Asia

Tolerance and amity

Source: Jordan Times His Majesty King Abdullah’s meeting with heads of the Orthodox churches in the Middle East is a reminder to the international community and the Arab countries that Muslims and Christians in the region, and indeed elsewhere in the world, of the need for peaceful religious accommodation and […]

How Israel clebrates Ramadan

For Israel’s Muslims, Ramadan a time to celebrate Islam in the Jewish state Last week, Muslim and Jewish soldiers gathered after a day’s training to eat a communal iftar, the traditional break-the-fast meal eaten after sunset during the month-long observance of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan.   “Ramadan isn’t just […]

Indonesia Hails Downfall of Qaddafi Regime

As rebels on Tuesday fought battles around Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi’s headquarters in Tripoli, the Indonesian government said the fall of the regime would mark the end of an era of state violence against civilians in the north African nation. Hailing the choice made by the people of Libya, Foreign […]

Ahmadis in West Java Fear They’re Next

The Ahmadiyah community in Cianjur, West Java, is airing fears of violence and retaliation after a court in Banten recently jailed 12 men for an attack there that left three members of the minority Muslim sect dead………. Firdaus Mubarik, a spokesman for the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), said that Ahmadi […]

Worshippers throng mosques for ‘qiyamullail’

By BADEA ABU AL-NAJA & MD RASOOLDEEN | ARAB NEWS MAKKAH/RIYADH: The Grand Mosque in Makkah is filled to the brim with worshippers these days as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have come from all over the world to perform Umrah and attend taraweeh and qiyamullail prayers, seeking the blessings of Lailat Al-Qadr (night of power). The Civil […]

‘Pilgrimage to Mecca’: The first British Muslim woman on record to have visited the Holy Cities of Madinah and Makkah

By LISA KAAKI, LISA.KAAKI@ARABNEWS.COM During the 19th century, many women, particularly Englishwomen, were fascinated by the Arab world. Most of these female travelers, like Lucie Duff Gordon, Lady Ann Blunt, Gertrude Bell, Isabelle Eberhardt and Freya Stark, to name but a few, are known to us through their impassioned travelogues. […]

The flight from marriage

Source/Credit: The Economist Conservatives in the West are fond of saying that the traditional family is the bedrock of society. That view is held even more widely in Asia. The family is the focus of Confucian ethics, which holds that a basic moral principle, xiushen (self-improvement), can be pursued only […]