Why Ramadan Is a Time of Activism for Many Muslims

As the holiest month of the year for Muslims, Ramadan—which begins on the evening of March 10 in 2024—is a time of spirituality, self-discipline, and compassion. For many who observe, that focus on compassion also translates into an increased focus on social justice and activism.

“If Ramadan isn’t a month of activism, I don’t know what is,” says Hassan Selim, the Imam of the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids in Iowa, an extension of the first established mosque in America. Activism can emerge in many ways. Imams like Selim raise awareness for countries and people in need during community gatherings. There are often food drives and clothing donations. Others promote global causes online, or participate in protests. Many donate. During Ramadan, according to one Hadith—a text of the words of Prophet Muhammad—good deeds are multiplied, and the quality of the reward in the afterlife is higher for anything done during the month. “Any deed of spiritual significance then becomes magnified in terms of its reward,” Selim says.

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Ameer Al-Khatahtbeh is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Muslim, the largest news outlet covering stories that affect the global Muslim community. “The Muslim community mobilizes for causes [during the holy month] because it’s a time when people want to be the most generous and give their time, effort, labor, money, and support,” Al-Khatahtbeh says, noting that some people even wait for Ramadan to make donations. “What that looks like for the Muslim community is creating different initiatives, especially for international causes. Muslims give billions and donate more than any other marginalized group, so during Ramadan it’s much more amplified.”

Much of that activism happens online, especially on social media. Al-Khatahtbeh says one Ramadan, Muslim gained 1 million followers across its social media platforms. The staff at Muslim, he says, plans out Ramadan coverage up to six months in advance. That includes identifying charity partners.

Ramadan’s forms of giving aren’t just fiscal ones, says Isra Chaker, Senior Campaign Manager for Amnesty International. Chaker traces her roots in advocacy to her childhood in Boulder, Colo., where, she says, she faced intense Islamophobia. “My voice was my most powerful tool to influence positive change and to create a better world for not just myself to live in, but anybody who identified in any different identity than my own,” Chaker says. Since moving to D.C., she’s focused on designing campaigns and influencing policy while shifting narratives and misconceptions of marginalized groups. Outside her work with Amnesty International, Chaker has worked on campaigns addressing the Trump Administration’s 2017 ban on immigration from some Muslim-majority countries, as well as indigenous rights and refugee resettlement.

Read More: Why More Non-Muslims Are Fasting This Ramadan

Protests during the holy month have been used to raise awareness for causes like human rights crises and religious freedom. Chaker says Ramadan can be a powerful time to convene and organize people. “People tend to be more active in Ramadan and more engaged in finding different ways that they can make a difference, and stepping out of their comfort zone to do what they can,” she says.

This Ramadan comes against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas War, during which over 30,000 people in Gaza have been killed, with thousands more missing, according to the Gaza health ministry. Al-Khatahtbeh, who is Palestinian himself, says Muslim sees an increase in support for the Palestinian cause during Ramadan every year and prepares coverage in anticipation. “It’s a recurring issue,” he says. “It’s always expected and it’s sad but we have to save time for that because it’s coming.”

But the presence of community helps during Ramadan, even when people who observe are fasting and exhausted. “Without spiritual resilience and refinement we can’t go out there in the world… Activism is very exhausting and taxing,” Selim says. “There’s a lot of work in our communities that needs to be done to restore social justice, gender equality, and empower our youth, and Ramadan is an excellent opportunity to do that because it brings the community together and allows us to have these bigger conversations.”

source https://time.com/6898929/ramadan-muslim-activism/

King Charles III Awards Brother Prince Edward With Top Honor to Mark His 60th Birthday

King Charles III awarded his younger brother, Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Order of the Thistle to mark the prince’s 60th birthday on Sunday, March 10.

The appointment is Scotland’s highest royal honor, named after the country’s national flower, the thistle. The appointment is given to 16 distinguished Scots and any members of the royal family the reigning monarch chooses: Last year, Charles gave the award to his wife, Queen Camilla.

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Also last year, for Prince Edward’s 59th birthday, Charles gave Edward the title of the Duke of Edinburgh—previously held by their father, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, Prince Phillip.

Here’s what you need to know about the Order of the Thistle and the new appointments.  

What is Scotland’s Order of the Thistle?

