The Federal National Council Passes a Law on Endowment

)Monthly Islamic & Cultural Magazine( Issued by the General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

Year 44th - Jan. 2018 -Issue 517

The Federal National Council passes a law on endowment

Forum for Promoting Peace: A platform echoing farther across continents

O Allah, the Emirates of Giving! Every day a new dawn greeting you with a bright smile and every day you are showering down the world with plenty of benevolence and a host of initiatives echoing farther across oceans and continents.

O, the Emirates of happiness and peace deeply embedded in the days of the wise leader, the late Sheikh Zayed, as we draw closer to a new year and we engrave on its beginning words of fragrance and shinning light, Year of Zayed, the Benevolent.

In this respect, what would the Arab poet, Abu Tayeb say if he were to live one day in the era of a wise man of his time, Sheikh Zayed? He would write a poem praising a man who set up a strategy for a prosperous country and left behind a well-deserved reputation around the world. He would write a poem hailing his benevolence and charity, which have never ceased like a rainy cloud irrigating land even after his demise, and his grave is like a cloud carrying water providing for humankind.

Let the words fly free in the sky of the Emirates because the words have voices that are heard globally speaking of peace and tolerance. The Forum of Promot- ing Peace in Muslim Societies brings about people of intellect and understanding from every corner of the globe and its leaders who are in love with the essence of religion belonging to the Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic family. Those who strive to make a decent living for people throng from all over the world to attend the Forum and explore the Emirati example regarding the human co-existence among hundreds of nationalities. Is not this an example of co-existence and cooperation? O Allah, the Emirates of tolerance, co-existence and moderation!

There is no place for courtesies at the expense of the legitimate rights of individuals, communities and countries, justice must be established, and the divine messages are merely guidelines for justice and the values of security, happiness and peace. There is also no place in religion for extremism, violence and violation for the sanctities or the abuse of policies. At the Forum for Promoting Peace, around 700 scholars, thinkers, experts and people of intellect met on the soil of the Emirates to say: No to hatred and bigotry, No to terrorism and warring, No to everything that may spoil the security of communities or to anyone who may think to stir up seditions.

The UAE will continue to support the Arab identity of Jerusalem and the legal status that is approved by the United Nations in a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also voiced by HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, in his speech at the 4th edition of Forum for Pro- moting Peace. Editorial Dr. Ahmed Al-Mousa

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 3 4 Jan. 2018 Contents

Mohammed bin Zayed receives participants 06 at the Forum for Promoting Peace ...... Monthly Islamic & Cultural Magazine Abdullah bin Zayed honours the winners 08 of the Al Hassan bin Ali Peace Award Established in ...... 1394 AH (1974 AD) and Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies held in Abu Dhabi entitled: 10 Issued on 1st day of every The Fear of Islam and Roadblocks on the road to Radicalism ...... lunar month by the General Authority of Islamic Affairs Sheikha Fatima calls on Muslim scholars and Islamic 14 institutions to cast light on the moderate teachings of Islam & Endowments ...... The United Arab Emirates The Islamic Affairs launches “Waqf awareness bus” initiative ...... 15 UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs: UAE will continue to support 16 the identity of Jerusalem ...... General Manager : Dr Mohammed Matar Al Kaabi The Federal National Council (FNC) passes the draft law on 18 the endowment ...... Deputy General Manager : Awqaf launches its new website featuring innovative design 21 Omar Al Derei and novel services ...... Editors-in-Chief : The Holy Quran is another miracle that adds to UAE’s 22 electronic innovations Abdul-Rahman Al Shamsi ...... Dr Ahmed Mousa Al Mousa Awqaf holds a workshop on rational consumption of water 23 and electricity Managing Editor : ...... Khalifa AlDhaheri Awqaf signs a MoU with the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Guinea ...... 23 Mosque Lessons:The Infinite Mercy of Allah, the Exalted Editorial Board : ...... 24 Juma Al Hosani Fatwas Shammah AlDahri 26 Sara AlHosani Mona AlAhbabi All correspondence to be addressed to Managing Editor Moza AlSuwaidi P.O.Box 2922 - Ab u Dhabi. U.A.E- Tel. +971 2 6143 666

Editor : Fax: +971 2 6212484 - E-mail : [email protected] Maisara Al Hibr Dear Reader: This magazine contains verses from the Holy Graphic Design: Graphics section Quran and the Hadiths of the Prophet (PBUH). in the Magazine It is therefore necessary you treat it with utmost respect.

Opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and the publisher.

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 5 Mohammed bin Zayed receives participants at the Forum for Promoting Peace

6 Jan. 2018 HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, underlined the importance of the role played by the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies and other similar forums in highlighting the true image of Islam. HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed also emphasised the vital role played by the scholars in eliminating misconceptions about and practices deviated from Islam as well as ex- posing the devastating agenda of those who use extremism and violence as a means for their malicious goals that seek to distort the image of Islam and its tolerant teachings. He prayed to Allah the Almighty to spread security, peace, and tolerance in the region and the whole world. HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed greeting the UN Secretary-General These comments came when HH Sheikh Mohammed special adviser, Adama Dieng received at Al Bahr Palace on Monday the participants at the conference of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Mus- lim Societies, who were accompanied by Dr Mohammed Matar al Kaabi, Chairman of Awqaf. His Highness welcomed the guests participating in the forum and wished them success in promoting awareness about Islam’s tolerant teachings that are based on peace, co-operation and love. For their part, the members of the conference hailed the role played by the UAE under the leadership of HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, may Allah protect him, in supporting the Forum in its strive to promote principles of good and peace as well as spread the values of love and peaceful co-existence all over the world. They further prayed to Allah the Almighty to continue blessing the UAE with peace and stability, protect its lead- HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed greeting the Minister of Awqaf of Morocco ership and guide it towards all that is good for the Arab and Islamic nation. Present at the meeting were Dr Amal Abdullah al Qubai- si, Speaker of Federal National Council; HH Sheikh Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Ruler’s Representa- tive in Al Ain; HH Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Na- hyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior; HH Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, HH Sheikh Omar bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitar- ian Foundation; HH Sheikh Khalid bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Zayed Higher Organisation for Humanitarian Care & Special Needs; and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, in addition to a number of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed greeting the Minister of Awqaf of Sheikhs and senior officials. Indonesia

