News updates

CAIRO – As a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday, April 25, leaving thousands dead, several Muslim countries rushed to offer humanitarian assistance to the traumatized country. “I just informed our ministers that Indonesia was ready to help,” Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was quoted by Jakarta Post on Sunday, April 26. Indonesia is among several Muslim countries that are …

CAIRO – Catering to the growing number of Muslim worshippers travelling to the holy land, the expansion of the mataf, or circumambulation area around the Kaaba, will be opened in Ramadan, with an hourly capacity for 100,000 worshipers. “We are currently working on utility buildings, which include government offices, the operations room, the headquarters of the security authorities, health department, …

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmathullahi Wabarakathuhu The National Shoorah Council (NSC) deliberates in this issue about the haunting narcotics menace that is gripping the community and the country. Alcohol, liquor, smoking and other matters that harm individual and social health are generally prohibited in Islam. Some of these prohibitions are observed and practiced by some of our co-religionists too in our country. …

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Seeking comfort in prayer, hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the Greek Catholic Church in Ramallah's Old City to solemnly commemorate Good Friday, during a long weekend that marks when Jesus is believed to have been crucified, buried and resurrected more than 2,000 years ago. During what's known as the "funeral" procession, Palestinian Christians re-enacted the burial …

HELSINKI – For the first time ever, Finnish and German radio stations announced plans to broadcast the holy book of Qur’an in weekly sessions, accompanied by its translation and interpretation to increase people’s knowledge of Islam. “It’s nice to hear my translation be read aloud,” Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, who translated Qur’an into Finnish, told Yle’s Radio 1 channel. “It is …

Dr. Suzanne Barakat was writing a prescription for one of her patients at San Francisco General Hospital when her phone lit up with text messages from friends sending condolences. It was Feb. 10 and Barakat, 27, was in her first year of family medicine residency. She ignored the first text, thinking it was either a mistake or a reference to …