By Muath Freij AMMAN – During the bygone days of the 1950s, Eid Al Adha in Amman was very different from how it is today, according to residents who remember that era. Yasin Akkash, whose father Saadi was a sheep trader in the capital, said the process of selling and […]
JERUSALEM | Mon Nov 7, 2011 12:48am EST Nov 7 (Reuters) – Israel’s main labour union declared a general strike on Monday, shutting down major sectors of the country’s economy, but a labour court intervened issuing an injunction that limited the strike to just four hours, officials said. The Histadrut […]
By SIRAJ WAHAB | ARAB NEWS Arafat, Nov. 5, 2011 The highlight of this year’s Haj is, without a doubt, the railway that is shuttling tens of thousands of Saudis, Indians, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Indonesians, Malaysians and Europeans. The high-tech trains picked up pilgrims with valid tickets at various stations at […]
Hundreds of thousands gather in a valley near Saudi city of Mina for the stoning of the devil, the last and dangerous rite of Haj Mina: Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims massed in a valley near the Saudi holy city of Mina on Sunday for the stoning of the […]
By BADEA ABU AL-NAJA | ARAB NEWS MINA: Slaughterhouses in Mina and nearby areas are geared up to receive the huge number of pilgrims who will begin sacrificing animals, a major rite in Haj, beginning on Sunday. The municipality has equipped with the latest technology the five slaughtering units in […]
By ARAB NEWS ARAFAT: More than 2.5 million pilgrims from around the globe prayed for peace and security on the sprawling plains of Arafat on Saturday amid a forceful condemnation by Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh of those who provoke hostilities between the Ummah and its leaders. The […]
he Jerusalem Light Railway has provided the ancient city with new travel possibilities since it opened in August, but it is also proving controversial. The borders in Jerusalem are invisible, and to an outsider barely perceptible. If you did not know they were there, you might – on a fleeting […]
Today is the Day of Arafat. More than 2.5 million pilgrims, including 1.8 million who have come from abroad, will gather on the plains of Arafat today for the most important ritual of the Haj — praying, chanting and reciting the Qur’anic verses and supplicating before their Creator. Makkah has […]
By the grace of Allah I have been able to perform Hajj 3 times and Umra an additional 2 times. It was always a great experience, so great in fact that it is difficult to describe. But let me try … The last time I went for Hajj was 6 […]
By SIRAJ WAHAB | ARAB NEWS Published: Nov 5, 2011 01:08 Updated: Nov 5, 2011 01:08 MINA, Nov. 4, 2011 Haj 2011 has begun on a bright note with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, including men, women and children, converging on this tent city with prayers and talbiyah on their […]
By ARAB NEWS MINA: Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior who is also chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, has congratulated Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on the successful arrival of a record number of pilgrims for this year’s Haj. “This is the first […]
By SIRAJ WAHAB & SYED FAISAL ALI | ARAB NEWS MINA: The valley of Mina came alive as more than 2.5 million pilgrims from around the world converged on the tent city on their first stop to the plains of Arafat. There was adequate security. Officers were out in full […]
By BADEA ABU AL-NAJA & SIRAJ WAHAB | ARAB NEWS MINA: The holy city of Makkah reverberated with chants of “Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik” (O God, here I am answering your call) as nearly three million pilgrims from around the world readied themselves for what is often described as once in […]
Millions are at the tent city of Mina where they will spend time before heading to the Arafat plain on Saturday. About one hundred thousand volunteers and officials deployed at different points in the holy sites provided necessary care and support to the guests of God. There were moving scenes […]
RAMALLAH (Reuters) – The Palestinians will not accept anything less than full United Nations membership and do not want an upgrade to an observer state in the world body, the foreign minister said on Thursday. Riyad Al Malki’s remarks suggested the Palestinians would not seek such an upgrade once their […]
by Marc-André Miserez, swissinfo.ch Before he became the king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej lived an almost ordinary life as a student on Lake Geneva in western Switzerland. A new book, written in French by Swiss journalist and author Olivier Grivat, looks at the adolescence of a shy young man, who […]
By P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR | ARAB NEWS JEDDAH: Many of the 2.5 million pilgrims, who are expected to perform Haj this year, will leave for the Mina valley, located five km east of Makkah, on Thursday evening at the start of the annual pilgrimage. The rest of them will proceed […]
The infantile response from the US and Israel to the decision by UNESCO to give full membership to Palestine is astounding. The Israelis have frozen the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority, worth about $100 million a month, and say they will speed up settlements in the West Bank […]