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 7 Abdullah bin Zayed honours the winners of the Al Hassan bin Ali Peace Award

HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Egyptian Family House Initiative, groups in Egypt, in addition to a Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Bishop Armia, Assistant Sec- host of Egyptian thinkers. and International Cooperation, in retary-General of the Initiative and The Initiative aims to cement presence of HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Chairman of the Coptic Orthodox the national fabric of the Egyptian Mubarak Al Nahyan, and His Emi- Cultural Centre. society. For this to happen, it fo- nence Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah, The Initiative was established cuses its attempts on fostering the honoured representatives of the in 2011 under the presidency of high values and exploring the com- “Egyptian Family House”, the win- Shaykh Al Azhar and Pope of the mon grounds among religions, cul- ner of the 2nd edition of Al Hassan Coptic Orthodox Church. tures, and human civilisations and bin Ali International Peace Award. The “Egyptian Family House”, forming a new discourse inspired The award is given to the most in- which is an initiative aiming to from the cultural and moral edu- fluential folks in promoting peace promote co-existence, is adopted cation in fulfilment of the young worldwide. by the Grand Imam and Shaykh Al people needs. The honouring ceremony was Azhar Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb and wel- It also aims to encourage peo- held on Tuesday 12 Dec. 2017 at the comed by Pope Tawadros II of Al- ple to get involved in the culture sidelines of the fourth edition of the exandria and Patriach of the Coptic of peace and combat violence and Forum for Promoting Peace in Mus- Orthodox Church. hatred, and strengthen the foun- lim Societies in Abu Dhabi. The Egyptian Family House con- dations of cooperation and co-ex- HH Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed sists of Muslim scholars and clerics istence among the citizens of a honoured Dr Mahmood Hamdy of the Coptic Church and repre- country and pin down to suggest Zaazouq, Secretary-General of the sentatives of a range of Christian preventive means so as to preserve

8 Jan. 2018 the societal peace and train imams and thanks to UAE that works on co-existence among peoples. and priests in a wide range of dis- cementing the principles of peace He added that the Egyptian Fami- tricts to help people know one an- and spreading love and tolerance ly House seeks to spread love among other and thus leading to the soci- among people. He pointed out that the Egyptian citizens, casting light etal peace. the initiative had made consider- on stances of the Prophet Muham- For his part, Dr Mohammed Matar able accomplishments over the past mad PBUH in terms of forgiveness Al Kaabi, Chairman of the General six years by containing and solving and tolerance and ensuring that in- Authority of Islamic Affairs and En- many issues and fostering the Egyp- stilling the concept of co-existence dowments, prayed to Allah the Ex- tian efforts in boosting peace, co-ex- could be achieved by deeds rather alted to continue blessing Egypt with istence and tolerance among the words for the good of peace as being further security and stability. people. an absolute guarantee for rights. He He affirmed that Egypt represents Dr Mahmood Hamdy Zaazouq also lauded the UAE endeavour to a strategic importance for Arabs in reaffirmed that Egypt is one single support the peaceful co-existence which Muslims live side by side with house and one single people believ- and boosting this culture. Christians in peace and harmony, ing in all Allah’s messages and not It is noteworthy that Forum for noting that the latter are Arabs living distinguishing none of His messen- Promoting Peace in Muslim Societ- in an Arab land and aware of this fact gers, stressing that Egypt has sought ies selected name of Imam Al Has- and promoting the national unity. to enhance and strengthen solidari- san bin Ali, may Allah be pleased Dr Al Kaabi lauded the Egyptian ty and love among the Egyptian peo- with him, to bear the award is in- Family House Initiative that is es- ple. spired by his great stance he, grand- tablished by His Eminence Shaykh For his part, Bishop Armia, Assis- son of the Prophet Muhammad Al Azhar and Pope of the Coptic tant Secretary-General of the Initia- PBUH, when he reconciled between Church. tive, said that UAE people support two major groups of Muslims so For his part, Dr Mahmood Hamdy peace worldwide, praising the UAE as to spare bloodshed and protect Zaazouq expressed his appreciation leadership role and support for them from demise.

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 9 Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies held in Abu Dhabi entitled: The Fear of Islam and Roadblocks on the road to Radicalism (1) equation would open doors of stirring up the discourse of The fourth edition of the Forum for Promoting Peace in extremism, highlighting that the UAE would continue to Muslim Societies took place this year in Abu Dhabi under support the Arab identity of Al-Quds and its legal status the patronage of HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as endorsed by the international laws and to safeguard the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. rights of Palestinians as backed by the Cabinet. Held at St. Regis Hotel from 11 through 13 Dec. 2017, HE Minister of Tolerance also said that protecting the the three-day conference tackled around 50 topics of glob- rights of the Palestinians is a grounded policy of UAE and al peace and the fear of Islam – Roadblocks on the road to the leadership strives to support the efforts of the interna- Radicalism, with the participation of more than 700 Arab tional community to found the real principles of peace that and Muslim scholars, as well as high-level intellectual and help achieve stability and peace in the region and hamper religious dignitaries. any endeavour to sow the repulsive discourse of extremism. In his opening speech, HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Minister of Tolerance added that the Forum is held under Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, affirmed the UAE’s the patronage of HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, stance on the Arab identity of Al Quds, explaining that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, latter provides the absolute guarantor for the stability of is deemed as a reflection of HH’s pride and keen interest in the region and is considered as the core component of the cementing the lofty values of tolerance, co-existence and peace process in the Middle East. peace in the relations among countries and peoples. He said that any contravention of the peace process

