Leading Islamic scholars have vowed to protect the UAE from disruptive religious rulings that promote extremist and terrorist ideologies, during the first meeting of the newly-formed Emirates Fatwa Council yesterday.
While the council is a new organisation, members said they would put end fatwas that encourage terrorism, bloodshed, discrimination and hatred.
The UAE's fatwa council was set up late last month and will be the official reference for fatwas, and will oversee all work related to Islamic rulings.
Chaired by Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, President of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, the council will co-ordinate fatwas and issue rulings on public issues that represent the country.
Sheikh bin Bayyah said the council would strive to "protect the nation from random fatwas and disrupting influences that threaten the safety of the citizens, society, the region and even the entire world".
“The role of the council does not stop here, but will be a milestone for scholars in this blessed land and their counterparts,” he said.
The council also has the authority to grant licences to issue fatwas, to train muftis (religious scholars) and develop their skills, as well as to conduct related studies in co-ordination with the country’s General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments.
The council, said Sheikh bin Bayyah, will act against "extremists who have defamed religion".
“Immediate action is required today that leaves no room for extremists to develop their own dogmas, compositions and constraints that are alarmingly rich in fluctuations and changes. This is what impels Muslim societies to confront extremism by using preventive measures to curb violence and hatred.
“Society will be immune to rogue fatwas that lead to corruption and ignite the flames of war instead of promoting a peaceful environment that acts as an umbrella for all citizens and grants them their human rights,” he said.
Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, an American scholar who is president of Zaytuna University in California, is considered one of the West's most-influential Islamic scholars. He and Prof Dr Amany Lubis from Indonesia are members of the council.
Fatwas, said Sheikh Hamza, are an attempt to understand what God means.
“It is a very difficult thing to do. A lot of people are not qualified and give out fatwas.
“On television, on one channel they may tell you one thing and then go to another channel and they will tell you another. It creates confusion in the minds of a lot of people,” he said.
One of the council’s missions is to unify fatwas that represent the UAE and the country’s religious stance on public issues.
“The Emirates is now trying to protect its own country,” said Sheikh Hamza.
“The UAE Government’s first priority is the security of its own people, and if religious anarchy threatens that security then you have to address the issue. This is an initiative first and foremost to protect the UAE from the type of madness that is going on elsewhere right now.”
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He also highlighted that the UAE has been relatively isolated from regional difficulties where religion is manipulated by political actors "for their own political advantage".
The council will interpret Quranic laws not in their literal wording, but in spirit. This is a different methodology that takes into consideration the time, place and circumstances that the law applies to.
“We look at the spirit of the law and not just the letter of the law. A lot of fatwas are based on the letter of the law and do not take into consideration the context,” Sheikh Hamza said.
Dr Mohammad Al Kaabi, chairman of Abu Dhabi's General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, said that the council is the "embodiment of the government's efforts to develop religious discourse".
The council, he said, will also protect young people from extremist and terrorist ideologies. “It will bring back the developed and clear image of Islam.”
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
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
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Greatest Royal Rumble match listing
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
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Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match