The centuries-old tradition was formally established by King James VII of Scotland, who was also King James II of England, in 1687 to reward Scots who supported him, the U.K.’s official royal website says. Legend has it that the order informally dates back to 809, when King Achaius of the Scots made an alliance with the Emperor Charlemagne.

The King is the “Sovereign of the Order” and is responsible for appointments as a “personal gift.” The awards to 16 “ordinary” knights and ladies can only be given to Scottish nationals, but royals from the U.K. or other countries can be appointed as “extra knights and ladies,” the U.K. government’s honors website says.

Along with Queen Camilla, the King’s sister Anne, the Princess Royal, and his son Prince William, the Duke of Rothesay (the Scottish title of the Prince of Wales), also currently hold the honor. 

New members are appointed at a service in the Thistle Chapel at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh. Knights dress in green velvet robes and white hats and join the monarch for a procession from the Signet Library in central Edinburgh to the chapel nearby, where they meet the ladies. After the installation service, the monarch holds a reception at the Signet Library, then lunch at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

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Who are the other new honorees in the Order of the Thistle?

This year, the King also chose three Scots to receive the award. 

Professor Dame Sue Black, also the Baroness of Strome, is a prominent anthropologist and professor who is currently president of St. John’s College at the University of Oxford. She is a member of the House of Lords in the U.K. Parliament.

Baroness Helena Kennedy, also known as Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws, is a leading lawyer and academic who helped found the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at Oxford. She is also a member of the House of Lords.

Sir Geoff Palmer became the first Black professor in Scotland in 1989 at Heriot-Watt University, where he received a PhD in Grain Science and Technology in a joint program with Edinburgh University. He helped set up the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt.

source https://time.com/6899351/king-charles-prince-edward-order-of-the-thistle/

West Virginia Lawmakers OK Bill Drawing Back One of the Strictest Child Vaccination Laws

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s GOP-controlled state Legislature voted Saturday to allow some students who don’t attend traditional public schools to be exempt from state vaccination requirements that have long been held up as among the most strict in the country.

The bill was approved despite the objections of Republican Senate Health and Human Resources Chair Mike Maroney, a trained doctor, who called the bill “an embarrassment” and said he believed lawmakers were harming the state.

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“I took an oath to do no harm. There’s zero chance I can vote for this bill,” Maroney said before the bill passed the Senate 18-12. The House already approved a version of the bill in February and swiftly approved the Senate bill on Saturday, the last day of the state’s 60-day legislative session.

“It’s a bad bill for West Virginia, it’s a step backward. There’s no question, no question there will be negative effects,” Maroney said. He added, “It’s an embarrassment for me to be a part of it, it should be an embarrassment to everybody.”

West Virginia, with some of the lowest life expectancy rates in the U.S. and a quarter of all children living in poverty, is one of only two states, along with California, that don’t permit nonmedical exemptions to vaccinations as a condition for school entry.

Mississippi had the same policy until July, when a judge allowed people to start citing religious beliefs to seek exemptions from state-mandated vaccinations that children must receive before attending day care or school.

The new proposed vaccine law in West Virginia, which now heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Jim Justice, allows virtual public school students to be exempt and for private and parochial schools to institute their own policies either exempting students or not.

All students participating in West Virginia school activities that result in competition, including but not limited to sports, still need to be vaccinated.

The bill stipulates parents can’t sue private schools and school owners, administrators, boards and staffers for deciding whether to allow exemptions or not, as long as the school provides families with a notice for parents to sign acknowledging the policy annually and upon enrollment.

“I personally do not urge passage, but your health committee urged passage of this bill,” Maroney said before introducing the bill in the Senate.

The bill’s original intent, as introduced in the state House of Delegates, was to eliminate vaccine requirements for students in public virtual schools. It was expanded in a House committee to allow private schools to set their own vaccination standards, unless a student participates in sanctioned athletics.

The bill also created a religious exemption for any child whose parents or guardians present a letter stating the child cannot be vaccinated for religious reasons. That was taken out in the Senate.

During the Senate Health Committee meeting earlier this week, West Virginia University School of Medicine Professor Dr. Alvin Moss argued for the bill, saying the state’s current compulsory vaccination policy is medically unethical because it doesn’t allow informed consent.

The number of parents who don’t want their children to receive vaccinations is growing, Moss said.

In 2017, the anti-vaccine requirement group West Virginians for Health Freedom had 300 families included in his members. That number has grown to at least 3,000 members in 2024, Moss said.