10 Jan. 2018 bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who empha- sise that dialogue, tolerance, and understanding between individuals are the means to establish a world of peace, prosperity and stability. He pointed out that fear of Islam in many societies is not only a phenomenon related to the behaviour of individuals, but is also, in fact, what he described as an odious racist trend related to the structure of society and the effectiveness of its institutions in absorbing and empowering all population groups in society, including Muslim citizens and immigrants of whatever faith.

The need for clarifying Islam Sheikh Nahyan said: "Effective education is the right way through which we show non-Muslims the nature of Islam and its great contributions to the march of humanity and make it clear that Islam is a great religion that calls for dialogue, respects the other, cherishing knowledge and positive communication with everyone. Islam always celebrates the principles of shura, (consultation), human rights, the rule of law and responsibility. It is a heavenly religion that is cherished by its followers and is practiced with reverence, love and pride." The Minister of Tolerance emphasised the need to work with all countries and peoples to improve living conditions, eradi- UAE: A leading Example cate poverty everywhere and provide economic opportunities HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan also for all. affirmed that UAE is keenly interested in stressing “Terrorism, violence, extremism and racism for some are the role of religion in the march of societies and the not limited to one religion or another. It is our duty to unite in importance of dialogue and positive communication order to help societies to deal with this phenomenon success- among individuals of all religions and beliefs in order fully. “He pointed out that the fear of Islam is rooted in pover- to achieve peace, understanding and stability all over ty, failure and pessimism while success and prosperity are two the world. important factors that bring trust, hope and openness towards “The UAE is a successful model, which demon- each other,” added Sheikh Nahyan. strates that opening up to the world and contribut- ing actively in the international arena has led to its The approach of tolerance and dialogue success as a leading nation. This success is attribut- "We, at the Ministry of Tolerance, consider that the spread- ed to the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed ing of the values of religious tolerance and the deepening of the bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who always emphasised the bonds of love and understanding among the followers of dif- use of communication and dialogue to achieve un- ferent faiths are an important part of our work," said HE Sheikh derstanding between peoples, and that individuals Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan. working together will always lead to the progress and He expressed his hope that strong relations would be estab- prosperity of societies on a local and global level. lished with all activities and institutions of society at a global HE Sheikh Nahyan pointed out that this wise vi- level, to launch important and effective initiatives to spread sion is endorsed by HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al the culture of tolerance and to eliminate the fear that others Nahyan, UAE President, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin may feel with regards to Islam and Muslims. It was also import- Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Min- ant, he noted, to work with everyone to spread knowledge and ister and Ruler of Dubai, and HH Sheikh Mohamed awareness of different cultures and religions and to promote

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 11 the values of the UAE in preventing extremism, racism, ha- concepts that have been distorted and gone off the right tred, terrorism and combating all forms of discrimination. path. “Such a mission lies in the hands of the loyal whom "The Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies is the Messenger of Allah PBUH praised because they rebut a suitable occasion to invite everyone to contribute to our the misconceptions of fanatical groups, a delusion of cor- efforts and to build a base upon which we can build useful ruptors and misinterpretations of the ignorant and acts of international relations," Sheikh Nahyan said. "This would extremists,” underscored Dr Al Kaabi. become an effective component of the soft power of the He explained that the latter had hijacked religion, UAE and would represent a sincere input to the contribu- claimed the right to interpret its texts, and accused peo- tion of all of us to the achievement of world peace." ple of apostasy just for their disagreement with their opinions, and shed blood everyone stands against their The Secretary-General of the Forum: The goal to crimes and terror. unveil facts and extinguish soaring fire of hatred Dr al Kaabi also said that the Forum for Promoting Peace HE Dr Mohammed Matar Al Kaabi, Secretary-General of had been established in 2014 under the patronage of HH the Forum and Chairman of Awqaf, extended his sincere Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Minister of For- thanks and gratitude to HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Na- eign Affairs and International Cooperation, and by an initia- hyan, UAE President, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid tive of the renowned scholar Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah, Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of the Forum’s Chairman. The initiative saw an unprecedent- Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown ed response from more than 300 elite personalities from a Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of relative arena, topped by Al Azhar. the Armed Forces, Their Highness the Rulers of the Emir- Dr al Kaabi clarified that the Forum was bound with a ates, and HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minis- mission to present to the world the right concepts of Is- ter of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. lam, explanation of its essence and truth. It also raises a call Dr Al Kaabi said that this Forum takes on an extreme to the whole humanity to extinguish the roaring fire, curb importance as it brings together scholars and people of the unjust ideologies and put out the burning fire of grudge intellect and understanding backed by ministers and ex- that threatens the human structure with disintegration perts to continue the efforts aimed at refining the religious and devastation.

