The Battle of Marj al-Saffar (or Marj al-Suffar), also known as the Battle of Shaqhab, took place on 2 Ramadhan 702 in the Hijri calendar, April 20 through April 22, 1303, between the Muslims and the near Kiswe, Syria, just south of Damascus. The battle has been influential in both Islamic history and contemporary times because of the controversial jihad against other Muslims and Ramadan-related fatwas issued by Ibn Taymiyyah, who himself joined the battle. The battle, a disastrous defeat for the Mongols, put an end to Mongol invasions of the Levant.

The battle commenced on 2 Ramadhan 702 in the Hijri calendar, or April 20, 1303. Qutlugh-Shah's army was positioned near a river. Hostilities began when Qutlugh-Shah's left wing attacked the Mamluk's right wing with his brigade of 10,000 soldiers. The Egyptians reportedly suffered heavy casualties. The Mamluk center and left wings under the command of the emirs Salar and Baibars al-Jashnakir, together with their Bedouin irregulars, then engaged the Mongols. The Mongols continued their pressure on the right flank of the Egyptian army. Many of the Mamluks believed that the battle would soon be lost. The Mamluk left flank, however, had remained steady.

Qutlugh-Shah then went to the top of a nearby hill, hoping to watch the victory of his forces. While he was issuing orders to his army, the Egyptians surrounded the hill. This led to heavy, bitter fighting, and the Mongols suffered many casualties on the hill. The next morning, the Mamluks deliberately opened their ranks to allow the Mongols to flee to the river Wadi Arram. When the Mongols arrived at the river, they were able to receive reinforcements. However, while the Mongols were taking on badly needed supplies of water for themselves and their horses, the Sultan was able to attack them from the rear. The subsequent fighting, which lasted until noon, was vicious. By the next day, the battle was over.

According to the medieval Egyptian historian Al-Maqrizi, after the battle, Qutlugh-Shah reached the Ilkhan Ghazan at Kushuf, to inform him of the defeat of his forces. It was reported that Ghazan, upon hearing the news, had gone into such a rage that it resulted in a nosebleed.

Fasting has many benefits for your physical and mental health. Some of the benefits of fasting are:

- It may promote blood sugar control by reducing insulin resistance and lowering blood sugar levels.

- It may fight inflammation by decreasing levels of inflammatory markers and protecting against chronic diseases.

- It may improve heart health by lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides.

- It may enhance brain function by stimulating the growth of new brain cells, increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and protecting against neurodegenerative disorders.

- It may aid weight loss by boosting metabolism, increasing fat burning, and reducing calorie intake.

- It may increase growth hormone levels, which is important for muscle growth, tissue repair, and metabolism.

- It may extend lifespan by delaying aging, reducing oxidative stress, and activating cellular repair processes.

- It may prevent cancer by reducing the risk factors for cancer, such as obesity, inflammation, and insulin resistance, and by inducing apoptosis (cell death) in cancer cells.

 However, fasting may not be suitable for everyone and may have some side effects. So, you should consult your doctor before starting any fasting regimen.

Sources:

1. Healthline
2. Mayo Clinic 

Ramadan is a blessed month for Muslims, in which they fast from dawn to sunset, pray, read the Quran, and perform acts of charity. Some of the lessons that a Muslim learns from the month of Ramadan are:

• Self-restraint is a positive universal concept that helps us control our desires and impulses and avoid harmful habits and sins.
• All people struggle in one way or another, and fasting helps us empathize with those who are less fortunate and face hardships in life.
• Tolerance goes a long way, as fasting teaches us patience, perseverance, and forgiveness.
• Food always brings people together, as fasting makes us appreciate the blessings of Allah and share them with others in Iftar gatherings.
• We should celebrate diversity, as fasting reminds us that we are part of a global community of Muslims who have different languages, and backgrounds but share the same faith and values.
• Gaining taqwa (consciousness of Allah) is the main goal of fasting, as it helps us obey Allah, follow His guidance, and seek His mercy.
• Praying regularly and performing voluntary prayers (nawafil) is another lesson of Ramadan, as it strengthens our connection with Allah and increases our reward.
• Being compassionate and caring is another lesson of Ramadan, as it inspires us to help the poor and needy, and to feel the sense of unity and brotherhood among Muslims.

Sources:

1. Islamway  
2. Sunnah Online
3. London Central Mosque   

Ecuador is a Christian-majority country with followers of Islam representing a very small minority. Its population is estimated at 18 million from different ethnic groups, the most important of which are the Mestizo (mixed race of Amerindians and white race) 71.9%, Montubio 7.4%, Amerindians 7%, white race 6.1%, Afro-Ecuadorians 4.3%, and others.

