting to make definitive judgments about the meaning of the extraordinary stages of Egyptian political life since then, but also reckless. The economy, real incomes and job-creation all remain insufficient in the face of the Egyptians’ basic needs, while the population continues to […]
Big Job Gains and Rising Pay in Labor Data
Ever since the recovery from the Great Recession began more than five years ago, the most crucial missing pieces of the economic puzzle were the lack of consistently strong gains in hiring and better wages for most working Americans struggling to make ends meet. Now, at last, those pieces are […]
Jordan’s King Says Fight Against ISIS Is ‘a Third World War, a Muslim Problem’
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who is in Washington to meet with President Barack Obama, described the battle against the Islamic State, or ISIS, terror group in Iraq and Syria as “a third world war” and “a Muslim problem,” they need to take ownership of. “This is a Muslim problem,” Abdullah […]
Saint Gallen cops probe Islamic centre blaze
Published: 07 Dec 2014 22:58 GMT+01:00 Two molotov cocktails thrown into an Islamic centre started a fire in a village in the canton of Saint Gallen early Sunday morning, according […]
Robert Fisk: Isn’t it important to realise who our enemies really are? Children are so often the forgotten victims of conflict – regardless of the perpetrators
Well, heaven preserve us: the most useless “peacemaker” on earth has just used an Arabic acronym for the greatest threat to civilisation since the last greatest threat. Yup, ol’ John Kerry called it “Daesh”, which is what the Arabs call it. It stands for the “Islamic State in Iraq and […]
Gaza engineer develops new technology to replace cement
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Salameh Bihar, 56, who was displaced after Israel destroyed his house in Gaza’s Shajaiya neighborhood in the recent war, is still waiting to rebuild his three-story house. But he is not optimistic about succeeding. Summary: Engineer Imad al-Khalidi has developed a replacement for cement to […]
GRAFFITI: Redesigning the Swiss embassy walls in Cairo
Through his work Khalid tries to show that the idea is more important than anything else. For him it is the individual’s ideas that make him different from his peers […]
UN reveals Israeli links with Syrian rebels – Reports by UN observers in the Golan submitted to 15 members of Security Council detail regular contact between IDF officers and armed Syrian opposition figures at the border.
Reports by UN observers in the Golan Heights over the past 18 months reveal the type and extent of cooperation between Israel and Syrian opposition figures. The reports, submitted to […]
Prince Hassan calls for encouraging interfaith dialogue
ROME — HRH Prince Hassan has called for encouraging interfaith dialogue as a way to celebrate religious diversity and culture, and focus on similarities rather than differences. In an address […]