If moments carry meanings then the quintessential meaning of Ramadan lies in mercy and generous giving.
Ramadan is thus a banquet of compassion. You’ll be excused if you remain at the table when everyone else has left.
The Prophet’s companions described him as being at his most generous in this month. Charity, his time and a smile were always more abundant during the holy month. Generous giving that is tempered by mercy is a mark of spiritual progression. As the Irish proverb goes, “generosity is the key to marvels”.
Mercy and generous giving culminate within the axial act of this month, the fast. Practising restraint from our passions and pleasures engenders empathy and makes it easier for us to relate to the less fortunate.
Both of these meanings have seemed distantly absent in world events over the past three weeks.
News outlets have been replete with heartbreaking stories about children: killings, abuses, starvation, exploitation and conflicts in which they are the number one casualty.
Children are increasingly taking centre stage in other people’s fights and problems. Be they in the confines of Gaza, the killing fields of Syria, the refugee camps of Palestine or a playground in Waziristan, our children are being systematically robbed of their childhoods. The smiles on their faces are being wiped away. The purity of their hearts are being soiled. The infliction of harm upon children symbolises the ultimate absence of mercy.
Mental health professionals have been warning us for many years of the stark impacts of war on children. Moral and spiritual impacts and psychological suffering are listed as the most tragic effects and there are calls for war to be defined as a global public health problem.
And, in the midst of all of this, it is the human hand that is stained with responsibility. Humans are conduits for mercy and generosity. Where mercy is absent, the human is at fault. For the faithful, Ramadan offers the chance of a reset, the opportunity to rekindle meanings of mercy and generosity towards our children – time is of the essence.
Upon seeing the Prophet kiss his grandchildren, a nomadic Arab exclaimed: “I have 10 children and never kissed any one of them.” The Prophet replied: “Whomever has no mercy will not be shown it. I cannot place mercy in your heart after it has been taken away.”
Nomadic Arabs came from harsh environments yet that was not an excuse. Innate human traits should never be at a loss irrespective of the surrounding circumstances.
While absorbed in prayer, the Prophet was seen to have held his granddaughter, Umama. When he bowed he would gently place her on the floor and when he arose he would pick her again. The children of his family would eagerly meet him around the outskirts of Medina on his return from travelling and ride with him until they reached home. He said: “He who does not honour the old and have mercy with the young is not from among us.”
During a sermon, the Prophet’s grandsons, Hassan and Hussain, both infants at the time, walked into the mosque falling and picking themselves up again until they arrived at the pulpit.
Upon seeing them approach he came down and affectionately picked them both up and returned to continue to deliver his sermon, remarking: “I saw them both and could not desist.”
The Prophet had a particular concern for orphans. He would comfort them by picking them up, putting his arm around them and playing with them.
Caring for an orphan was made a virtue and he said: “The best of homes is one in which there is an orphan who is treated well, and the worst of homes is the one in which an orphan is treated wrongly.”
Less than a week remains of Ramadan. It is never too late to reinvigorate meanings of mercy and generous giving in our lives and their centrality to our children.
Abaas Yunas is a futures analyst at Tabah Foundation in Abu Dhabi and works closely with regional faith-based leadership on issues of contemporary concern
On Twitter: @abaasyunas
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: CVT
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 220Nm
Price: Dh98,900
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff
By Sean Penn
Simon & Schuster
