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.
David Ignatius| The Daily Star A glimpse of the anxiety sweeping the Arab world surfaced last week when an Arab woman complained during a talk in Amman at the Columbia Global Center for the Middle East. She said my speech’s title about the “crisis” in the region wasn’t accurate. The […]
What on earth has descended upon the Middle East? BY ROBERT FISK, THE INDEPENDENT Why such an epic explosion of violence? It feels strange to ask these questions of Dr Bouthaina Shaaban, one of President Bashar al-Assad’s close advisers and former translator to his father, Hafez. Her office is spotless, […]
Miko Morelos Thursday, October 30 2014 The government of newly-elected Indonesian President Joko Widodo says it has begun the groundwork for ensuring protection of minorities in the country. Indonesia’s religious […]
Source: CNN An officer with Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department came under an unprovoked attack Friday from a man wielding an ax, police said, the second such attack in two weeks that is prompting warnings and new protocols to officers on the job. The attack, and another last week in which […]
Source: CNN – The first sign there was a problem with Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo came at about 45,000 feet, just two minutes after the spaceplane separated from the jet-powered aircraft that carried it aloft. It wasn’t something overt with SpaceShipTwo, said Stuart Witt, the chief executive of Mojave Air & Space Port […]
Despite the fact that the child Algerian Abdul Rahman; which did not exceed three years old, could not read a single word written, but he was able – through listening to the verses of the Quran – to preserve the Book of Allah by heart; to enter encyclopedia Guinness Book […]
By Hauke Goos and Bernhard Riedmann (Photos) SPIEGEL.DE In the hottest part of the desert, an adult sitting in the shade loses up to one liter of water an hour, […]
Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) — Switzerland said it foiled a terrorist attack in Europe by detaining three Islamic State extremists. The Iraqi citizens are suspected of “misuse of explosives and toxic gases with criminal intent, acts preparatory to criminal offenses, pornography, and encouraging illegal entry to, exit from and residence in […]
279. Commandment to approach not foul deeds, whether open or secret [6:152] Say, ‘Come, I will rehearse to you what your Lord has forbidden: that you associate not anything as partner with Him and that you do good to parents, and that you kill not your children for fear of […]
TOKYO — After insisting for more than a year that its aggressive monetary policy was sufficient to revive Japan’s economy and end deflation, the Bank of Japan on Friday unexpectedly announced that it would increase the amount of money it pumped into the country’s financial markets by buying larger quantities […]
Epigraph: Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be […]
Muharram is the month that marks the beginning of the Hijrah calendar. It is one of the four sanctified months about which the Holy Qur’an says, “The number of the […]
Source:CNN (CNN) — The military in the West African nation of Burkina Faso seized control of the government on Thursday and set a dusk-to-dawn curfew in what one general described as an effort to protect lives and restore order. Unrest has gripped Burkina Faso — a key ally for the […]
DEAD SEA — A total of 261 foreign and Jordanian employees as well as administrative staff members working at the Dead Sea’s eight hotels managed to break the Guinness World […]
Question and answer details Name of Questioner: Hannah Reply date: 2014/10/30 Question: Can you please explain to me why is Friday your “Sabbath” Day? consultant: Amir Ali Answer Salam (Peace) Dear Hannah, Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam. In Islam there is no Sabbath. For […]
Makkah-Madinah train to be shipped by year-end JEDDAH: ARAB NEWS Published — Friday 31 October 2014 The first Spanish-made train for the multibillion-riyal Haramain railway project would arrive in […]
Local councillor Maxence Buttey, 22, has been suspended from a regional Front National committee after he went public with his decision and sent out a ‘proselytising video’ to party members. […]
A social experiment that ended with an actor posing as an Islamophobe getting punched in the face has shown that Canadians are prepared to defend Muslims in the face of overt racist abuse in the wake of a recent terror attack. In an attempt to test whether Canadians feel safe […]
Source: NY Times: JERUSALEM — Under heavy pressure and the threat of new Israeli-Palestinian strife, Israel announced on Thursday that it would reopen a contested holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday morning, a day after closing it for the first time in years. The site, which […]