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SHAFAQNA –Three UN Special Rapporteurs addressed in a letter to the Bahraini Govement “conceing” information about alleged pattes of continuous discrimination against Shia citizens (mainly Bahaa and Ajam), which have been taking place since 2011, and which are “undermining their rights to freedoms of religion, expression and culture;” in addition to the effect of the whole situation on the human rights of Shiites in the country. The address published recently on the website of the commissioner was officially sent to the Govement of Bahrain at the end of October 2015 to enquire about the reports which the UN rapporteurs deemed conceing. The Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights,...

SHAFAQNA –The first time he tried to escape a tough existence in his village in weste Myanmar in 2004, Junaid Zafar was thrown in jail for five years. Like many other Rohingya Muslims, Zafar was seeking to flee poverty and persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and he did not wait long after being released from jail to try again. This time, his parents sold off possessions to raise about $1,000 to pay people smugglers to take him to Malaysia. Zafar, the eldest of three siblings, finally made it in 2011.But like thousands of other Rohingya in Malaysia, he now finds himself living in a precarious limbo, having to work illegally due to official restrictions, and with resettlement to another ...

SHAFAQNA –A 42-year-old British-Australian dual national was charged by Emirati police in Dubai after being arrested for sharing an “illegal” post helping Afghan refugees on his Facebook page. Scott Richards was charged and detained for 22 days after he shared a crowdfunding site raising funds for children at the Chahari Qambar refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul. Emirati authorities accused Richards of promoting an “illegal” charity after new laws were introduced baing the promotion of any charity not given prior approval from the Islamic Affairs and Charitable activities department in Dubai. Richards, who works as an economic development adviser in Dubai, grew up in the Australian city...

SHAFAQNA –Once a month on a Sunday afteoon, a dozen Muslim women meet at the Moroccan Deli-Cacy on Lygon St and take up positions on tables and benches. The women sip tea, nibble on biscuits and wait for their dates, who line up out the door to meet their matches. But it’s not romance they want to share — it’s enlightenment. The event aims to ‘start a conversation between Muslims and non-Muslims’. Restaurateur Hana Assafiri said her Speed Date a Muslim event was an instant hit when she launched it earlier this year, thanks to its simple premise: come and ask a Muslim woman anything you like. She was motivated by the sense that something in the national mood had shifted and Muslims were bein...

A Turkish flag flutters atop the Turkish embassy as an Israeli flag is seen nearby, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 26, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo SHAFAQNA – Turkey’s parliament approved a reconciliation agreement signed with Israel in June which has brought to an end a six-year rift between the two regional powers, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday. Relations between the two countries crumbled after Israeli marines stormed a Turkish ship in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, killing 10 Turks on board. Israel, which had already offered its apologies for the raid, agreed under the deal to pay out $20 million to the bereaved and wounded in retu fo...

SHAFAQNA –The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, expressed deep conce about the Bahraini security authorities’ summoning of Head of Religious Freedom unit at the Bahrain Human Rights Observatory, Sheikh Maytham al-Salman. “I am very conceed by reports that talk about the Bahraini authorities summoning Maitham Salman for interrogation on August 14, 2016, and I am observing this matter closely,” he said in a tweet on his official Twitter account. Sheikh Salman said that he had received a call from the security authorities asking him to be present for interrogation Sunday (August 14, 2016) without informing him of the...

Collage of human head, molecules and various abstract elements on the subject of mode science, chemistry, physics, human and artificial minds SHAFAQNA- By: Professor Mahdi GolshaniNature means the physical world, which is, the world with which we come into contact through our senses. In the Holy Qur’an, there are more than 750 verses in reference to the natural phenomena. In most of these verses, the study of the book of creation and the meditation upon its contents has been recommended.As confirmed by many outstanding Islamic scholars, the Qur’an is not a book of natural science, but rather, one of guidance and enlightenment.The Qur’anic reference to the natural phenomena i...

SHAFAQNA –A Muslim mixedmartial arts fighter – who trains boxing champ Amir Khan – has slammed British Islamic extremists as “uneducated monkeys” in a heated social media rant. Tam Khan has urged all Muslims living in Britain to “respect” the country’s culture and traditions – and says anyone who doesn’t should be thrown out. Tam Khan, pictured with boxing world champion Amir Khan, has told Muslims to ‘stop becoming militants and extremists’ The MMA fighter tued entrepreneur has waed that fellow Muslims must intervene “We need to fix this epidemic of inbreds from doing these despicable crimes,” hetold his 6,000 Facebook followers. “Sorry I don’t care if you think I’m being harsh. “Isla...

SHAFAQNA –Sickening racist abuse regularly posted by warped trolls on Facebook — worsened since the Brexit vote — depicts ethnic minorities as “scum”, “rapists” and “terrorists” and orders them to leave the UK, Daily Star Online has found.The UK voted to leave the EU in June.But last year net migration to the UK rose to around 333,000 — the second-highest figure ever.Since the votemigrants and specific religious groups — notably Muslims — have suffered shocking abuse online.And social media has represented these minorities as threats to national security and criminals for years, it has emerged.It comes days aftera nationwide #BlackAugust campaign raising awareness of racism blocked roads, in...

SHAFAQNA – The Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi answered questions about inheritance and Khoms. Question: Is Khoms applied to inheritance? How about if the inheritance has increased in value? The Grand Ayatollah Makarem: Khoms is not applied to inheritance, even if it is exchanged into cash, unless having the knowledge that the deceased has not paid Khoms or is in debt of Khoms for his other assets. And if the value of inheritance is increased and a Khoms year has passed, Khoms is applied to the difference. Source: PERSIAN SHAFAQNA SHARE Facebook Twitter Previous articleDividing inheritance of a Baha’i person between his Baha’i children or Shia converted grandchild/the Grand A...