The first Muslim settlers in Ecuador were mainly Arabs who migrated from the Middle East during World War I and from the former lands of the Ottoman Caliphate. They settled mostly in Quito, Ambato, and Guayaquil, with smaller communities in the provinces of Manabi, Los Rios, and Esmeraldas.

  Muslims in Ecuador are an active and open religious group that adheres to the practice of Islamic rites and has strong links with its surrounding society. Although Muslims constitute less than 1% of the Ecuadorian people, they strive to spread the light of God and the religion of Islam throughout Ecuador, and this is what we easily notice in their following message to society:

***

The future of Islam in Ecuador

Assalamu Alaikum

Most respected Brother in Islam

In this holly month of Ramadan 1444 / 2023, our prayers go directly to The Almighty Allah to Whom all the believers turn to try to get close to Him, to purify our souls, achieve God's consciousness and attain success in dunia and akhirah.

Our small Muslim community in Ecuador is now less than one per cent. We are in the lands where the old Inca Empire had its last capital Quito.

Alhamdulillah on daily basis our Muslim community is struggling to maintain our identity. Inshallah In the present scenario dynamic changes taking place now are navigating in turbulent waters. However, these changes will turn people to see spiritual alternatives needed to bring a new paradigm where Islam can open a new set of pragmatic solutions. Islam will conquer Latin America as the “Last Frontier” with its Mercy, regulations, and ethics. I truly believe only in two generations, Muslim demographics will turn into two digits easily, Inshallah. Then, in three generations the expansive capacity of Islam will make its work.

Latin American Continent is considered now by many, as backward and underdeveloped land. Same as the example back in history, when in the year 711 CE. the Iberian Peninsula was considered underdeveloped as well.

Well-known Muslim pioneers like Captain Tariq in Ibn Ziyad entered the peninsula with the support given by the governor Musa bin Nusair. No one could project this turning point in history. In a couple of centuries, Allah grants victory to the Muslims. Spain was the most successful intermixing cultural Islamic civilization experience in the western lands named Al-Andalus. Neither the Omeyyas nor the Abassies dynasties paid attention to going further west at that time due to the entrenched wars between them.

In the paradigm we all live in now, Allah made also exceptional characters with vision and determination. They can see the potential for investing in dunia and Akhirah. There are several factors, among them being the exuberant natural resources, as well as a great opportunity to educate Latino people on Islamic values, mainstream navigation between literalism and spirituality of the law, wisdom, perseverance, hope, and full trust in Allah.

Surely my brother with your right actions, duaa and determination you can also become a real contributor to bring the needed change in the Latin American continent to become The Second Al-Andalus Inshallah.

Yahya Juan Suquillo

Chief of the Islamic Center in Ecuador 

France, Austria, and Denmark most Islamophobic countries in the region, according to a report on Islamophobia in Europe

Countries in Europe are allowing hate crimes against Muslims by legalizing Islamophobia, and introducing laws which are banning or limiting their religious practices, according to an expert.

“Each year, we see a new country come up with a new plan, with a new law, or a party in Europe to ban something, a religious practice of Muslims,” a professor at the Istanbul-based Turkish-German University, Enes Bayrakli, told Anadolu.

“This can be minaret ban, mosque ban, hijab ban, or burka ban. … These kinds of regulations are being materialized each year and it is becoming more and more normal in Europe.”

On the occasion of International Day to Combat Islamophobia, March 15, Bayrakli spoke to Anadolu about the current situation of Muslims in European countries.

“It (Islamophobia) is being institutionalized and legalized more and more. There are debates in different parts of Europe to legalize Islamophobia,” he said.

The co-editor of an annual report termed European Islamophobia Report, Bayrakli also shared highlights from the upcoming 2022 report, noting that three countries emerged as the most vulnerable ones for Muslims in 2022.

“Three countries are on the forefront -- France, Austria, and Denmark.

"Unfortunately, in these countries, debates on Muslims are very radical, and the governments are taking really harsh positions towards Muslim NGOs and the individuals who are combating Islamophobia.”

About the UN's International Day to Combat Islamophobia, he said this can be a corner stone in the global fight against Islamophobia.

Refugees debate

Speaking about the year 2022, which started with the Moscow-Kyiv war last February, Bayrakli said the war has changed political agendas in many European countries, stirring a new debate regarding refugees.