Former West Virginia Republican Delegate Chanda Adkins, a group member, said during the meeting that religious families who don’t want to vaccinate their children deserve to be able to live their convictions.

Former West Virginia Medical Association Dr. Lisa Costello disagreed, saying West Virginia’s current vaccine policy is the “gold standard” across the nation.

“West Virginia is seen as a national leader when it comes to our routine, child immunizations,” she said, later adding, “Measles does not care if you go to private school or public school. Measles does not differentiate depending on where you go to school.”

West Virginia law requires children to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis-b, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough, unless they receive a medical exemption. West Virginia does not require COVID-19 vaccinations.

source https://time.com/6899339/west-virginia-lawmakers-child-vaccination-laws-exemptions/

Biden Signs Package of Spending Bills Passed by Congress Just Hours Before Shutdown Deadline

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a $460 billion package of spending bills approved by the Senate in time to avoid a shutdown of many key federal agencies. The legislation’s success gets lawmakers about halfway home in wrapping up their appropriations work for the 2024 budget year.

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The measure contains six annual spending bills and had already passed the House. In signing it into law, Biden thanked leaders and negotiators from both parties in both chambers for their work, which the White House said will mean that agencies “may continue their normal operations.”

Meanwhile, lawmakers are negotiating a second package of six bills, including defense, in an effort to have all federal agencies fully funded by a March 22 deadline.

“To folks who worry that divided government means nothing ever gets done, this bipartisan package says otherwise,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said after lawmakers passed the measure Friday night just hours before a deadline.

He said the bill’s passage would allow for the hiring of more air traffic controllers and rail safety inspectors, give federal firefighters a raise and boost support for homeless veterans, among other things.

The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 75-22. Lawmakers sought votes on several amendments and wanted to have their say on the bill and other priorities during debate on the floor. It had been unclear midday if senators would be able to avert a short shutdown, though eventual passage was never really in doubt.

“I would urge my colleagues to stop playing with fire here,” said Sen. Susan Collins, the top-ranking Republican member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “It would be irresponsible for us not to clear these bills and do the fundamental job that we have of funding government. What is more important?”

The votes came more than five months into the current budget year after congressional leaders relied on a series of stopgap bills to keep federal agencies funded for a few more weeks or months at a time while they struggled to reach agreement on full-year spending.

In the end, total discretionary spending set by Congress is expected to come in at about $1.66 trillion for the full budget year ending Sept. 30.

Republicans were able to keep non-defense spending relatively flat compared with the previous year. Supporters say that’s progress in an era when annual federal deficits exceeding $1 trillion have become the norm. But many Republican lawmakers were seeking much steeper cuts and more policy victories.

The House Freedom Caucus, which contains dozens of the GOP’s most conservative members, urged Republicans to vote against the first spending package and the second one still being negotiated.

Democrats staved off most of the policy riders that Republicans sought to include in the package. For example, they beat back an effort to block new rules that expand access to the abortion pill mifepristone. They were also able to fully fund a nutrition program for low-income women, infants and children, providing about $7 billion for what is known as the WIC program. That’s a $1 billion increase from the previous year.

Republicans were able to achieve some policy wins, however. One provision will prevent the sale of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China. Another policy mandate prohibits the Justice Department from investigating parents who exercise free speech at local school board meetings.

Another provision strengthens gun rights for certain veterans, though opponents of the move said it could make it easier for those with very serious mental health conditions like dementia to obtain a firearm.

”This isn’t the package I would have written on my own,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “But I am proud that we have protected absolutely vital funding that the American people rely on in their daily lives.”

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said one problem he sees with the bill is that there was too much compromise, and that led to too much spending.

“A lot of people don’t understand this,” he said. “They think there is no cooperation in Washington and the opposite is true. There is compromise every day on every spending bill.”

“It’s compromise between big-government Democrats and big-government Republicans,” he added.

Still, with a divided Congress and a Democratic-led White House, any bill that doesn’t have buy-in from members of both political parties stands no chance of passage.

The bill also includes more than 6,600 projects requested by individual lawmakers with a price tag of about $12.7 billion. The projects attracted criticism from some Republican members, though members from both parties broadly participated in requesting them on behalf of their states and congressional districts. Paul called the spending “sort of the grease that eases in billions and trillions of other dollars, because you get people to buy into the total package by giving them a little bit of pork for their town, a little bit of pork for their donors.”

