From Partners

Please Help Me: The Child Abuse Epidemic

One month prior to Abdifatah’s death, on March 19, six-year-old Khalil Wimes died at the hands of his parents. He was already gone when his parents brought him to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He weighed a meager 29 pounds and bore countless scars across his face and body, markers of the beatings he had suffered for the past two years. Khalil’s two adult sisters admitted that the little boy spent the final months of his life ill, malnourished and in and out of school because his parents would refuse to feed him and would routinely hit him with anything they could use as a weapon—extension cords, belts, books or shoes.

The Syrian Knot

Bobby S. Gulshan - With the massacre in Houla, and the discovery of 13 people who had been apparently bound and executed near Deir az-Zour, the grim reality of the deteriorating situation in Syria has taken center stage across the globe. The diplomatic isolation induced by the expulsion of Syrian diplomats in numerous countries also seems to suggest a turning point in the conflict. Even the Russians couldn’t stay silent. Meanwhile, many commentators now openly speak of the failure of Special Envoy Annan’s Six-Point Plan. With the brutality coming to light – and diplomatic channels being closed – the question looms with a long and stark shadow, what is the way forward in Syria?

A Filmmaker’s Journey and Other Happy Endeavors

Roko Belic sounds happy. In the most literal sense his voice reflects some unearthed secret about life that most of us seem to have dashed by in our nervous frenzy of daily activity. Belic, an Academy award nominee and Sundance Award winner, made his directorial debut in 1999 with Genghis Blues.

Internet Censorship in South Asian Countries: An Extension of Cultural Norms

On May 20, 2012 Pakistan blocked access to the social media site, Twitter. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority reasoned the block as a defensive measure against tweets that were promoting religiously offensive content on Facebook. Access to the site was regained after a mere 8 hours causing minimal upheaval from critics and supporters alike (which is saying a lot). However this isn’t Pakistan’s first squabble with the internet; this past year the country drafted an internet censorship plan that had the potential to block 50 million websites, however the plan was deemed unconstitutional by the Pakistani high court. Given last week’s attempt at getting twitter to shut up and sit down, it’s a valid question to ask if whether or not the Pakistani government actually gives a hoot about its own court’s rulings.

Why Are Parents Making It Hard To Complete Half Our Deen?

These statements are often said by parents to reject a marriage proposal, and often leave their children wondering: are you serious?

In Islam we are taught that marriage and the responsibilities that come with it complete half our deen, and we are encouraged to marry as soon as one is capable of doing so.

Farming to Fight Poverty in Egypt

As Egypt struggles to stimulate its economy and steer away from complete collapse, there are many who feel that returning to the humble roots of farming will help solve the issue of poverty.

Poverty in Egypt plagues some 20 million of the 80 million strong population and of those, three-quarters of them live in rural areas according to the United Nation’s (UN) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).