12 Jan. 2018 He affirmed that the intellect efforts had been put into leading role in the elimination of terrorism under the cloak the 1st edition of the Forum, with the aim of bolstering the of the Islamic coalition forces and the international coali- human values and co-existence and culture of dialogue and tion in the fight against the terrorist groups and sectarian respect for human rights and correction of misconceptions movements that instigate sedition and commit heinous pertaining to Takfeer, enjoining what is good and forbid- crimes in the name of Islam. ding what is evil, the concept of Jihad, in addition to shed- “Practically speaking, UAE has set a modern civilised ding light on the regulations of Fatwas in time of seditions. model of Islam, the aim being to correct the stereotype perception of Islam that resulted from the criminal actions Authenticated studies for peace of some groups that are falsely linked to Islam,” added Dr Dr Al Kaabi mentioned that in the 2nd edition of the Al Kaabi. Forum 2015; some studies had been introduced with re- Dr al Kaabi concluded saying, “As a matter of fact, and gards to peace, where workshops had been held aiming to in response to those plagued by Islamophobia, the UAE streamline the youth experience in the social networking says: there are more than 200 nationalities from around sites to raise the young people awareness of the correct the globe living in the country in peaceful co-existence and concepts of religion. religious diversity, with all of them collaborating together In 2016, the central theme of the Forum was about “The to achieve the common interest of the homeland and the nation State in Muslim Societies” where the experts had higher good of its people. All of these residents are enjoying reached to a conclusion that the nation-state is a legal state their full rights and freedom, cherishing security and peace from both religious and legal perspectives. in the UAE. “Why do people fear Islam?” asked Dr Al Kaabi, illustrat- The Fear of Islam ing the opposite that Islam encourages us to take the lead Al Kaabi said that the fear of Islam is attributed to in the humanitarian aid at a global scale by rendering a two main reasons: the extremist conceptions of the re- helping hand to the needy, alleviating the destitute, saving ligious texts and the criminal practices carried out by the refugees and afflicted and drawing the smile on woebe- terrorist groups who infringe on laws and rulers in the gone faces.” name of religion. “You should not fear Islam because the tolerant teach- Al Kaabi also said that the UAE astute leadership had ad- ings of Islam have helped our country to be on a par of ci- opted a sound approach to purging fear of Islam on a global vilised nations as it sets out the top strategy to fight pov- scale. It had adopted a religious discourse that is based on erty and illnesses, to spread education and knowledge, to tolerance and moderation and the correct understanding encourage reading, to revive translation, to set up devel- of religious texts. The aim is to boost the civilised image opment projects, to support innovation and to shape the of Islam and cast light on its pure truth through Friday future,” he added. speeches, mosque lessons, and religious programs in insti- Dr Al Kaabi further said that there is nothing to fear tutions and media and the Quran memorisation centres about Islam since under the cloak of its lofty principles we and Fatwas and the moral education in schools. are taught to protect and care for children, honour wom- Dr Al Kaabi added that the religious discourse adopt- en, ensure equality between men and women, protect the ed by the country had gained a worldwide reputation for environment and eco-diversity, practice sport, appreciate its role in establishing a safe coherent community that is arts, adopt the innovation. “We have a ministry of happi- adherent to its identity and loyal to its homeland. It had ness, tolerance, youth and future, environment and artifi- also contributed to spreading moderation and promoting cial intelligence. We invest in the human building so that the principles of mercy, tolerance and peace, in addition we create an integrated atmosphere for innovators and in- to cementing the culture of respecting the other and co- ventors so as to achieve happiness for the good of people,” operation between people of different beliefs. This, ulti- he explained. mately, had led to realising intellectual and social security, With this civilisational spirt UAE has managed to posi- protection of the society from the destructive ideology tion itself in the leading places in competitiveness globally. and foreign practices that are insistent with the noble hu- How comes when anybody gets to know these excellent man values. values as inspired by the essence and truth of Islam and For this to happen, he explained that the country plays a feels afraid of it?

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 13 Sheikha Fatima calls on Muslim scholars and Islamic institutions to cast light on the moderate teachings of Islam

Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman ing and peace among people. of the General Women's Union, President of the Supreme Her Highness made clear under the leadership of Pres- Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme ident His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, urged Muslim scholars and Islamic institutions to exert ef- Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His forts in casting extra light on the moderate teachings of Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Islam that call for peaceful co-existence among Muslim Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander young people everywhere and highlighting the Islamic of the Armed Forces, and Their Highness the Rulers of the identity that is grounded on the moderate thought. Emirates, the UAE continues the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed, and becomes of well-repute worldwide where more Her Highness, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, stressed than 2000 nationalities of different religions live on its soil the need for dialogue with young people to obliterate the in harmony and love. adverse misconceptions towards other societies and religions and to address them through media outlets to tear On a related note, Her Highness hailed the major role down radicalism. played by the Emirati women in spreading love and toler- This came during Her Highness reception a women’s ance among all sections of society by upbringing their chil- delegation, the participants at the Forum for Promoting dren with the right manner and love for others and foster- Peace in Muslim Societies in Abu Dhabi on Dec.13 at Qasr ing the ties of harmony and fraternity among all. Al-Bahr, where Her Highness emphasised the importance For their part, the participants at the Forum praised of the Forum, which aims to cast light on the authentic and the role of UAE under the leadership of HH Sheikh Khali- genuine image of Islam and the role that scholars can play fa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, for its support for to dispel the misconceptions and repulsive practices about the Form so that it achieves peace and spreads love among Islam and its tolerant teachings. Her Highness prayed to all people, supplicating to the almighty Allah to continue Allah the Exalted to bestow the region and the world with blessing UAE with safety and stability and protect its lead- security, peace and tolerance. ership for the good of Arab and Muslim nations. Her Highness, the Mother of the Nation, called on the The meeting was attended by Her Excellency Sheikha scholars to illustrate the objectives of Islam in spreading Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Her Excellency Noura bint tolerance, fraternity and love among people, noting that Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge the UAE’s principles of tolerance and love established by Development, Her Excellency Noura Al Suwaidi, Direc- the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may Allah rest tor-General of the General Women’s Union, and Her Ex- his soul in peace, had borne positive results. cellency Reem Al Falasi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Her Highness added that such principles had led UAE to Council for Motherhood and Childhood. become an example to emulate regarding openness to the Her Highness gave a lunch banquet in honour of the par- world and to actively contribute to achieving understand- ticipants at the Forum.

