Kingdom (of Saudi Arabia), Jordan review strategy to end IS menace
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman held wide-ranging talks here Wednesday with King Abdallah of Jordan on a range of key regional issues with special reference to the […]
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.
Arab armies can only make matters worse
Summary Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi’s suggestion that our region needs a joint Arab military force to deal with escalating threats from armed factions in lands such as Libya is one of the most ridiculous ideas to emerge in the Arab world for years. The most important is that the resort […]
Don’t blame Snowden for the ISIS fiasco
Summary It was only a matter of time before an American official would use the ISIS stick against the former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Whether Snowden had leaked on U.S. surveillance capacities or not, ISIS would certainly have assumed that such capacities existed, and adapted accordingly. What Rogers […]
Austria Passes Anti-Islam Bill
Heinz-Peter Bader / Reuters The Austrian parliament has passed a controversial bill that bans foreign funding for the religion in Austria, as well as foreign imams, many of whom are paid by neighboring Turkey. While Muslim activists have claimed the law is discriminatory to the 600,000 Muslims living in Austria […]
Finland: National radio to read Koran ‘from cover to cover’.
Finland: National radio to read Koran ‘cover to cover’ 24 February 2015 Share Finland’s public broadcaster describes the series as an “unprecedented” project The Koran will be read from cover to cover on Finnish public radio as part of a new series, it’s been announced. The country’s public broadcaster, Yle, […]
State of Ikea founder’s home raises eyebrows (Why should it? That is what happens if you rely on Ikea furniture. Editor)
Kamprad, 88, moved back to his home country of Sweden last year after living in Switzerland for almost four decades. The house in Epalinges, a bedroom suburb north of […]
40% rise in new West Bank settlement homes in 2014 — NGO
AFP | Feb 24, 2015 | Jordan Times In this November 2, 2011 file photo, a worker stands by construction material to unload at a new housing unit in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Har Homa (AP photo) OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The number of new settler housing units under […]
Global response to atrocities by states and armed groups ‘shameful and ineffective’
ARMED CONFLICT Global response to atrocities by states and armed groups ‘shameful and ineffective’ 25 February 2015, 15:54 UTC • Amnesty International releases Annual Report along with forecast of human rights trends for the coming year • Says governments must ‘stop pretending the protection of civilians is beyond their […]
Aqsa Mahmood branded a ‘disgrace’ by her parents after claims she recruited three UK girls flying to Middle East
The British woman previously travelled to Syria to marry an Isis fighter JON STONE Sunday 22 February 2015 The family of a British woman living with Isis fighters in Syriahas branded her a “disgrace” after it emerged she may have enticed three missing young UK girls to join her. Police […]
Moderate Sunni Islam leader blames Zionism and ‘new colonialism’ for Middle East collapse
Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, appears to blame Israel and by implication the US for chaos in Arab world Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb Photo: Getty Images By Richard Spencer, Middle East Editor The leading “moderate” authority in Sunni Islam has blamed Zionism and the “new colonialism” for the […]
Islamic State Goes Official in South Asia
Islamic State Goes Official in South Asia Although its prospects in the region are likely limited, IS could bring further death and destruction to South Asia. By Arif Rafiq February 04, 2015 The group that describes itself as the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL) has […]
A parallel state within Turkey? How the country’s democracy came under attack from two men’s rivalry
A parallel state within Turkey? How the country’s democracy came under attack from two men’s rivalry They were once allies but since 2013, the feud between exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been steadily escalating Once upon a time, Fethullah Gulen and Recep Tayyip Erdogan […]
UK Muslims Launch Manifesto at House of Lords
Source: OnIslam.net By Farrukh I. Younus Freelance Writer – United Kingdom Tuesday, 24 February 2015 00:00 LONDON – With the upcoming political elections in the UK a new initiative the Muslim Manifesto, was launched at the House of Lords on February 23rd. “I have been in politics for 38 years, […]
US Supreme Court to hear hijab case
WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court will make a rare foray into popular clothing Wednesday to weigh in on accusations that Abercrombie & Fitch illegally rejected a Muslim job applicant because of her hijab. Abercrombie argued that its store policy forbids sales staff — whom it calls “models” — from wearing […]
Yemen president retracts resignation: aide
Summary Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has retracted his resignation after escaping house arrest in the militia-controlled capital, an aide said on Tuesday. An aide to Hadi said he had sent a letter withdrawing the resignation to Yemen’s parliament, which had never met to formally accept it. Prime Minister Khalid […]
Qur’an lesson for today: 388. Commandment – They are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them
388. Commandment – They are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them [2:188] It is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast. They are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them. Allah knows […]
AFRICA : The Spy Cables: A glimpse into the world of espionage Secret documents, leaked from numerous intelligence agencies, offer rare insights into the interactions between spies.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS The Spy Cables are one of the most wide-ranging leaks of intelligence papers ever, taking us into the world of espionage Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit, in collaboration with The Guardian newspaper, is publishing a selection of “top-secret” documents, and exploring the stories within them The documents come from […]
The jihadi girls are just part of a long line attracted to mad, bad men – Messianic fervour, millenarianism and magnetism can whip up female hormones alarmingly, and this isn’t just confined to fanatic Islam
YASMIN ALIBHAI BROWN Sunday 22 February 2015 As I write this, the three Muslim teenage girls from East London are still missing. Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16 and […]
Stand against the devil
The Daily Star, Lebanon The horrific mass murder of Egyptian Copts Sunday by ISIS in Libya and the weekend attacks in Denmark – presumably inspired by a similar mentality – show us once again that this evil menace is not confined to any one area, and as such, the response […]
Interview with Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad on LBC radio
definitely worth listening to in its full length!