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.
City University pulls Islam prayer space over sermons content By Jennifer Lipman, February 28, 2013 Follow Jennifer on Twitter A London university that was found to have serious problems with campus radicalisation has won praise from extremism monitor Quilliam after withholding campus space for Muslim prayers unless staff are permitted to […]
Havana Real Estate “Boom” Lures Investors & Exiles New America Media, News Analysis, Louis Nevaer Just over a year after the Cuban government permitted the first sale of real estate between private parties, a housing boom is emerging in Havana. Sequestration Nearing, Calif. Schools Get Breathing Room […]
Courtesy: The Daily Star GALLOWS for Sayedee War crimes tribunal finds him guilty of 8 out of 20 charges, hands death for 2 offences Julfikar Ali Manik and Mahbubur Rahman Khan Ending all speculations, the first war crimes tribunal yesterday sentenced Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee to death in its […]
Dalil Boubakeur is one of France’s most prominent Muslims. In a SPIEGEL ONLINE interview, he discusses what retiring Pope Benedict XVI did wrong in bridging the Muslim-Catholic divide and how […]
By ALEX ALVAREZ (@soalexgoes) While the U.S. has deemed it illegal to place bets on who will become the next pope — the selection process is considered an election — […]
Eric J. Lyman, Special for USA TODAY At 8 p.m. sharp local time (2 p.m. ET), Benedict will become the first pontiff in 600 years to retire. VATICAN CITY — […]
PORT-LOUIS, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) — Scientists have discovered the existence of a micro-continent lying under the Mauritius and Reunion islands in the Indian Ocean, the Nature Geoscience magazine published on its website. The researchers from Oslo, Liverpool and Witwatersrand universities said that the micro-continent which has been given the name, […]
By Catherine Chomiak, Producer, NBC News ROME – In a policy shift, the United States on Thursday announced plans to channel non-lethal assistance directly to Syrian rebels in the battlefield […]
Government Inaction, Discriminatory Laws Embolden Militant Groups (Jakarta) – The Indonesian government is failing to protect the country’s religious minorities from growing religious intolerance and violence, Human Rights Watch said […]
By Al Arabiya with AFP Israel’s settlement construction in annexed east Jerusalem is part of a strategy aimed at preventing the Holy City from becoming the capital of two states, […]
By Al Arabiya with AFP French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that he believed it would be possible to come to a political decision on the Syrian conflict in the […]
By Al Arabiya An influential Saudi cleric has issued a religious edict, commonly known as Fatwa, allowing women to travel without a male guardian, uncover their faces and eat alongside […]
by Naim-Ul-Karim DHAKA, Feb. 28 — Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, believed to be the second-most important leader of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, was sentenced to death in capital Dhaka Thursday for […]
Not anti-religion but pro-justice: Bangladesh protesters The Hindu The organisers also said their main objectives were to ensure capital punishment for war criminals and a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, the Islami Chhatra Shibir, as they have unleashed a reign of terror across Bangladesh to foil the […]
Courtesy: Hindustani Times Indrajit Hazra Dhaka, February 26, 2013 The signs are there all over Dhaka. If it’s not blatant demands to “hang the war criminals” in posters and billboards surrounding Shahbagh Square where Bangladesh erupted on February 5, there are murals depicting demonic Islamist fundamentalists on the […]
Mary Jo White’s path to the Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a crucial juncture: the Congressional charm campaign. Lawmakers are scrutinizing Ms. White ahead of her Senate confirmation hearing, raising questions about the former prosecutor’s lack of regulatory experience and the challenge of policing Wall Street firms she recently […]
Source: Jakarta Globe: Sanya, China. It was billed as China’s Dubai: a cluster of sail-shaped skyscrapers on a man made island surrounded by tropical sea, the epitome of an unprecedented property boom that transformed skylines across the country. But prices on Phoenix Island, off the palm-tree lined streets of the […]
PRZEMYSL: Poland, for Zaida Saleh, like for many observant Muslim women, manicures have long posed a religious problem. With prayers five times a day, and the pre-prayer ritual of “wudhu” […]
Source: Jakarta Globe: Pope Benedict XVI waves from the altar during his last weekly audience at St Peter’s Square on Feb. 27, 2013. (AFP Photo) Vatican City. Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday admitted “stormy waters” during his pontificate as he held his last audience in St Peter’s Square before tens […]
Middle East Report N°13825 Feb 2013 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS With war a frightening prospect and fruitful negotiations a still-distant dream, sanctions have become the West’s instrument of choice vis-à-vis Iran. They are everywhere: in the financial arena, barring habitual commercial relations; in the oil sector, choking off Tehran’s principal […]