14 Jan. 2018 The Islamic Affairs launches “Waqf awareness bus” initiative Awqaf launched an innovative initiative under the title moting the culture of Waqf in the minds and hearts of “Waqf charitable bus” that is aimed at raising awareness the young generation as well as other members of the of students, in particular, on Waqf (endowment). The ini- community. tiative is organised in collaboration between Awqaf, Min- The idea of the initiative revolves around building and istry of Education and education and knowledge entities equipping a bus-shaped libraries inside schools, institutes in the UAE. and universities. Those will be furnished with innovative It coincides and interacts with the “Year of giving” ini- tools, creative methods and a variety of activities. The aim tiative.The initiative represents a mobile advanced library is to enable students to learn about the concepts of endow- that is consistent with school smart activities. It includes ment, its objectives and the positive role it plays in develop- smart books, live lectures, themed games, short films, dis- ing the society and spreading goodness and charitable acts play screen, amongst other innovative features. amongst people. A number of schools will be chosen across Dr Mohammed Matar al Kaabi, Awqaf’s Chairman, the UAE to install the bus, which will be a centre that will launched the initiative at the Afaaq School in Abu Dha- receive school trips to educate the students about Waqf. bi amidst a host of female students. He briefed them on Worth mentioning, Awqaf will execute the initiative on the objectives that the UAE wise leadership aspires to three phases across the UAE. The first phase, which is the achieve through the “Year of Giving” initiative, cementing current one, will target students of cycle 1, while the sec- in them such values as the love of the nation, loyalty to its ond one will target students of cycle two and cycle three leadership and paying back to the homeland, its leaders as well as colleges and universities. The third phase will ad- and community that is proud of its religion, values and dress members of the community from all walks of life. This heritage. will be achieved by installing the bus in shopping malls and Dr al Kaabi further underlined the significance of pro- exhibitions, such as the book fair in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 15 UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs: UAE will continue to support the identity of Jerusalem

The United Arab Emirates expressed curity Council resolutions and the in- Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and trans- its sincere regret and denouncement ternational law principles, which stip- form the US embassy to Jerusalem of the US administration to recognise ulate the non-establishment of the considering null and void. The deci- Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. diplomatic missions and non-move of sion is a grave violation of the inter- In a statement released by the embassies to the city of Jerusalem or national law and the relevant Security ministry of foreign affairs and inter- the non-recognition of Jerusalem as Council and general assembly resolu- national cooperation, it considered the capital the occupying state, and tions and the legal judgment of the such unilateral decisions are at odds consider East Jerusalem as an integral international court of justice in the with the international legitimate res- part of the Palestinian territory occu- issue of apartheid. olutions and will not alter the legal pied in 1967. The Council affirmed that the US status of the city of Jerusalem as be- The statement said that the UAE decision produces no legal impact ing under occupation and is a strong had warned that taking such step that may hamper the efforts in achiev- bias against the historical and eternal is a gross violation of the principle ing peace and sour the tension and rights of the Palestinians in Jerusalem of shunning any impact on the final explode wrath and lead the region to that are safeguarded by the relevant status negotiations and is also a con- a mess coupled with further violence, international resolutions and received travention of the international reso- chaos, bloodshed and instability. the recognition and support of the in- lutions that guarantee the historically HE Dr Anwar bin Mohammed Gar- ternational community. grounded rights of the Palestinians in gash also headed the UAE delegation The ministry also expressed its Jerusalem that cannot be denied or at extraordinary session of the Islamic deep concern about the consequenc- should there be any attempt to im- summit of conference of the Organi- es of this decision over the stability of pose a fait accompli. The decision will sation of Islamic cooperation held on the region, explaining that it might be a substantial change and a gross December 13 in Istanbul. stir up the emotions of the Arab and unjustified bias of the US stance at Addressing the conference, Dr. Muslim peoples in the respect that Je- this time when everyone looks for- Gargash said the decision infuriated rusalem is held in high esteem in the ward to US working on achieving the the Arab, Islamic and int'l community conscience of Arabs and Muslims. hoped-for goal of the peace process. for its unilateralism and its violation The ministry noted the adverse ef- Earlier, UAE took part in an official of international legitimacy and the fect of the decision on the future of delegation headed by HE Dr Anwar international community’s hopes of the peace process between the Pales- Gargash, minister of state for foreign achieving peace in the region. tinians and Israelis. affairs in the meetings of the Arab for- Dr Gargash also said that Jerusalem The ministry of foreign affairs and eign ministers held at the secretariat is not only a city, but it is the cradle of international cooperation empha- general of the Arab League in Cairo. civilisations and religions, it has the Al sised the need to abide by the UN res- The council of the Arab league at the Aqsa Mosque, the first of the two Qi- olutions in their entirety pertaining to level of the Arab foreign minister de- blas and the Third Holy Mosque, and the city of Jerusalem including the Se- clined the US decision to recognise is the place of the nocturnal journey