But an effort by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla, to strip out the projects mustered only 32 votes with 64 against. Murray said Scott’s effort would overrule “all the hard work, all the input we asked everyone to provide us about projects that would help their constituents.”

Even though lawmakers find themselves passing spending bills five months into the budget year, Republicans are framing the process as improved nonetheless because they broke the cycle of passing all the spending bills in one massive package that lawmakers have little time to study before being asked to vote on it or risk a government shutdown. Still, others said that breaking up funding into two chunks of legislation war hardly a breakthrough.

The first package covers the departments of Justice, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior and Transportation, among others.

source https://time.com/6899274/biden-signs-spending-bills-package-congress-shutdown-deadline/

Ireland’s Leader Concedes Defeat in Vote Over Constitutional Amendments About Family

DUBLIN — Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar conceded defeat Saturday as two constitutional amendments he supported that would have broadened the definition of family and removed language about a woman’s role at home were headed toward rejection in early vote tallies.

Varadkar, who pushed the vote to enshrine gender equality in the constitution by removing “very old-fashioned language” and trying to recognize the realities of modern family life, said it was clear the amendments were “defeated comprehensively on a respectable turnout.”

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“It was our responsibility to convince the majority of people to vote ‘yes’ and we clearly failed to do so,” Varadkar said.

Opponents argued that the wording of the changes was poorly thought out — an argument that appeared to have gained traction in the final days of the campaign. Voters said they were confused by the questions and others said they feared changes would lead to unintended consequences.

The election was viewed as part of Ireland’s evolution from a conservative, overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country in which divorce and abortion were illegal, to an increasingly diverse and socially liberal society. The proportion of residents who are Catholic fell from 94.9% in 1961 to 69% in 2022, according to the Central Statistics Office.

The social transformation has been reflected in a series of changes to Ireland’s Constitution, which dates from 1937, though the country was not formally known as the Republic of Ireland until 1949. Irish voters legalized divorce in a 1995 referendum, backed same-sex marriage in a 2015 vote and repealed a ban on abortions in 2018.

The first question dealt with a part of the constitution that pledges to protect the family as the primary unit of society. Voters were asked to remove a reference to marriage as the basis “on which the family is founded” and replace it with a clause that said families can be founded “on marriage or on other durable relationships.” If passed, it would have been the constitution’s 39th amendment.

A proposed 40th amendment would have removed a reference that a woman’s place in the home offered a common good that could not be provided by the state and delete a statement that said mothers shouldn’t be obligated to work out of economic necessity if it would neglect their duties at home. It would have added a clause saying the state will strive to support “the provision of care by members of a family to one another.”

The debate was less charged than the arguments over abortion and gay marriage. Ireland’s main political parties all supported the changes, including centrist government coalition partners Fianna Fail and Fine Gael and the biggest opposition party, Sinn Fein.

One political party that called for “no” votes was Aontú, a traditionalist group that split from Sinn Fein over the larger party’s backing for legal abortion. Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said the government’s wording was so vague it will lead to legal wrangles and most people “do not know what the meaning of a durable relationship is.”

The Free Legal Advice Centers, a legal charity, expressed concern the change to the section on care contained “harmful stereotypes such as the concept that the provision of care … is the private responsibility of unpaid family members without any guarantee of state support.”

Some disability rights campaigners argued the emphasis on care treats disabled people as a burden, rather than as individuals with rights that should be guaranteed by the state.

Opinion polls had suggested support for the “yes” side on both votes, but many voters remained undecided as Friday’s polling — held on International Women’s Day — neared and some said they found the issue too confusing or too hurried to change the constitution.

“I thought it was too rushed,” said Una Ui Dhuinn, a nurse in Dublin. “I felt we didn’t get enough time to think about it and read up on it. So I felt, to be on the safe side, ‘no, no’ — no change.”

Caoimhe Doyle, a doctoral student, said she voted yes to changing the definition of family but no to the care amendment because “I don’t think it was explained very well.”

“There’s a worry there that they’re removing the burden on the state to take care of families,” she said.

source https://time.com/6899256/ireland-leo-varadkar-concedes-defeat-vote-constitutional-amendments/

Pakistan’s Lawmakers Pick Asif Ali Zardari as the Country’s President For a Second Time

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s lawmakers elected Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday as the country’s president for the second time.

