Archive for August, 2014
UAE enters Space Race with first Arab Spaceship to Mars
Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has entered the space race with a project to send an unmanned probe to Mars by 2021 in the Arab world’s first mission to another planet. A new UAE Space Agency will be created to coordinate the UAE’s growing space technology sector and to supervise the mission. The […]
British Imams warn against ‘cowboy’ ISIS
Leading British Muslim preachers have strongly condemned the Islamist militant group ISIS in an online video published last fortnight aimed at deterring young British Muslims from fighting in Iraq and Syria. Their denunciation of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and its self-proclaimed “caliphate” is considered to be the highest-profile kickback thus far […]
Muslim World’s first ‘Green’ Mosque opens in Dubai
Dubai: Dubai’s Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF) opened the first environmentally friendly mosque in the entire Muslim world, to worshippers last fortnight. The Khalifa Al Tajer Mosque, in Bur Saeed Street, Deira, Dubai, has the capacity for some 3,500 worshippers who attended the first Friday sermon at the mosque given by Sheikh Salih Al […]
How Islamic is the Caliphate?
Muslims today see the “caliphate” declared by the notorious ISIS (“Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,” or simply IS) as an abomination. By Mustafa Akyol The title above might sound silly to some readers. Because the Caliphate (or the “Successorship” to Prophet Muhammad) is certainly an “Islamic” institution if by that we mean the fourteen […]
Second Saudi Arabian Woman Secures Commercial Pilot Licence
Dubai: Yasmeen Mohammad Al Mainmani started to dream about flying when she was just seven years old. She was not particularly dreaming of being a captain, as she was not sure what she wanted to be — a hostess or a pilot. But she still can recall how she loved flying at a young age. […]
Muslim Groups fight for Church’s Right to use the word Allah
By Anisah Shukry Kuala Lumpur: Christians are not alone in their struggle to use the word “Allah” in Malaysia, as Muslim non-governmental organisations (NGO) have taken it upon themselves to educate fellow Malays that the word predates Islam. Muslim NGOs, such as Sisters in Islam (SIS) and the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), have taken to […]
Ramadan in Sweden with no Dusk, no Dawn
Kiruna, Sweden: During this year’s holy month of Ramadan, when consumption of food and water is prohibited between dawn and dusk, how do Muslims observing the fast manage in the far north of Scandinavia, where the sun never sets? An estimated 700 Muslims spent Ramadan in the mining town of Kiruna, located 145km north of the […]
Bethlehem Christians fast Ramadan with Muslims
Bethlehem: Christians in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, joined the city’s Muslim residents in fasting Ramadan in continuation of a centuries-old tradition of interfaith solidarity. Mike Kanawati, a Christian resident of Bethlehem, who manages a souvenir and jewelry shop, fasts the days of Ramadan with his Muslim neighbors. “My […]
Kosher Iftar: UK Synagogue marks Ramadan with Interfaith Meal
During the recent escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jews and Muslims in London sat down to break bread. By Nabila Pathan A UK-based synagogue hosted its first iftar with members of both the local Jewish and Muslim communities. As part of an ongoing nationwide initiative, known as the “Big iftar,” the breaking of the Ramadan […]
Govt. Initiating Action
Equal Opportunity Commission By Abdul Bari Masoud New Delhi: The government has assured the Parliament that it has initiated process for setting up Equal Opportunity Commission for notified minorities. This was stated by Minister of Minority Affairs Dr. Najma A. Heptulla, in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question on July 22. She told […]
