The world of fatwas

WHEN the Quran was revealed it was assumed that all Muslims would read it to seek guidance for their problems and hence no class of priesthood was needed. But as Islam spread far and wide and Muslims from other cultures spoke different languages, they could not do so. The Quran […]

Was bin Laden’s Killing and Burial Legal?

  A key detail in the initial narrative of the historic operation that killed the world’s most wanted man – al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden – has proven to be inconsistent, raising concerns about what really happened at the lavish gated compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. US president Barack Obama and […]

What is the International Law?

No one is above the law and no one is below the law!  The term ‘International Law,’ may be thrown around vaguely in the media for the foreseeable future regarding the Extra-judicial killing of Osama Bin Laden.  But, what is ‘International Law?’  What best fits this term is the Universal […]

A rebirth of science in Islamic countries?

The Islamic Golden Age — a period that spanned the 7th to the 13th centuries A.D. — saw a flourishing of scholarship in the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, which at their greatest extent stretched across North Africa and the Middle East. Contrary to traditional views of Islamic science in this […]

When Baghdad was centre of the scientific world

Islamic science had its heyday in the ninth century, thanks to Ab? Ja’far al-Ma’m?n’s House of Wisdom, says Jim al-Khalil. The Bab al-Sharji district in the centre of Baghdad derives its name, which means east gate, from the medieval fortifications of the city. These walls were probably built around the […]

Workers enter Japan’s crippled nuke plant

TOKYO – Japanese workers entered the Fukushima No 1 power plant Thursday for the first time since the complex was damaged by the March 11 twin disasters of earthquake and tsunami, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) officials said.   Special Coverage:  Japan Nuke Crisis As part of efforts to install a cooling […]

Jakarta hosts the 18th ASEAN summit from May 7-8,

Looking beyond 2015, RI wants a common platform for ASEAN Jakarta will host the 18th ASEAN summit from May 7-8, where the leaders of the association’s 10 nations will discuss regional and global issues. The Jakarta Post’s Abdul Khalik and Sita Winiawati Dewi talked to Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on […]

Test for early Alzheimer’s diagnosis shows promise

An experimental test to detect minute differences in the brain caused by Alzheimer’s disease works in the lab, Canadian researchers say. Prof. Vassilios Papadopoulos, director of the McGill University Health Centre’s Research Institute, and his co-authors published their findings about the test in Wednesday’s issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s […]

Vatican envoy in Libya criticizes NATO bombing

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican’s delegate in Tripoli is calling for a halt to NATO air strikes in Libya and for the West to negotiate with Muammar Qaddafi’s government, insisting the Libyan leader doesn’t oppose dialogue. Monsignor Giovanni Martinelli, the Holy See’s longtime apostolic vicar in Tripoli, said in a telephone […]

King pledges continued support for Palestinians

AMMAN (JT) – His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday welcomed the Palestinian reconciliation deal, finalised in Cairo yesterday, which will end the Palestinian division and unite the Palestinian people, according to a Royal Court statement. The King made the remarks during a meeting with several Palestinian figures, who arrived from […]

Imam welcomes death of Islam’s ‘enemy’

Osama Bin Laden was “an enemy of true Islam” and his death will hopefully end the era of terrorism, according to the head of the Islamic Call Society in Malta. “Bin Laden’s extremist convictions and terroristic practices caused great injustice to Islam and led to disastrous consequences for the Islamic […]

Harawira apologises for bin Laden comments

Mana Party leader Hone Harawira has apologised for how he expressed himself when he painted Osama bin Laden as a freedom fighter. In tributes on Maori-language television on Tuesday, Mr Harawira said the al-Qaeda founder and September 11, 2001 mastermind should be “honoured” rather than “damned” in death according to […]