Author: Editor

Q – Salaamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh, is there a specific prayer recited for Ramadan or the last ten days? Aminu Kabiru, Abuja A: Tirmidhee and others report: `A’ishah asked: “O Messenger of Allaah! If I was to know which night is the night of qadr, what should I say therein?” He answered: “Say: ‘O Allaah! Verily, You are One who Pardons (`Afuww) and You love pardoning (`afw), so pardon (`afw) me!’” Al-`Afuww is a Name of Allaah. It is often translated to mean the One who pardons or forgives. `Afuww comes from `afw. `Afw linguistically means to leave or abandon…

AS mixed reactions continue to trail Amaju Pinnick’s exit from the FIFA Council, former Green Eagles player and 1984 AFCON silver medalist, Paul Okoku says Nigeria football gained nothing from his administration. Okoku spoke from his base in the United States of America, just as other stakeholders including former Green Eagles winger, Adegoke Adelabu, ex-national team player, Harrison Jalla and former chairman of Gombe FC, Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe advised Nigerian sports administrators to learn how to conduct themselves while occupying public offices. Pinnick’s regime in FIFA Council came to an end on Wednesday during an election in Cairo, Egypt, where…

AT least nine people, including three journalists, have been killed and several others wounded in an Israeli drone attack on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian media. The attack on Saturday reportedly targeted a relief team that was accompanied by journalists and photographers. At least three local journalists are among the dead. The Palestinian Journalists’ Protection Center said in a statement that “the journalists were documenting humanitarian relief efforts for those affected by Israel’s genocidal war” and called on Gaza ceasefire mediators to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward with implementing the agreed truce and…

US President Donald Trump’s administration is mulling a new travel ban that would affect citizens from dozens of countries to varying degrees, the New York Times reported Friday. Citing anonymous officials, it said the draft list featured 43 countries, divided into three categories of travel restrictions. The red category of countries whose citizens would be completely barred from entering the United States includes Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. Another 10 countries in the orange category — Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan — would see…

SUDAN has suspended all imports from Kenya in protest after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who are fighting the army in a two-year civil war, were hosted in Nairobi. Last month, the RSF and its allied political and armed groups signed a founding charter in Kenya expressing the intention to form a parallel government in Sudan. Sudan’s military government said the import ban was to preserve the country’s sovereignty and “protect its national security”. The war-torn country imports several products from Kenya including tea, food items and pharmaceutical products. “The import of all products coming from Kenya through all…

SOUTH Africa has said the decision of the United States to expel Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool is “regrettable”, but the country “remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship” with Washington. South Africa’s presidency urged “all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter” in a statement issued on Saturday morning, just hours after US State Secretary Marco Rubio called Rasool a “race-baiting politician” who hates the US and President Donald Trump. Rubio wrote on X that Rasool was “no longer welcome in our great country”, adding: “We have nothing to discuss with…

Q – As Fasting draws to an end, what is your message for us all? Mustapha Noor, Abuja A – Many people misunderstand the true nature of fasting, and they make it an occasion for eating and drinking, making special sweets and staying up late at night and watching shows on satellite TV. They make such preparations long before Ramadaan, lest they miss out on some food bargains before food prices go up. They prepare by buying food, preparing drinks and looking at the satellite TV guide so they can choose which shows to follow and which to ignore. They…

ENGLAND head coach Thomas Tuchel has named his squad for March’s FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia. Players earning recalls to the squad include Marcus Rashford, Reece James and Jordan Henderson. The Three Lions kick-off their new campaign with a Wembley double-header as they target a place at next year’s World Cup Finals in USA, Canada and Mexico. This selection of 26 players is Tuchel’s first for England since his appointment. The players are to report to St. George’s Park early next week to begin their preparations under the new regime. Among the group, there is a…

HAMAS announces it agreed to release Israeli-American Idan Alexander and the bodies of four dual nationals as it demands Israel enter the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire. Shortly after, Hamas said it sent a negotiating team to Cairo to continue talks, as US envoy Witkoff proposed a “bridge” to extend the ceasefire. This is as Israeli forces launch more attacks on Gaza, killing at least two children in Gaza City and Beit Lahiya, as Israel’s total blockade on all aid into the Strip enters its 13th day. UN experts say Israel has carried out “genocidal acts” against Palestinians by…

RUSSIA will spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region if Kyiv orders them to surrender, President Vladimir Putin has said after US President Donald Trump urged him to avoid a “horrible massacre” there. Ukraine denied its forces in Kursk were encircled, describing the claim as a Russian fabrication, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday described the situation for Ukrainian forces there as “very difficult”. Trump wrote on social media that he had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians who he said were “completely surrounded” and vulnerable. “I have strongly requested…

