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.
Story Summary By Karin Laub The annual rate of Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians has almost quadrupled in eight years, U.N. figures show, buttressing claims that Israeli security forces have […]
The decision taken by the Haj Ministry to issue Umrah visas during the month of Safar has proved to be a boon to domestic tourism with about 750,000 pilgrims performing […]
A Malaysian architecture professor won a legal challenge that sought removal of her name from the US government’s no-fly list. A federal judge in San Francisco said Tuesday in a brief, two-page court filing that the government’s inclusion of Rahinah Ibrahim on the list was a mistake, AP reports. US […]
By Erich Follath SPIEGEL.DE Proceedings in the case of murdered ex-Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri are set to being in the Netherlands this week. The trial could cause further unrest in a country that is already on the verge of chaos. Rarely has there been a case like this one. […]
DUBAI — The ruler of Dubai, a Gulf trade and investment hub with strong links to Iran, said in remarks broadcast on Monday that the international community should ease sanctions […]
by Geraldine Wong Sak Hoi, swissinfo.ch January 12, 2014 – 11:00 More than ever before, students attending universities in Switzerland are able to do some or all of their degree […]
The President of Fiji Ratu Epeli Nailatikau has acknowledged the contribution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Association to the country. During his keynote address of the Prophet Muhammad’s Celebration in Samabula, Ratu Epeli said the hard work of the members has seen them over the years establish several primary and […]
January 13, 2014 12:48 AM By Nina L. Khrushcheva The Daily Star Story Summary For more than two decades, August has been the cruelest month for Russian leaders. The August 1998 debt default and ruble collapse laid waste to President Boris Yeltsin’s free market reforms and resulted in the sacking […]
Story Summary January 13, 2014 12:48 AM By David Ignatius The Daily Star Reading the devastating memoir by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, people are likely to ask the same troubling questions that emerge from the morning newspapers these days: How did the Obama administration’s foreign-policy process get so broken, […]
JEDDAH: P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR ARABNEWS Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday that it would continue to impose a 20-percent cut in Foreign pilgrims and a 50-percent reduction in domestic pilgrims during […]
Decision made as part of deal with House-based group by Khaled Neimat | Jan 12, 2014 | 20:12 AMMAN — Husbands and children of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians will […]
by Muath Freij | Jan 12, 2014 | 22:43 JORDAN TIMES AMMAN — When 10-year-old Omran Taqi arrived in Amman with his family, the activity he missed the most was […]
Saturday marks twelve years since the first detainees arrived at Guantanamo Bay prison on January 11, 2002. On the anniversary US human rights activists marched to the White House demanding the facility’s closure. This time, the annual Day of Action to shut Guantanamo down comes as quite a number of […]
By Pamela Constable, Published: January 11 E-mail the writer AKORA KHATTAK, Pakistan — In the tribal badlands of Pakistan’s northwest, where Pakistani soldiers and American drones target Taliban insurgents, a parallel war is being waged over a crippling virus that endures in only three places in the world. Last year, […]
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and all his family and companions. The commands mentioned in the Qur’an and sunnah to follow the laws of Allah and His Messenger, and the prohibitions on introducing innovations into the religion […]
When we celebrate Milad, we gather, in order to send salutations (Esal-e-Swaab) to the Prophet [May Allah bless him and grant Him peace], give charity to the poor (Sadaqah Khairat) and remember wilaadah(Birth) and virtues of the Prophet [May Allah bless him and grant Him peace]. The Ahl as-Sunnah does […]
An elderly lady was well-known for her Iman and for her confidence in talking about it. She would stand in front of her house and say Alhamdulilah “Allah be praised” to all those who passed by. Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her […]
Several hundred people marching with music and banners filled the streets of Zurich on Saturday in a peaceful demonstration against the Swiss federal reception centres for asylum seekers. “Asylum is not a crime”, “Human rights instead of asylum” and “No camps anywhere” were among the slogans displayed on banners carried […]
He was respected in his eight years of near-death, with no sacrilegious cartoons to damage his reputation; and he will, be assured, receive the funeral of a hero and a peacemaker. Thus do we remake history by Robert Fisk, The Independent, UK Any other Middle Eastern leader who survived eight […]
STORY SUMMARY January 10, 2014 12:23 AM By Rodger Shanahan The Daily Star Read more: http://dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2014/Jan-10/243615-why-are-shiites-fighting-in-syria.ashx#ixzz2qAWWUtBM (The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb) The Syrian civil war is not a rallying call for the region’s Shiite communities in the same way that it is for foreign Sunni jihadists. The […]