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.
Courtesy: NY Times By JOHN MARKOFF Published: August 15, 2011 PALO ALTO, Calif. — A free online course at Stanford University on artificial intelligence, to be taught this fall by two leading experts from Silicon Valley, has attracted more than 58,000 students around the globe — a class nearly four […]
I could have added it to my earlier article about the Swiss boy’s journey to Islam, as it was a short journey onward to Ahmadiyyat: the True Islam. The first issue of the Holy Quran in German translation that I read was from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Switzerland. The address […]
In an earlier article, Mr. Qasim Rashid has suggested that it was about time that polygamy should be legalized in America, which can be read here at the Muslim Times. On the one hand, I would like to second Mr. Qasim Rashid’s request that it is about time that polygamy is legalized in Western […]
Pravda Ru: The problem of hunger becomes more and more serious for millions of people around the world. A recent report from the World Bank said that food prices had grown by 33 percent since July 2010 and neared the peak level of 2008. The situation with food reserves in […]
Rfi France: French growth will slow in 2012 to 1.9 per cent from 2.1 per cent this year, the report predicts. The French government’s 2012 forecast is 2.25 per cent growth. France is the eurozone’s second-biggest economy after Germany. “Progress is being made in fiscal consolidation but more efforts might […]
Rfi France. The markets are watching anxiously ahead of a meeting on Tuesday in Paris between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to discuss ways to try to resolve the eurozone debt crisis. For Details: http://www.english.rfi.fr/economy/20110816-sarkozy-and-merkel-meet-discuss-eurozone-debt-crisis
I was asked to tell my story how I became a Muslim at the age of 15. Actually from my point of view it is quite a simple story, but let me try to be a bit specific. I was born into a Christian Protestant family. My father liked to attend the […]
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he does not expect any backlash from the United States if the Palestinians continue to push for statehood. Speaking to reporters in Sarajevo Tuesday, Abbas said if the U.S. vetoes the bid at the United Nations Security Council in September, Palestinians […]
PALESTINE NEWS AGENCY Cairo – PNN – Egypt has deployed tanks and thousands of military troops in co-operation with Israel into the Sinai Peninsula in an attempt to regain control of the area. Control of the Sinai has been in limbo since former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s fall from grace […]
by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch Geneva needs to diversify its tourism offer to compensate for an over-reliance on holidaymakers from the Gulf states, say tourism experts. Some 1.8 million people attended the Fêtes de Genève festival that ended on Sunday, but the figures were down from two million last year, most […]
By ARJUWAN LAKKDAWALA | ARAB NEWS JEDDAH: Ramadan is a special month, and it is a very joyful time for Muslims who fast and celebrate this month. But how do non-Muslims living in the Kingdom feel about Ramadan? To find out, Arab News spoke to several non-Muslims, who said they saw […]
By ALI KOTARUMALOS | AP ARABNEWS JAKARTA, Indonesia: An Indonesian man wounded when Islamic hard-liners launched a deadly attack on his minority sect was sentenced Monday to six months in prison — more than some of those caught on video taking part in the lynching. Human rights groups blasted the […]
By Zain Khasawneh, Jordan Times AMMAN –– Some 40 university students have decided to hit the streets during Ramadan to distribute water and dates to motorists and passers-by who are not at home at sunset – the time of iftar. The volunteers, who are part of a larger group of […]
By Khetam Malkawi, Jordan Times AMMAN – Although the total number of visitors to the Kingdom decreased by 31 per cent in July 2011 compared to same month last year, the number of Saudi tourists increased by 21 per cent, according to a Ministry of Tourism report released on Monday. […]
Courtesy: The Daily Beast Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry aren’t just devout—both have deep ties to a fringe fundamentalist movement known as Dominionism, which says Christians should rule the world. by Michelle Goldberg | August 14, 2011 10:51 PM EDT With Tim Pawlenty out of the presidential race, it is […]
Synchronised explosions in mostly Shia Muslim areas kill at least 74 and injure 250, undermining planned US troop withdrawal Source: Martin Chulov, Guardian Co UK A series of co-ordinated explosions have killed at least 74 people and wounded 250 more across Iraq, shattering calm during the Muslim holy month of […]
Source: http://www.albawaba.com On the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, Dubai Customs launched the first Ramadan event by sponsoring the Holy Quran Memorization Project which takes place from 1st to 20th Ramadan 1432 at Al Siddiq Center for Holy Quran Memorization in Dubai with the participation of 50 children, […]
Source: Spiegel Online News only in German … You can translate by using Google translator! Ratespiele im Ramadan: Von “Wer wird Millionär?”, dem weltweit erfolgreichen Showkonzept, gibt es jetzt eine islamische Version. In Pakistan beantworten die Kandidaten ausschließlich Fragen rund um die Religion. Der Hauptpreis lässt allerdings nur wahrhaft Gläubige in Verzückung geraten. Man stelle sich vor: Bei “Wer wird Millionär?” würde kein einziges Mal geklatscht. Wenn der Kandidat eine Frage von Günther Jauch richtig beantwortete, priese das Publikum lautstark Gott. Die Wiedererkennungsmelodie der Sendung wäre ein religiöser Männergesang. […]