BENIN Republic President Patrice Talon on Friday said he would not stand for an unconstitutional third term in office but would be watching the choice of his successor closely. The former businessman has been in charge of the small west African nation since 2016 and his second term of office comes to end next year. “I’m telling you again for the umpteenth time, no, I will not be a candidate,” he said in an interview with Jeune Afrique. “This question troubles me. I have strengthened the constitution myself to stipulate that no one can serve more than two terms in…

A BRITISH man has been killed in a hit-and-run incident involving a vehicle in the motorcade of Kenyan President William Ruto. The man, who has been named as 79-year-old Edgar Riches, died on Thursday after being struck in the accident on a main road in the capital, Nairobi. Police detained a driver, who has since been released on bail. They say he was driving a support vehicle that was travelling at the rear of President Ruto’s official convoy. According to the police, the president’s detail had passed by the time the accident occurred. Police spokesman Michael Muchiri told the BBC…

Q: Salaamu Alaikum Sheikh. Is it true that giving charity purifies the soul? Ahmad Ali Maina, Borno A: One cannot attain piety unless he regularly spends his wealth in good causes according to his capacity. Qur’an reminds about charity and alms giving in so many places that it won’t be an exaggeration to say that it is one of the basic elements of belief. In surah Aal Imran, Allah says, “By no means shall you attain righteousness unless you give (freely) of that which you love. And whatever you spend; indeed, Allah is Knowing of it.” (Qur’an, 3:92). Similarly in…

BRUNO Fernandes led Manchester United into the Europa League quarter-finals with a hat-trick to beat Real Sociedad 4-1 at Old Trafford on Thursday and 5-2 on aggregate. The first three goals on the night came via the penalty spot as Mikel Oyarzabal had slotted Sociedad into an early lead. However, Fernandes quickly restored parity and coolly scored again from the spot on 50 minutes. The Portuguese international then ensured United will face Lyon in the last eight by firing home his 15th goal of the season. Diogo Dalot rounded off the scoring in one of Ruben Amorim’s best nights since…

AN Israeli drone strike on Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood has killed a child, as negotiations continue in Doha over the fate of the ceasefire, with the US proposing a 60-day extension for the release of more Israeli captives. A United Nations official says the UN has documented at least 54 attacks on healthcare facilities in the occupied West Bank since January, putting 20 out of service entirely. Meanwhile its untold agony as Palestinians search mass grave near Gaza City hospital for remains of their loved ones. Using shovels and their bare hands, Palestinian families exhumed dozens of bodies from a…

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin says he agrees with the idea of a US-backed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but noted that the details of the accord need to be discussed and that any truce should lead to a long-lasting peace. “We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,” Putin told reporters at a news conference in the Kremlin on Thursday following talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. “But we proceed from the fact that this cessation should be such that it would lead to long-term peace and would eliminate the original causes of this crisis,” he said. “The idea itself is…

SOUTHERN African leaders have announced they will pull their troops out of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where they have been helping the government fight rebel forces. The troops were sent two years ago to support the Congolese army fight the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, which has seized control of large parts of mineral-rich eastern DR Congo this year. At least 19 soldiers from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania were killed when the M23 captured the region’s biggest city, Goma, in January. Thousands of people have been killed during the fighting and hundreds of thousands left without shelter after fleeing their…

THE war in Sudan has exposed more than 12 million people to “pervasive” sexual violence that is being used to “terrify” the entire population, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). As the war nears the two-year mark, UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell told a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday that the number of women and girls – and increasingly, men and boys – at risk of rape and sexual assault had increased by 80 percent over the last year. Referencing data analysed by UNICEF, Russell said that 221 cases of rape against children were reported in 2024…

Q: Salaamu Alaikum Sheikh, what are virtues of Umrah performed in Ramadan? Abu Qunaisa Saleh, Minna A: Ibn ‘Abbaas may Allaah be pleased with him narrated, “When the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention )returned after performing Hajj (major pilgrimage), he asked Umm Sinaan Al-Ansaariyyah,‘Why did you not perform Hajj?’ She replied, ‘The father of so-and-so [i.e., her husband] had two camels and he went on pilgrimage on one of them, and the second is used for the irrigation of our land.’ The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention )said…

ATLETICO Madrid’s Julian Alvarez had a penalty dramatically ruled out in the shootout as Real Madrid edged out their city rivals to reach the quarter-finals. They will face Arsenal in the last eight, having kept alive their hopes of winning a record-extending 16th Champions League trophy. Neither side could find a winning goal before the end of extra time after Conor Gallagher’s strike – just 27 seconds into the game – had levelled the tie on aggregate after Real’s 2-1 first-leg win. That meant penalties were needed to determine the outcome and, after the first three had been converted, former…