Circumambulation of the House of God is a movement in a circle of love and servitude, from which the light of faith and humility shines in the human heart with every step. This spiritual and intellectual experience is more than a simple act of worship; it is a profound process of self-knowledge and closeness to the Creator. When the pilgrim circles the Kaaba, this sacred and symbolic building, he is in fact in a spiritual process that allows him to have a deeper understanding of human limitations and the infinity of God.

In the midst of this crowd, man feels that he is part of a great flow; a flow that is not only not limited in time and space, but is also endless in spiritual dimensions. Each step in this circumambulation means taking a step towards God and understanding the true meaning of servitude. In each turn, the pilgrim encounters himself and God, as if with each round he takes, he comes closer to the endless circle of divine love. This process is not only a physical movement, but also a spiritual movement that takes a person from the surface to the depths of his being.

The human heart finds peace in understanding the fact that everyone is moving towards a single destination. In these moments, a person sees himself as part of a global community that is seeking the same goal: to be close to God and to reach the truth.

In this gathering, it is as if no one is alone; each person moves towards the light with the same heart alongside the other. Each movement in this circumambulation is a reminder that none of us is able to understand and comprehend the greatness of God alone, but together, in this circular movement, we approach the truth.

At the heart of this circumambulation, the prayer "Rabbana atena fi al-duniya hasana wa fi al-akhirah hasana" flows through the tongue and lights a light of hope and peace in the heart of every pilgrim. This prayer is not only a worldly and hereafter wish, but also a deep reflection on the human soul and its spiritual needs. Every word of this prayer resonates in the heart of man and reminds him that in this world, in addition to striving to improve the worldly situation, he must seek spiritual perfection and piety.

This movement is not only towards God, but we are on the path to an endless understanding of God's love and mercy.

This is an experience that affects not only in those specific moments, but throughout a person's life. Tawaf of the House of God is an opportunity to be free from worldly limitations, to forget the world and material things and return to the truth of his existence. In these moments, a person understands that the service of God is not only in outward acts of worship, but in understanding the fact that man is very small in comparison with the greatness of God, but at the same time is in the embrace of God's endless mercy.

This circumambulation is actually a spiritual journey that cleanses man of all sins and mistakes. This circular movement is a symbol of the movement of the human soul towards purity, perfection and light. In these moments, man realizes the truth that God is not only great but also present in all the details of human life. Circumambulation of the House of God is a way to get rid of troubles, to gain peace and to get closer to God in the deepest layers of human existence.

These moments in the circumambulation of the House of God are moments that are never forgotten. In these moments, man understands that love for God is an endless process, in which man gets closer to perfection with every movement. This circumambulation is not only a physical movement, but also a spiritual journey that brings man closer to the depths of his being and to the truth.

By Harun Elbinawi

Ukrainians are marking the third anniversary of their bloody and protracted war with Russia this week, which is in reality a NATO-engineered proxy war with Moscow.

During this period, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured, and more than 20 percent of Ukrainian territory has been taken over by the other party.

The West has backed Ukraine with weapons and financial aid, having spent more than $500 billion on the protracted war with little result, as Russia continues to gain the upper hand.

United States has been Ukraine’s biggest supporter, having contributed over $300 billion, under the Joe Biden administration that prioritized war in Ukraine over domestic issues.

However, the Donald Trump administration is unwilling to continue this costly military adventure. Trump has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being a "dictator" and criticizes the vast sums Washington has spent on Ukraine over the past three years.

Recently, Trump, a businessman at heart, introduced a new proposal for continued support to Ukraine – he wants Ukrainian minerals in exchange.

Washington is now pressuring the Kiev regime to sign away billions of dollars in mineral wealth in exchange for ongoing military assistance, according to reports.

Ukraine possesses around 5 percent of the world’s rare earth mineral deposits, and Trump is demanding that Kiev sign over the rights to approximately $500 billion worth of these resources.

Zelenskyy has rejected the initial draft of the deal, insisting that he cannot “sell the state.”

Trump’s intentions are clear. He wants to loot Ukraine’s minerals, and he is not even hiding it. Imperialists have no shame and they have never made a secret of that.

The US regime dragged Ukraine into war with a powerful adversary, Russia, and the consequences have been devastating. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the futile war and the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed.

The US is not aiding Ukraine out of a commitment to freedom, democracy, or human rights. The genocidal imperialists of the West have abandoned those hollow excuses.

