Nearly 20 million people have been directly affected, most of whom are from the rural agricultural areas and depend on agriculture to meet their food and income needs. A great number of them have been uprooted from their lands, with their household assets, investments in farm tools and animals, and food stocks all destroyed by the floods.

The media is dubbing Abdullah Shah Ghazi as a "Sufi saint", when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. He was a descendant of Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) and an esteemed jurist and scholar in the holy city of Medina. According to historians, Islam had reached the Indian subcontinent during the caliphate of Imam Ali (peace be upon him), and during the time of Imam Zainul Abideen (peace be upon him), as persecution against the Prophet's Household increased, he left Medina and came to Sindh – the province which is home to the city of Karachi today – where he began propagating Islam and the School of Ahlul Bayt.

Last month saw the detention of at least 250 activists. They have had no access to lawyers and their locations are unknown. Due to a media blackout, how many have since been imprisoned is a mystery. Although many have demanded the amendment of Bahrain's constitution, none have called for a coup d'état.

That the colossal arms package was made public enough to be reported on in Monday's Wall Street Journal indicates that it comes without serious Israeli objection—giving credence to the longstanding notion that Saudi Arabia and Israel maintain increasingly close ties, joined by a mutual animus towards Iran.

After nearly one and a half years of reconstruction work, the new domes and minarets of the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim and Imam Muhammad al-Taqi (peace be upon them) in Kadhmain, Iraq, were unveiled on Tuesday, September 14. According to a report by Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA), more than ten thousand golden bricks were used for the domes, and over 1400 golden bricks were used for the three minarets. Below are images from the inauguration ceremony, courtesy of Fars News Agency.

A brutal crackdown on Shia Muslim civil rights activists in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain is entering its third week. It not only threatens to undermine important upcoming parliamentary elections, but the widespread protests it has engendered may force the government to finally address the civic, political and human rights of the island's long-oppressed Shia population.

If the Mariam is allowed to sail and Israel cannot find justification to stop the nuns, doctors, lawyers, journalists, human rights workers and a pop star aboard from landing – permitting them to effectively break the siege – then the Gaza shore could soon become inundated with ships, vessels and relief flotillas from the world over.

Prominent scholar, jurist, and teacher of the Islamic seminary in Qom, Ayatollah Ahmadi Faqih passed away on Sunday, August 29 as a result of a car accident in Qom, Iran. He was 60 years old.

Ugandan security guards make $600 to $1,000 per month over a year-long contract in Iraq, reports Middle East Online. This is far less than the $15,000 that Western recruits are paid, but 20 times the average income in Uganda.

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Across the country it is estimated the flooding has affected and displaced approximately twenty million people. The United Nations and Pakistani government estimate close to 80% of the country's food stock has been destroyed by flooding. In the coming months when the flood waters will finally have receded, how will this country of 170 million be fed?