16 Jan. 2018 nimity but also the international position that was reaffirmed during the urgent session of the Security Council that was held in New York. Dr Anwar Gargash said: “In this context, the UAE emphasises the need to abide by the Security Council resolution No. 478 for 1980 that clear- ly stipulates the call for countries that established the diplomatic mission in Jerusalem to withdraw their missions from the sacred city. We continually stress the importance of complying with the entire international resolutions that urge the non-establishment of the diplomatic mission in Jerusalem or relocation of their embassies there HE Anwar Gargash delivering the UAE speech at the Arab League or recognition of the city as Israel’s of our Prophet, peace be upon him. mercy and moderation. But this ag- capital. The international resolutions “No love matches our love for it, and gressive occupation has managed to regard Jerusalem as an integral part of nothing will make us abandon it, and expunge the city’s identity, religion Palestinian lands occupied in 1967.” we are here today to work as a group and sanctity and the occupation vio- He added: “The UAE reaffirms its to protect it from this unfair decision lence and injustice have contributed unwavering support for the interna- and its consequences,” he explained. to erupting terrorism and hate that tional endeavours to reach a perma- He noted that the extraordinary we now see heart-wrenching scenes nent, fair and comprehensive solu- ministerial meeting of the Organisa- that we have never seen before where tion to the Palestinian cause that is tion of Islamic cooperation had been the elderly are insulted, and the young based on the two-state solution. It summoned to discuss the joint steps and weak are hurt. also underscores the necessity of the to confront the US President decision He noted that today the US de- establishment of an independent Pal- recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s cap- cision had come to exacerbate the estinian state within the borders of ital. “This decision has stirred up the pangs of sorrow, legitimise injustice 1967 and East Jerusalem as its capital feelings of the Arab, Islamic peoples and violence and provoke the feelings according to the internationally legit- and the world for its unilateralism and minds even though the decision imate resolutions and the Arab peace and violation of the international le- will not change the reality of Jerusa- initiative and the Madrid Principles.” gitimacy and the international com- lem. Rather , it will unease the situa- “The UAE will continue to endorse munity hopes in achieving peace in tion and instigate more violence and the Arab identity of Jerusalem and the region”, he added. stoke the extremist ideology that we the legal status that is guaranteed by Dr Gargash hailed the presence and have suffered from for decades, and it all international resolutions as well as participation of the state members as will shatter hope for a comprehensive the rights of the Palestinian people. It such meeting stresses the centrality and fair political solution to establish also reiterates that Jerusalem, in the of the Palestinian cause and position the independent Palestinian state final status, represents the essence of of Jerusalem in the Islamic conscience with its capital, Jerusalem. the peace process that forms a funda- and pride in the high status of Jerusa- Dr Anwar Gargash said that in this mental guarantee of stability in the lem in our hearts and minds in a way regard I would like to cast light on the region and that any violation of this that reflects the Arab firm determi- United Arab position as released by equation will only open new doors for nation to face the US decision and its the decision of the ministerial coun- the new extremist ideology,” said Dr serious repercussions. cil of the Arab league in the urgent Anwar Gargash. HE Dr Anwar Gargash pointed session held recently in Cairo that ex- out that Jerusalem has always been a pressed the overwhelming rejection 128 countries voted overwhelm- model of co-existence and tolerance of the US decision and called on the ingly to reject the US decision re- throughout history and in times of US to rescind it. He explained that garding Jerusalem at the United religions, and through its history we Arab league decision does represent Nations general assembly on Thurs. have learned the lessons of wisdom, not only the Arab and Islamic una- 21, Dec. 2017 .

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 17 The Federal National Council (FNC) passes the draft law on the endowment

The Federal National Council (FNC) The Endowment law: The first draft law adopted the federal draft law regulating the endowments, making it passed across the Arab and Muslim World the first law of its kind throughout Her Excellency Dr Amal Al of propitious signs that we end the the Arab and Muslim world. The ap- Qubaisi, Chairwoman of the session of the Council in the Year of proval of the draft law came during Federal National Council, said Giving discussing the federal draft the FNC session held at the FNC the law of endowment is the law on endowment aiming to reg- headquarters in Abu Dhabi under first draft law regulating the ulate the endowment and to keep the chairwomanship of Her Excel- endowments in the Arab and pace with the growing changes and lency Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, Chair- Muslim world, noting that it is development and to boost the reve- woman of the Council. Present during the session were HE Abdul-Rahman bin Mohamed Al will also work on dispatching for- Owais, Minister of Health and Pre- aiming at non-Arabic speaking com- eign languages speaking Khateebs vention, and Minister of State for the munities so as to spread the culture to mosques in compliance with the FNC Affairs, and HE Dr Mohammed of co-existence and tolerance and diversity of nationalities, languages Matar Salem Al Kaabi, Chairman of confront the ideologies of radical- and mosque-goers, and assess their the General Authority of Islamic Af- ism, extremism and terrorism.” performance. fairs and Endowments. Dr Al Kaabi pointed out that During the session, Marwan bin Awqaf had announced its pre- Ghlitha, MP, asked a question on The Friday speech Awqaf Chairman said that the paredness to receive the public sug- the Awqaf plan to work on reaching gestions and comments over the the Friday speech to a large section Cabinet had approved the establishment of an independent depart- non-Arabic Friday speech. of society for non-Arabic speakers. Awqaf Chairman further said that In reply to this question, Dr Mo- ment for Friday speech, noting that Awqaf embarks on forming a section the Friday speech translation is avail- hammed Matar Al Kaabi, Awqaf able on the Awqaf App where the Chairman, said: “Awqaf since its in- specialised in translating the Friday speech for non-Arabic speaking browser has the option to choose ception is working on promoting a language he wants to, in addition the religious awareness in society communities in English, Urdu, Chi- nese, French, among others. Awqaf to rendering of the Friday speech by putting in place a strategic plan via the news ticker live, noting that