The truth is that the West is at war with Russia, using Ukraine as a proxy. Ukrainians have become the scapegoats in a war orchestrated by the West, with no regard for their well-being.

Ukraine is not strong enough to resist US pressure. It is entirely dependent on Western support. Trump and the US are driven by greed, and they will likely get their way in Ukraine.

Only strong nations can withstand the pressure of Western imperialists and colonialists.

No nation should remain under the grip of the evil Western hegemonic powers. These imperialists are ruthless and utterly devoid of conscience.

Every nation should strive to free itself from domination. The mineral wealth of Ukraine belongs to the Ukrainian people, and it is a grave injustice for greedy imperialists to steal it.

At the moment, Kiev and Washington are reportedly in talks to sign a deal over US access to Ukraine’s rich mineral deposits, as revealed by a Ukrainian government official this week.

Olga Stefanishyna, deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, in a statement on X, announced that negotiations have been “very constructive, with nearly all key details finalized".

“We are committed to completing this swiftly to proceed with its signature,” the minister added, in a signal that the Kiev regime has succumbed to the US pressure.

It’s high time Ukrainians realize this fact and stand up to demand an end to both NATO’s proxy war against Russia as well as the exploitation of their mineral resources.

Harun Elbinawi is a Nigerian political and public affairs analyst.

It is a one-sided war—one that Ukraine cannot win. Historically, this is not the first time the United States has plundered another nation’s resources. The US and Belgium were complicit in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba to exploit Congo’s mineral wealth.

The US was looting Iranian oil until the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended that exploitation. In fact, the US regime has a long history of plundering weaker nations, particularly in Africa.

Even today, the US continues to plunder Saudi Arabia under the pretext of a protection racket—something Trump himself has publicly admitted.

Looting Ukraine’s minerals is not an anomaly but a continuation of the American imperialist and hegemonic practices. While Zelenskyy has publicly rejected Trump’s demands, this may be mere posturing.

 Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on the visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to apologize for clashing with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Friday.

In an interview with CNN, Rubio called on Zelensky to “apologize for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became,” after his White House meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance turned into a shouting match.

The top US diplomat also questioned whether Zelensky wanted to end the Ukraine war that started in February 2022.

“When you start talking about that aggressively – and the president is a deal maker, he made deals his entire life – you’re not going to get people to the table,” Rubio said.

“And so you start to perceive that maybe Zelensky doesn’t want a peace deal. He says he does, but maybe he doesn’t,” Rubio added.

Zelensky had come to the White House to finalize an agreement granting the US access to Ukraine’s lucrative rare-earth minerals.

However, the meeting between Zelensky and Trump quickly turned into a verbal clash.

Vice President JD Vance intervened, suggesting to Zelensky to try “diplomacy” as a means to resolve his wartime problems.

The Ukrainian actor-turned-president disputed the effectiveness of Vance’s suggestion, asking, “What kind of diplomacy?” prompting the US vice president to accuse him of being “disrespectful” in the White House.

The US president then retook the reins, backing his vice president by further humiliating and scolding Zelensky for his ingratitude for all the $350 billion in military aid sent to Kiev.

“You’re not acting thankful,” Trump said, before saying he is “gambling with World War III” by refusing to negotiate with Russia.

“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people,” Trump stated.

Trump then delivered an ultimatum to Zelensky: “You’re either going to make a deal, or we’re out. And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out—and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”

He told the Ukrainian president to come back “when he is ready for peace.”

The US president had invited the Ukrainian president to seal a deal on Ukraine’s money-spinning rare-earth minerals.

Trump has said the mineral resources deal is the first step towards a ceasefire agreement he seeks to broker between Russia and Ukraine.

Zelensky left the White House early, and a press conference to announce the minerals deal was canceled.

Press TV’s website

The leader of the Ansarullah resistance movement has warned that the Yemeni armed forces will intervene across various military fronts in support of the Palestinians in Gaza in case Israel resumes its onslaught against the besieged coastal sliver.

On Thursday evening, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi specifically mentioned that Tel Aviv, one of Israel’s most populous cities and a major economic center, will be a primary target for these retaliatory strikes.

“If war resumes in Gaza, Yemen will intervene militarily, striking the entirety of the Israeli-occupied territories. Tel Aviv will be a primary target,” Houthi said in a televised speech broadcast from the Yemeni capital, Sana’.