[embedded content] SHAFAQNA –No one here reports to police because they fear for their lives. . . . There are people who have been missing for more than nine months. Some are taken for a few weeks or days for questioning and then retued, so it is a situation that disturbs every Wajir resident. People fear and keep asking themselves who the next victim will be. -Wajir resident, October 22, 2015 On June 29, 2015, three men went to the home of 45-year-old Farah Ibrahim Korio, an ethnic Somali Kenyan and teacher of Islamic education in Wajir, northeaste Kenya. When they did not find him, they threatened to arrest his wife and five children if they did not disclose his whereabouts. The men had n...

SHAFAQNA –Syria is demanding the UN take action after it says French war planes killed more than 120 civilians during airstrikes on Tuesday near the Turkish-Syrian border. The deaths came just a day after US air assaults killed a further 20 people in Manbij. The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent letters to the UN secretary general and to the president of the UN Security Council, which at present is Japan. Damascus wants the organization to look into atrocities committed by France, which is a member of the US-led inteational coalition, after it targeted the village of Toukhan Al-Kubra, located near the Turkish-Syrian border and the city of Manbij. “The French unjust aggression claimed the lives ...

SHAFAQNA – A man came to Imam Jawad (AS) whilst he was very happy and Imam (AS) asked him: What is happening that you are so happy? That man replied: O’ the son of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH), I heard from your father who said: The best happy day for the human being is when God gives him the success of doing good and charitable deeds and solve the problems of his brethren. Today needy people from different places came to me and by the grace of God their problems were solved and I managed to solve the problems of ten needy people. That is why I am so happy. Imam Jawad (AS) said: Swear to my life, you deserve to be so joyous and happy on the condition that you do not spoil your deeds now and...

SHAFAQNA –While world nations remain mostly oblivious to the crippling danger presented by Saudi Arabia – a nation which wealth has shielded it from criticism, and whose leaders have stood immune from legal pursuits, the Kingdom has a lot to answer to … Actually it is not so much Saudi Arabia as a political construct which should worry you, but rather the faith it has leaned on to draw legitimacy from: Wahhabism. Bo in the desert of Nejd in the 18th century – an unwelcoming stretch of land which for centuries has echoed from the war cries of looters and tribal warlords, Wahhabism came into the world courtesy of one self-professed Islamic erudite: Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab. A follower of Ibn...

[embedded content] SHAFAQNA –Her name is Ghazza, an 8 year-old Yemeni girl, Ghazza’s life is holding but by a thin thread – her body exhausted by cancer, and a chronic lack of medical care. Like thousands of children Ghazza stands not a chance against Saudi Arabia humanitarian blockade. If various UN agencies have confirmed over the months that Yemen was indeed ruing low on food and other basic necessities, all failed to tell the public just what “coping” actually entails in Yemen. We are not talking about low food supplies … we are talking no food supplies. We are talking no anaesthetic for hospitals, or insulin for diabetics … we are talking no life-saving chemotherapy or dialysis … we ar...

SHAFAQNA- By: Hamid Reza AlaviHappiness depends on a considerable extent on how we think about the world, as well as our emotional responses. Someone who can think straight and solve real- life problems is better equipped to be happy. Wisdom means being able to understand and deal with the challenges, both great and small, that we encounter in everyday life. Wise people can identify the problem and then work out how to resolve it in a practical way. Wise people also recognize the inherent uncertainties of life, appreciate the limits of their own knowledge, and cope well with ambiguity1.There is no objective way to tell you if you have had a good life, a good day, or a good hour. Your life i...

SHAFAQNA – The Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi answered a question about performing Salaat at a place where backbiting is going on. Question: If whilst performing Salaat, others are engaged in backbiting, what is the duty of the person who is performing Salaat? The Grand Ayatollah Makarem: Whenever a person is performing Salaat in a room where others are engaged in backbiting, must leave the Salaat and perform Salaat in another place because it is not allowed to be present in a gathering where a sin is being committed. Source: PERSIAN SHAFAQNA SHARE Facebook Twitter Previous articleBackbiting and not being able to ask for forgiveness/the Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s answer L...

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SHAFAQNA –Ayatollah al-Sistani said: “When ISIL and its supporters invaded Iraq, we issued a statement mandating defense against enemies and not confrontation with our Sui brothers.” Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, the highest-ranking Iraqi jurisprudent, during a meetingwith a group of academics demanded to “protect the unity of the war-to country.” He stressed importance of helping refugees from Mosul, Ramadi, Salahuddin and other cities with shelter, money or food without asking on their denomination. The revered cleric noted that Shi’a, Sui, Christians and followers of other religions are all Iraqi nationals who have been living with each other for hundreds and thousands of years....

SHAFAQNA – The Grand Ayatollah Safi answered questions about the situation in the month of Ramadhan when a person knows that if falls sleep, noctual emission will happen. Question: One hour is left to dawn’s call to prayer (Adhan), and the person knows that if falls sleep, does not wake up until call to prayer and noctual emission will happen; can the person sleep or not? And if the person sleeps and noctual emission happens, and call to prayer is performed, is the fasting correct or not? The Grand Ayatollah Safi: If the mentioned person knows that before dawn’s call to prayer will have noctual emission, according to Wajeb precaution must not sleep. Source: PERSIAN SHAFAQNA SHARE Faceb...