18 Jan. 2018 nues of such vital sector. to reach out the Friday speech to a She also said that the new law whole range of foreign communi- Half million fat- would help improve the devel- ties on smart applications and do opment in light of the increase the translation of the speeches on was for non-Arabic of endowment assets in the mosques display screens. speakers country, explaining that the endowment is one of the most sa- Dr Mohammed Matar Al Kaa- lient pillars of philanthropy and The Federal Law per- bi, Awqaf Chairman, said that a milestone of human develop- taining to Endowment Awqaf publishes the aware- ment as profoundly entrenched The Council approved the law ness publications and organ- by the late Sheikh Zayed bin pertaining to the endowment, mak- ises every year more than 26 Sultan Al Nahyan so that it being it the first law of its kind across religion-related lessons, in ad- comes a deep-rooted culture the Arab and Muslim world. The dition to religious lectures de- and a comprehensive system. aim is to achieve six goals as follows: livered by preachers in around Set up a comprehensive legal frame- 570 mosques belonging to di- “We should appreciate the work that is compliant with the verse communities. “Awqaf efforts made by those in charge requirements of modern time and also allocates special curricu- of the endowment through an the need of the communities so as la for non-Arabic speakers at integrated approach aiming to to regulate, manage and protect the the Quran memorisation cen- enhance the role of UAE at the endowments, undertake the UAE’s tres,” he added. charitable and humanitarian vision in cementing the values of scale worldwide,” she added. giving and philanthropy, provide On a related note, Dr Al benevolence to all people, offer an Kaabi further said that Awqaf She added that the discussion environment for the charity work, provides a religious reference of the draft law is of great impor- encourage the societal contribution via the official fatwa centre tance for development it brings and the social solidarity in all areas in three languages, especial- along and the benevolence it of life, and boost the economy of ly the centre receives daily cherishes. For this to happen, we the endowment assets and increase around 400 queries in English need to explore a legislative at- their sources. and Urdu. “This figure is like- mosphere encouraging endow- The draft law stipulates harsh ly to increase in Ramadan to ment in the country so that it penalties as prescribed in the arti- reach roughly 800 queries dai- promotes the country’s role as a cle no. 29 that everyone recklessly ly,” added Dr Al Kaabi, adding global model in the governance spends the endowment asset or its that the total number of fat- of giving to achieve sustainability. revenues shall be imprisoned for no was for non-Arabic speakers less than one year and fined with have hit a record high at half no less than Dh 50,000. This is done million. around 266 countries around the without violating any harsher penal- Awqaf Chairman said: world are browsing the Awqaf web- ty prescribed in any law and without “Awqaf publishes books site and the Friday speech. breaching the article no. 17 of the aimed at spreading the au- He added: “Awqaf publishes the present law. thentic religious culture in Ar- translation of the weekly Friday abic, English, Bangla and Ma- speech in English and Urdu on the The expiry of the layalam, and that the overall website and are printed in an annu- number of publications have al book for the preachers of foreign endowment reached 44 covering a whole The article no. 30 is about the communities. Awqaf also allocates range of issues of religious expiry of the endowment as it stip- more than 100 mosques in a wide awareness. ulates that in consideration of the range of areas nationwide to deliver provisions of this law and its internal the Friday speech in non-Arabic lan- He concluded that Awqaf statue, the endowment shall expire guages, also the live broadcast of the had printed and distributed in one of the following cases: expiring Friday speech in English and Urdu half million copies of the Qu- of the endowment as determined in on the Quran radio station.” ran for non-Arabic speaking the endowment title, achieving the Commenting on the answer giv- communities. purpose as determined in the en- en by Dr Al Kaabi, bin Ghlitha sug- dowment title, the demise of the en- gested using the modern technology

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 19 dowed for the family endowment, tration and reconciliation that it is No arbitration is allowed in issues taking the benefactor the endow- not allowed to do arbitration and that cannot be reconciled, whereas ment back only if cited in the title reconciliation in the issues of the the article no. 37 calls for the adjust- and not endowed for good. Also, endowment without having the ment of issues that there must be an when the endowment property fails permission from a relevant court adjustment of issues of the endow- to be established, sold, replaced or or authority in accordance with ments existing in the country before benefitted from so that the - bene the provisions of the present law. If, applying the provisions of the pres- ficiaries profit from, and when the however, there were a text consists ent law within one year of the date endowment is proved to be null and of a testimony of the endowment, of applying the law. This period can void as per a court judgment. the arbitration and reconciliation be extended to another period by a would be allowed. decision approved by the Cabinet. According to the same article, when the endowment expires, the endowment goes back to alive and Dh 3 billion worth of endowment kicking benefactor or to his heirs if assets in UAE he is dead. If, however, there were no heirs, the endowment would be a Dr Mohammed Matar Al Kaabi, shops, 1,300 apartments and 76 charity, and the would be under the Chairman of the General Au- plots of agricultural land, a site management of the relevant author- thority of Islamic Affairs and allocated to build a petrol sta- ity. The expiry and nullity of the en- Endowments, revealed that the tion in Ras Al Khaimah. dowment shall not affect the rights overall amount of endowment There are also endowments in that might have benefitted the ben- assets in the country worth of the form of stocks including one eficiary in the previous period upon Dh 3 billion and there are around million stocks of Etisalat that are the court judgment declaring the 4, 000 endowments that require soon to be deposited into the endowment null and void when the setting up a federal draft law on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange beneficiary of good faith. the endowment. and Dh 27 million stocks of the Abu Dhabi Financial Bank, in ad- Arbitration and Recon- Dr Al Kaabi said that assets dition to 140 cars and 14 villas in include 1,431 buildings, 1,867 the form of assets. ciliation The article no. 34 regulates arbi-

20 Jan. 2018 Attracting 21 million visitors from 230 countries.. Awqaf launches its new website featuring innovative design and novel services