He is the widower of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto and the father of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

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Zardari secured 411 votes from national and provincial lawmakers. His opponent, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who is backed by the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, received 181 votes.

The Pakistani presidency is a largely ceremonial role. Zardari was previously in the job between 2008 and 2013. Zardari was the joint candidate of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, or PML-N, party of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his other political allies.

He was the favorite to win on Saturday because of his alliance with Pakistan’s other political dynasty, the Sharifs, and his key role in talks to form a coalition government after the disputed national parliamentary election on Feb. 8.

Sharif congratulated Zardari on becoming the country’s new president with a majority vote.

Zardari “will be a symbol of the strength of the federation,” Sharif said in a statement.

He said that he hoped that Zardari would fulfill his constitutional responsibilities in an efficient manner.

Zardari’s rival Achakzai also congratulated him on his victory, saying the vote was held in a free and fair manner. Zardari is known for handling complicated political and other issues in a cool manner.

Last month’s poll was overshadowed by militant violence, an unprecedented cellphone shutdown and vehement claims of vote-rigging from Khan’s party.

Khan was kicked out of office in 2022 and has faced a number of legal challenges since then. He’s currently serving multiple prison terms.

Zardari also has been dogged by criminal cases. He spent 11 years behind bars before becoming president, but was never convicted and has denied any wrongdoing. He has been arrested and indicted on various charges in recent years.

He will take the oath of office on Sunday.

source https://time.com/6899244/pakistan-asif-ali-zardari-president-second-time/

President Biden Pokes Fun at His Age and Calls Out Trump in New Campaign Ad

In a new presidential election campaign ad, President Joe Biden stares straight into the camera and immediately addresses the elephant in the room: his age.

“Look I’m not a young guy, that’s no secret,” the 81-year-old says. “But here’s the deal, I understand how to get things done for the American people.” 

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The ad is the first in a six-week, $30 million advertising spree by the Biden campaign ahead of the November election. The President’s age has become a major talking point—even more so than that of the Republican frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, who is 77. In 2021, Biden was the oldest President to be sworn in—breaking the record set by Trump before him.

Along with addressing his age, Biden in the rest of the ad touts his record on health, the economy, infrastructure, climate change, and abortion rights. 

The President says he led the country through the COVID crisis (the pandemic started under Trump’s presidency and the first vaccine was approved for emergency use in December 2020, after Biden’s election but before his inauguration).

Biden proclaims that the U.S. has the strongest economy in the world (it has held the top spot from 1960 to 2023, according to Forbes). He points out he signed a law that includes provisions to lower prescription drug prices and capped insulin prices for seniors with diabetes (that was for patients on Medicare, some pharmaceutical companies have also followed suit).

He adds that during his presidency, Congress passed a major infrastructure bill after Trump failed to do so, and also mentions passing the “biggest law in history to combat climate change.”

Finally, Biden accuses Trump of taking away “the freedom of women to choose.” It was the U.S. Supreme Court, which includes three conservative justices appointed by Trump, who did that in 2022 by overturning the previous Roe v. Wade ruling. Trump took credit in 2023, saying on his social media platform, Truth Social: “I was able to kill Roe v. Wade.”

Biden in his ad says: “I am determined to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again.” 

“Donald Trump believes the job of the President is to take care of Donald Trump. I believe the job of the President is to fight for you, the American people, and that’s what I’m doing,” Biden continues. 

Biden also ends the ad poking fun at his age. In an outtake, he quips with a laugh: “Look, I’m very young, energetic, and handsome. What the hell am I doing this for?”

The Trump campaign has released its own ads, with one in April 2023 painting a fearful picture of immigration, wars, violent crime, inflation, and more under “Joe Biden’s America.”

“Put America, the middle class, first, and put the globalists, the elitists, and the corrupt in their place. Bring back pride in the American dream, to let the world know—don’t mess with us,” the Trump campaign ad said. “Make America great for us again.”

Another pro-Trump ad this week, released by the super PAC MAGA Inc. supporting him, questions Biden’s age and abilities, asking if the President can “even survive until 2029.” A Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa told NBC News in a statement the ad was “a sick and deranged stunt from a broke and struggling campaign.”

source https://time.com/6899221/biden-age-joke-new-ad-campaign-presidential-election/