“This old debate about refugees and that Europe is full and cannot accommodate more refugees has suddenly collapsed. Suddenly, Poland was ready to accept millions of refugees, Germany was ready to shelter and accommodate millions of people from Ukraine.”

He also referred to the media coverage in Europe and the US, which suggested that refugees from Ukraine were welcomed because of their skin color, and some suggested that they were more civilized as compared to Syrian refugees.

Europe, on the other hand, has been closing borders and erecting walls to stop refugees coming from other regions through the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, resulting in deaths of thousands of people, he said, adding: “This has shown how racist this discourse was. It was all about religion, as these refugees were rejected because of their religion and skin color.”
Negative tendency towards Muslims to increase

The bias and negative sentiments about Muslims would likely increase this year, not only for individuals but also for the institutions, Bayrakli said.

“Each year, it is becoming more and more difficult for Muslim individuals but also for Muslim NGOs.”

Bayrakli explained that "Muslim NGOs," especially in France, were under immense pressure from the French government, and many had been closed down by the government without any court case or evidence of extremism or radicalism.

“This atmosphere of suspicion about Muslims, about their institutions, about their mosques, about their religious life, private life is being fed into the narratives in these countries by politicians, media, and intellectuals. Unfortunately this is becoming more and more acceptable and normal.”

Avoiding the term Islamophobia

Many countries in Europe now are refusing to acknowledge Islamophobia and are refusing to use it as a term in their speeches and narratives, Bayrakli also said.

Citing examples, he said the Council of Europe has appointed a coordinator against anti-Muslim hatred, while they refrain from using the word Islamophobia as they are under pressure from countries like France.

“There is a political resistance not to acknowledge the problem of Islamophobia. They are trying to get away and play around this problem so that they don’t use the word. When you don’t use a word, it, of course, means that you do not politically acknowledge that there is a problem," he said.

Report and findings

An annual report has been recording Islamophobia incidents and events each year since 2015, Bayrakli said.

The report for 2022, to be released next week, will shed light on the situation of Muslims in some 23 European countries, he noted.

Talking about policy recommendations that the report suggests, he said: “Islamophobia has to be acknowledged politically as a problem. I think this is the first step. Then, we can talk about the strategies on how to combat Islamophobia.”

The expert also stressed the significance of the daily recording of hate crimes against Muslims, as well as publishing the data annually.

He suggests NGOs and academics to work on Islamophobia from different perspectives, and to conduct field research.

Islamophobia is not only prejudice against Muslims, Bayrakli also said, adding: “It's all about racism, Islamophobia is anti-Muslim racism. It is a new form of cultural racism. And It has to be understood this way, so that we can fight with this problem in a more systematic manner."

• The Youth Risk Behavior Study measured the state of teen behavior from 2011 to 2021 and found feelings of "sadness or hopelessness" increased.
• The message is loud and clear: teenage girls in America are in crisis.

"Over the past decade, teens — especially girls — have experienced dramatic increases in experiences of violence and poor mental health and suicide risk," said Debra Houry, CDC chief medical officer.

According to new data from the CDC, more than 1 in 4 girls reported they seriously considered suicide in 2021 — a 60% jump from 2011. And more than 1 in 10 girls reported they attempted suicide in 2021 — a 30% increase from 2011.

The CDC didn't say what it believes is causing this trend, but there are plenty of theories.

"There are a few different possibilities," said Mitch Prinstein, chief science officer at the American Psychological Association. "There's no doubt that stress plays a huge role and that the risk for psychological symptoms, and the stress that we're experiencing with severe polarization, with the pandemic, with social isolation and school shootings, this is definitely something that's important."

While the cause has yet to be formally declared, the CDC does offer solutions to help improve mental health among teenagers, including expanding mental health services and mental health education — something experts like Prinstein say is long overdue. While waiting for those changes, he says parents can take action immediately.

"Every kid themselves or someone they know really closely has thought of suicide, so we need to talk with kids about what they would do if they thought or someone they knew thought about suicide," Prinstein said. "Who they would tell, and can they identify immediate coping strategies?"

Until those changes at home and at school are made, experts don't have faith these numbers will change anytime soon.

It only took until March 5, or 64 days, for the US to reach 100 mass shooting incidents in 2023. That was the quickest timeframe since at least 2014, when it took 159 days, according to Gun Violence Archive.

A mass shooting is defined as an incident where four or more people were shot, excluding the attacker.

As of March 5, 149 people had been killed and 399 people injured in mass shootings, a rise of 75 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively, compared to the same period last year.  