He added, “Yemen is constantly monitoring the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and is witnessing the extent to which the Zionist enemy is shirking its obligations.”

Houthi noted that Israel is drawing on the support of the United States to infringe upon agreements.

He also condemned Israel’s refusal to withdraw its troops from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border and from the Rafah border crossing as a flagrant violation of the terms of the Gaza truce deal, stressing these breaches are being encouraged by the US.

He warned that such conduct poses a dire threat to the Palestinian people as well as the Egyptian nation, government, and army.

The Ansarullah chief reaffirmed Yemen’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and resistance factions, irrespective of Israeli failures to comply with the Gaza ceasefire deal and attempts to delay the second phase of the agreement with Hamas.

The Yemeni leader also reiterated his country’s continued support for Lebanon and the Hezbollah resistance movement, denouncing the Israeli military’s ongoing attacks, refusal to fully withdraw, and occupation of Lebanese lands.

He assured Palestinian and Lebanese resistance fighters that Yemeni forces will stand by their side, sternly warning the Israeli regime against persisting in its occupation and aggression.  

Houthi advised Zionists and their allies to rectify their wrong policies, stressing that the historic funeral processions of martyred Hezbollah leaders Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine affirm the Lebanese people’s firm commitment to the path of resistance.

The Ansarullah chief stated that the heroic and tremendous sacrifices made by Palestinian and Lebanese resistance commanders and fighters beef up the determination of forces of the Axis of Resistance to keep up the fight against Israel.

Press TV’s website

Experts in social and political affairs have defined Islamic awakening as follows:

Islamic awakening, in contemporary political literature in Iran and the world, means the intellectual and social transformations of the last two centuries of Muslim societies in the light of loyalty to Islamic religious principles. The main factor of Islamic awakening is the encounter of Muslims with the new Western culture and civilization, and their realization of the depth of their backwardness in some areas of affairs compared to the West. In fact, this phenomenon is the religious reaction of Muslim societies’ intellectuals in dealing with Western culture and civilization.

However, in recent developments in the region, a new reading of Islamic awakening has been taken into consideration. After the events of October 7 and the oppression of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people and the silence of human societies, Western people became curious about the perseverance of Palestinian Muslims and Islamic beliefs about patience and faith in God. Therefore, we saw that many non-Muslims around the world preferred to choose the religion of Islam and live as Muslims and defend the rights of Palestinian Muslims against the Zionists.

لاَ یُؤَاخِذُکُمُ اللّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِی أَیْمَانِکُمْ وَلَکِن یُؤَاخِذُکُم بِمَا عَقَّدتُّمُ الأَیْمَانَ فَکَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشَرَهِ مَسَاکِینَ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أَهْلِیکُمْ أَوْ کِسْوَتُهُمْ أَوْ تَحْرِیرُ رَقَبَهٍ فَمَن لَّمْ یَجِدْ فَصِیَامُ ثَلاَثَهِ أَیَّامٍ ذَلِکَ کَفَّارَهُ أَیْمَانِکُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ وَاحْفَظُواْ أَیْمَانَکُمْ کَذَلِکَ یُبَیِّنُ اللّهُ لَکُمْ آیَاتِهِ لَعَلَّکُمْ تَشْکُرُونَ.

Allah shall not take you to task for what is frivolous in your oaths; but He shall take you to task for what you pledge in earnest. The atonement for it is to feed ten needy persons with the average food you give to your families, or their clothing, or the freeing of a slave. He who cannot afford [any of these] shall fast for three days. That is the atonement for your oaths when you vow. But keep your oaths. Thus does Allah clarify His signs for you so that you may give thanks.

Al-Mashriq reported, citing Al-Jazeera, that a number of Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman, have declared Saturday as the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.

A number of Arab and Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Mauritania, Indonesia, and Malaysia, have declared Saturday as the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.

Al-Arabiya TV also announced that the crescent moon has been sighted at the Tamir and Sudir observatories in Saudi Arabia, and therefore, in this country, tomorrow, Saturday, will be the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.

According to reports, it is likely that a number of other Arab and Islamic countries, including Iran, will observe the first day of the holy month of Ramadan on Sunday.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Ayatollah Sistani also declared the first day of the holy month of Ramadan on Sunday..

More than 120 Hezbollah fighters, who sacrificed their lives while resisting Israeli aggression against Lebanon, have been laid to rest in the country’s south.

The funeral process was held in the village Aytaroun on Friday.

