A new mosque in Dubai that will serve 1,600 worshippers aims to be the "heart and soul" of its community.
Madinat Badr Masjid, part of Dubai Islamic Bank's Madinat Badr development in Muhaisnah, opened to the public following an official ceremony on Thursday.
The mosque's striking design was inspired by the Alhambra palace and fortress in Granada, in the Andalusia region of Spain.
Set among landscaped gardens, the mosque features sloped roofs with terracotta tiles, horseshoe or ‘Moorish’ arches and a colonnaded courtyard.
The interiors boast geometric motifs and engraved Arabic calligraphy under an arabesque-patterned dome.
The main hall offers views of both the praying niche (mihrab) and pulpit (mimbar), while a state-of-the-art sound system is said to match those used in the Grand Holy Mosques of Makkah and Madinah.
Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, director general of Dubai Ruler’s Court and chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank, and Dr Hamad Al Sheikh Ahmed Al Shaibani, director general of the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai, attended the event, along with senior officials.
“Madinat Badr has established itself as one of the best residential and mixed-use developments in the Middle East in three categories for year 2021, and as it grows to become the latest addition to Dubai’s vibrant urban landscape, Dubai Islamic Bank is very proud to announce the opening of Madinat Badr Masjid, a major milestone completion in this project," Dubai Islamic Bank said.
"The new mosque is set to become the heart and soul of the Muslim population in the community and the surrounding area and will help residents to fulfil their spiritual duties as well as host their religious celebrations around the year, especially during Ramadan and the two Eids.”
It is just the latest new mosque to open its doors in the emirate.
In September, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority established a new place of worship with an eye on sustainability.
The mosque, in Hatta, conserves about 26.5 per cent of energy and 55 per cent of water.
Features include solar photovoltaic panels and a water treatment unit to reuse water for irrigation and cleaning.
Recycled materials were also used in the construction of the building, which can house up to 600 worshippers in an area of 1,050 square metres.
Mosques of the UAE - in pictures
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The specs
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Schedule:
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
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Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
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Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
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What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
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Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
Tomorrow 2021
While you're here
Towering concerns
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
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'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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Race card
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; 5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
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7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m
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UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
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In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
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Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
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UAE v Gibraltar
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When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
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HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
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Rating: 2.5/5
Sole survivors
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Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
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The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
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Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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