Fujairah (UAR): A Christian expat, who landed in the UAE with just a few hundreds of dirhams in 2003, is gifting a mosque to hundreds of workers this Ramadan. Indian national Saji Cheriyan, 49, has built the mosque for Muslim workers living in a worker accommodation that he rented out to 53 companies in Fujairah.…
The Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies of Jordan and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue discussed the dignity of human life during their colloquium in Amman, May 9-10. The Vatican and a Jordanian institute dedicated to inter-faith studies have issued a statement urging for the protection of and respect for human life, especially that of…
Marawi City: Philippines: Catholics in the battle-scarred southern Philippine city of Marawi have joined the predominantly Muslim community in welcoming the start of the month of Ramadan. A thousand Catholic and Muslim residents participated in the start of the “Duyog Ramadan” celebration spearheaded by the Catholic prelature in the city’s Datu Saber district on May…
A 13-year-old girl has become the youngest Bahraini to reach the Everest Base Camp. Juwan Abdulkhaleq, an eighth-grade student, made Bahraini history by reaching the South Base Camp in Nepal at an altitude of 5,364 metres. Juwan was a member of an expedition that included 20 other women, aged between 23 and 47, coming from…
The Conference of Presidents, an umbrella organization that represents over 50 US Jewish organizations, hosted Mohammed al-Issa, the secretary general of the Saudi-based Muslim World League, as the featured guest. During his keynote speech, Al-Issa discussed the state of Jewish-Muslim relations and highlighted the importance of Holocaust education in the Muslim world. In January, Al-Issa…
Pope Francis has once more expressed his deep concern at the worsening violence in the Middle East. “I am very concerned at the escalation of tension in the Holy Land and in the Middle East, and the spiral of violence that is moving away further from the path of peace, dialogue and negotiation,” he said…
What hinders learning in Schools? The recent World Development Report 2018 throws lights on factors that result in poor outcomes in schools in developing countries. Schools are meant for learning or transfer of knowledge from teacher to the students. But schools without learning could be a terrible waste of precious resources and of human potential.…
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Justice and President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Walid Al-Sama’ani, has directed all courts in the country to automatically guarantee divorced Saudi woman custody of their children in the case where there is no dispute with the former spouse. As a result, Saudi mothers are now free to handle their child’s…
Opium cultivation and the use of drugs have become widespread in Afghanistan in recent years Kabul: Laila Haidari, a volunteer from Bamyan province in central Afghanistan, helps to treat female drug addicts in Kabul. She used to spend what she earned from her restaurant and carpet factory on addicts. “The majority of the children of…
The head of Turkey’s religious affairs has said that they will select and appoint female deputy muftis in all provinces across Turkey. Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) head, Ali ErbaÅ said they are taking steps to include more women in the directorate. “We will select and appoint female deputy muftis in all our provinces as…