The US has surpassed 100 mass shootings in 2023, a disturbing milestone that underscores the grave cost of inaction in Washington and state legislatures across the country.

America reached the grim number by the first week of March – record time, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, which  defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.

Last year, the US hit 100 mass shootings on March 19, per the GVA, almost two weeks after this year’s date. The previous year, 2021, saw a late March date as well, and from 2018 to 2020, there weren’t 100 mass shootings until May.

“Americans are tired of fearing if they or their families will be the next victims of a mass shooting. Our children are tired of being told to ‘run, hide, and fight,’” said Kris Brown, president of Brady: United Against Gun Violence, an organization seeking to mitigate gun violence in the US.

“These regular, uniquely American tragedies must be a call to action for our political leaders. We need decisive change to US gun laws and regulations. The cost of political inaction on preventing gun violence is increasingly, tragically clear,” Brown said.

But following passage of last year’s bipartisan gun safety law, there’s been little political momentum in the divided Congress for more gun safety legislation, even as the rate of mass shootings has picked up.

“Although fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries are growing, no real legislative response has followed acts of gun violence in support of individuals or the communities in which they live. And there is scant proof that prevention measures, such as active shooter drills, have reduced actual harm,” Mark S. Kaplan, a professor of social welfare at UCLA, told CNN.

“There are real solutions and tools – including bans on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines – available now that can make a difference, but only if our elected officials act to implement them,” he added.

Yet America’s relationship to gun ownership is unique, and its gun culture is a global outlier, complicating legislative efforts.

There are about 120 guns for every 100 Americans, according to the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey. No other nation has more civilian guns than people. And about 44% of US adults live in a household with a gun, and about one-third own one personally, according to a November 2020 Gallup survey.

Almost a third of US adults believe there would be less crime if more people owned guns, according to an April 2021 Pew survey. However, multiple studies show that where people have easy access to firearms, gun-related deaths tend to be more frequent, including by suicide, homicide and unintentional injuries.

Meanwhile, mass shootings continue to drive demand for more guns.

It is, then, perhaps unsurprising that the US has more deaths from gun violence than any other developed country per capita. The rate in the US is eight times greater than in Canada, which has the seventh highest rate of gun ownership in the world; 22 times higher than in the European Union and 23 times greater than in Australia, according to Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation data from 2019.

“For gun violence survivors, this is an incredibly painful milestone to mark, and it arrives earlier and earlier each year,” said Liz Dunning, a spokesperson for Brady whose mother was shot and killed while answering the door of her home in 2003. “But survivors are increasingly taking action, and demanding our lawmakers stand up to the corporate gun industry and take comprehensive steps to reduce the recent influx of mass shootings.”

Gun violence activism has become a central plank of Democratic politics, with President Joe Biden repeatedly lamenting Congress’ inability to pass “common sense” measures after multiple mass shootings this year.

Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, the first member of Generation Z elected to Congress, centered his 2022 campaign on ending gun violence in the US, finding support among young voters who grew up as part of the “mass shooting generation,” as he calls it.

“We’ve seen these things and been wondering our whole lives as young people, in high school, middle school and elementary school, why? Why is this happening? Why have we not fixed this? And now we’re at a place where we can vote and we can run, and we’re going to do it,” Frost said when he won the Democratic nomination.

Last year’s bipartisan gun safety bill – which garnered the support of 14 Republicans in the House and 15 in the Senate – represented the most significant new federal legislation to address gun violence since the expired 10-year assault weapons ban of 1994. But it failed to ban any weapons and fell far short of what Biden and his party had advocated for – and what polls show Americans want to see.

Most of the public (66%) favored stricter gun laws, a July 2022 CNN poll found, with more than 4 in 10 saying that recently enacted gun legislation didn’t go far enough to change things.

But many Republicans, who now control the US House, have cited a mental health crisis in the US as the reason for America’s gun violence problem, showing little interest in the government trying to regulate access to guns.

Mental health challenges grew throughout the pandemic and violence increased, but an analysis from researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that guns made those incidences significantly more deadly. Between 2019 and 2021, all of the increase in suicides and most of the increase in homicides was from gun-related incidences. The gun suicide rate increased 10% while the non-gun suicide rate decreased.

That CNN poll, which was conducted a few weeks after the mass shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, found that 58% of Americans believed stricter gun control laws would reduce the number of gun-related deaths in the country. That was up from 49% in 2019 and similar to the 56% following the 2018 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

But until lawmakers on Capitol Hill reflect this majority, further gun safety legislation appears out of the question as the deadly cycle of violence continues.