Mourners were waving flags of Lebanon and Hezbollah, paying respect to civilians and resistance fighters who have fallen victim to Israeli attacks.

The fighters had been killed during the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon in October and November 2024, which took place as part of the Israeli regime’s escalated aggression against the country.

The Israeli carnage, which featured relentless bombardments and military incursions, have taken a devastating toll on Lebanon.

Ahead of the funeral, Israeli forces opened fire on Aytaroun’s outskirts, in another violation of the regime's ceasefire agreement with Lebanon.

Since the onset of the escalation in October 2023, around 4,000 Lebanese, many of them civilians, have been killed, and over one million people been displaced.

Among others, the escalation featured assassination of several high-ranking Hezbollah leaders, including the movement’s revered former secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, who used to head Hezbollah’s Executive Council, and commanders as well as fighters.

Nasrallah and Sefieddine were laid to rest in the capital Beirut on February 23 and 24, respectively, amid myriads of mourning Lebanese and foreign supporters.

Lebanese resistance movement, however, stood up to the aggression with all at its disposal, conducting numerous retaliatory strikes against sensitive and strategic Israeli targets.

The regime has put the death toll from the reprisal at 120 Zionists, while Hezbollah and domestic Lebanese sources give a far higher figure, which they say, the regime withholds as a means of trying to portray a victorious image of its escalation against Lebanon.

Hezbollah has vowed to continue its resistance against Israeli occupation and aggression, despite the losses, which, the movement asserts, only further reinvigorate its resolve to fend off Israeli atrocities.

Israeli regime’s brutal military operations in Lebanon have resembled its atrocities across the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, where it has killed more than 48,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

The relentless bombardment, coupled with a crippling blockade, has led to a dire humanitarian crisis in the coastal sliver, with international organizations repeatedly condemning Israeli war crimes.

Press TV’s website

At least four people, including a prominent religious-political leader, have been killed and 20 others injured in a bomb attack during Friday prayers at a religious seminary in northwestern Pakistan.

The bombing was carried out at Darul Uloom Haqqania, located in the Akora Khattak area of Nowshera district, about 60 kilometers east of Peshawar.

Local police officials confirmed that at least four people were killed and over 20 wounded.

Sources said Hamid-ul-Haq, who is also among the dead, appeared to be the target of the bomber.

“Initial reports suggest the blast occurred after Friday prayers as people were gathering to greet Hamid-ul-Haq,” a local police official was quoted as saying.

Authorities declared an emergency in hospitals and health facilities across Nowshera and the provincial capital, Peshawar.

The religious-political leader was believed to have close relations with the Afghan Taliban, and had met their leaders as part of “religious diplomacy” in 2024.

President Asif Ali Zardari “strongly” condemned the attack and offered condolences to the bereaved, according to a statement from the president’s office.

“Targeting innocent worshippers is a despicable and heinous act,” he said. “Terrorists are enemies of the country, nation, and humanity.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the attack and expressed well wishes for the injured, according to a statement from his office.

Haq’s father, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, a former senator, was also assassinated in the northeastern garrison city of Rawalpindi in 2018.

Haq was head of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, one of the mainstream religious-political parties in Pakistan.

The sprawling campus in Akora Khattak is home to roughly 4,000 students.

Mullah Omar, Taliban’s former leader, who led an insurgency against the United States and NATO in Afghanistan before his death in 2013, graduated from the school along with Jalaluddin Haqqani, founder of the Haqqani network, which took its name from the school.

Jalaluddin Haqqani was the father of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the current interior minister for the Taliban government in Afghanistan, himself also a student of the school.

The Taliban surged back to power in Kabul in August 2021 after US-led foreign forces withdrew and the former government collapsed.

Islamabad accuses Kabul’s rulers of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil as they prepare to stage assaults on Pakistan, a charge the Taliban government denies.

Data indicates a rise in attacks and fatalities, particularly in Pakistan’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and southwestern province of Balochistan, both of which border Afghanistan.

Militancy has since rebounded in the border regions with Afghanistan. The year 2024 was the deadliest in a decade for Pakistan, with a surge in attacks that killed more than 1,600 people.

Over the past years, militants have been involved in multiple terrorist attacks, including targeted bombings and killing of members of religious communities and security officials nationwide.

On December 16, 2014, the group attacked Peshawar’s Army School, where more than 150 people, mostly children, were killed. It was one of the deadliest massacres in Pakistan’s history.

Press TV’s website