Noorullah Online

We would like to take the opportunity to wish all our Muslim readers and visitors a blessed Ramadhan 2011 CE / 1432 AH.

The date for sighting the new moon to determine the beginning of the fasting month for Muslims throughout the country will be on the afternoon of Sunday, July 31st 2011, which is equivalent to 29th Sha’ban 1432 AH.

31 locations throughout the country have been set as the place to sight the new moon of Ramadan, which are as follows.

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In 1991, Kristiane Backer had the life thousands of young people dream of: She had been selected among thousands of contenders as the first German VJ for MTV Europe. Still, she was empty inside. “I am feeling so low,” she wrote in her diary. Then, in August 1992, she fell in love with Pakistan’s most famous cricket player Imran Khan. The relationship ended two years later, but Backer went on to convert to Islam in 1995.

Her story was recently published in a book entitled “From MTV to Mecca, how Islam changed my life.”

In the biography, Backer talks openly about the superficiality of the television and music business – which almost broke her, she says – and about her two failed marriages. As a convert to Islam, she has been living between two worlds, not feeling fully accepted by either. Having grown up as a Protestant in Hamburg, the 43-year-old Backer now prays five times a day to Allah and follows the Muslim law of abstaining from alcohol. She donates money to the poor and observes the Ramadan fast.

“I would be happy if my book inspired people to discover their spiritual side and to open themselves up,” said the former VJ. “On the other hand, I want to help clarify some prejudices against Islam. I want to build bridges and help support the dialogue between different religions and cultures.”

Continue reading her story here.