Habib Siddiqui

US President  Donald Trump  has sparked shock and outrage on social media after sharing videos posted by a British far-right activist, known for her anti-Muslim rhetoric, on Twitter. The US leader shared three videos by  Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen, purporting to show Muslims carrying out beatings or acts of vandalism. Britain First's Fransen, who in 2016 was convicted by a British court for harassing a woman wearing a hijab, is banned by court order from entering mosques in the UK. Together with other activists from the far-right group, Fransen took part in regular mosque "invasions".  Thomas Mair, the killer of  British MP Jo Cox  is reported to have shouted the group's name after stabbing the Labour Party politician. One of the tweets shared by Trump shows a video of a teenage boy beating up another teen boy on crutches. The incident happened in May this year in the Dutch town of Monnickendam. After the video was posted on Dutc...

The excerpt below is from an old article of mine : "The ancient world was deeply entrenched into slavery, and the Arab society in Muhammad’s (S) time was no exception. The pagan aristocracy in Makkah, Jewish landowners and merchants in Madinah and many wealthy Christian Arabs were slave owners. [15] Most of the early believers in Muhammad’s (S) message of pure monotheism, on the other hand, were slaves, who were brutally tortured for their faith by their non-Muslim slavers. It became, thus, incumbent upon the Prophet (S) and his Companions (notably Abu Bakr and Uthman – may Allah be pleased with them) to free those slaves. Muhammad (S) bought freedom of 63 former slaves, A’isha (RA) 67, Abbas (RA) 70, Abdullah ibn Umar (RA) 1000 and Abdur Rahman ibn Awf 30,000. [16] It was no wonder that some of the best-known Muslims and soldiers in the defense of Islam were these former slaves and their children. [17] The Qur’an unequivocally makes it clear that no man, irrespective of his stat...

A  Bosnian  Croat wartime commander has died after drinking poison during an appeals hearing at a UN court, Croatia's prime minister has confirmed. Slobodan Praljak, one of six former political and military leaders who were appealing their sentences in  The Hague , died in a local hospital. The 72-year-old tilted back his head and took a swing from a flask or glass as the judge read out that his 20-year prison sentence had been upheld. "Judges, I am not a  war criminal , I reject the verdict with contempt," he said after drinking. The presiding judge called for a doctor and halted the proceedings. The apparent courtroom suicide, which was broadcast on a video feed, came in the final minutes of the last judgement at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which closes next month. "Former head of the chief headquarters of the Croatian Defence Council, General Slobodan Praljak, died in a hospital in The Hague after he drank poiso...

RIYADH (Reuters) - Senior Saudi Arabian prince Miteb bin Abdullah, once seen as a leading contender to the throne, has been freed after agreeing to pay over $1 billion to settle corruption allegations against him, a Saudi official said on Wednesday  Miteb, 65, son of the late King Abdullah and former head of the elite National Guard, was among dozens of royal family members, high officials and senior businessmen rounded up this month in a crackdown on graft that has strengthened the power of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The official, who is involved in the crackdown and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Miteb was released on Tuesday after reaching “an acceptable settlement agreement”. The official said he believed the agreed sum to be the equivalent of over $1 billion. “It is understood that the settlement included admitting corruption involving known cases,” the official said, without giving details. According to the official, Prince Miteb was accused of embezzlem...