Awqaf launched its new website www. outside the UAE. While so doing, it en- this category of the society and en- awqaf.gov.ae, featuring an innovative sures compliance with the UN criteria able them to best use Awqaf’s services. design and a variety of cutting edge for e-government website, the stan- Moreover, a section was also allocated additional services that keep up to lat- dards of the UAE Telecommunication for Awqaf’s initiatives in the Year of est qualitative digital trends in the area Authority and the requirements of Reading and innovations in the Year of website development and manage- the UAE eGovernment and mGovern- of Giving, facilitating the access of the ment at global level. Such new look ment,” Dr al Kaabi underlined. public to such initiatives and the other and feel further meet the aspiration of Dr al Kaabi added that the IT de- services,” said Dr al Kaabi the website visitors with its high qual- partment at Awqaf ensured to pro- Other specifications highlighted ity that is conducive to give them ease duce a new website with a design that by Dr al Kaabi included the develop- of access to the required information features the world’s highest standards ment of advanced features in open in a record time considering the nature in terms of quality and security and data characteristics in order to meet of the services it offers. allows the users to browse its content the requirements of the website users, The website offers an introduction and reach to the required information giving them access to official statistics, about Awqaf, its vision, strategic goals, in the least time and with the minimum with a view to enhance participation mission, specialisations and the eSer- effort possible. This was achieved by or- and elevate the level of knowledge. vices provided by its various depart- ganising the data in a manner to ensure Furthermore, the website introduces ments, in addition to the media centre, effective and seamless browsing and ac- detailed and general statistics about eParticipation through social media cess to Awqaf’s latest news and events. the number of e-transactions classified platforms and surveys, amongst oth- “Focus was also given to incorpo- according to the most used services, he er procedural and interactive services rate new tools and features that help further underscored. that are available for the public and people of determination to go through More to the point, Dr al Kaabi ex- interested subject matter experts too. the website easily. These include voice plained that the service cards for all Commenting on the occasion, browsing, colour variations, play the of Awqaf’s services were developed HE Dr Mohammed Matar al Kaabi, text, magnifier and screen mask. The in an innovative way to facilitate us- Awqaf’s Chairman, said, “The launch of aim is to meet the requirements of ers’ access to all their requirements in Awqaf’s website with a new look and one page as well as offering interactive feel comes in line with the UAE wise tools that contributes to elevating the leadership’s vision and in implementa- users’ awareness of smart services. tion of the UAE Cabinet’s strategy. It is It is mention worth that since its also part of Awqaf’s unwavering strive launch in 2007 until October 2017, to achieve excellence in service deliv- Awqaf’s website attracted around 21 ery and pioneering in performance, of- million visitors from 230 countries fering its services via smartphones and around the world, registering 30 mil- thereby allowing access to them from lion visits. It has reaped several elite anywhere. This is consistent with the awards, the latest of which was the UAE astute leadership’s ambitions and Gold Shield for technical innovation its endeavour to realise the transfor- in the category of government author- mation into the ‘Smart Government’ ities and official entities’ websites. It and innovate new services for the hap- won this award, which is awarded by piness of the community.” the Pan-Arab Excellence Awards Acad- “Awqaf is always keenly interested emy (PAWA), from amongst 700 other in promoting its presence in the cy- competing websites in recognition of ber space by keeping up with the fast its electronic and interactive services paced developments witnessed in this as well as the comprehensive and up- arena, the aim being to enhance its in- to-date information it offers, and thus teraction with customers and offer a supporting the government transfor- leading interactive experience to the mation into eGovernment and mGov- visitors of its website from inside and ernment in the UAE.

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 21 The Holy Quran is another miracle that adds to UAE’s electronic innovations

Awqaf held the second annual inno- compete in offering state of the art Allah, the Most Exalted, and keep in vation forum for its Quran memori- initiatives and innovations that carried pace with the UAE astute leadership’s sation centres across the UAE with the UAE footprint. Amongst such cre- aspirations, Dr al Kaabi concluded. a view to demonstrate their innova- ations are the innovative accomplish- After that, the ceremony called to tive initiatives in the field of Quranic ments with which the Quran memori- stage several female innovators. From knowledge, study such initiatives and sation centres have surprised us today Khor Fakkan centre, for example, an showcase them before the centres’ in terms of excellence and uniqueness innovator showcased her initiative ti- administrators as well as male and of the knowledge product of a world tled “Online Library for articulation female memorisers. The aim is to en- class level, Dr al Kaabi underlined. points of Arabic Letters” in which she courage creative and competitive tal- Dr al Kaabi further highlighted the made use of and developed the con- ents that not only surprised the meet- “Ya Jibal Oubi” (O mountains, praise tent of heritage documents about lin- ing, but revived inside the memorisers Allah) which Awqaf launched, achiev- guistics and phonetics. With pictures the aspects of electronic miracles too ing more than 30 goals relating to the and voice illustrations, the initiative through the modern educational inno- quality of Quran recitation. Awqaf focused on the stages of letters’ for- vations in which the UAE pioneered at also introduced the “National beau- mation and how to pronounce them the world’s level. Indeed, the holy Qu- tiful reciting voices” contest as a step through the five articulation points of ran has always been, and still is, an in- for reciters on the way to become Qu- human beings, starting from the abdo- spiration for the human mind towards ran recites worldwide, while ensuring men, to throat, then to the mouth and creativity and innovation. material and moral support for them. finally the nasal canal. Those are expected to accomplish un- Dr Mohammed Matar al Kaabi, precedented achievements on behalf One other stunning innovative and Awqaf’s Chairman, was present in this of the UAE within the few coming miraculous initiative that was brought meeting which featured creativity and years in terms of increased numbers to stage was introduced by an IT grad- competitiveness amongst the memori- and distinguished levels compared to uate who is also a Quran tutor at Mai- sation centres. He delivered a speech on their peers. To this end, Awqaf has laid mouna Bint Al Harith Centre in Ras Al the occasion in which he praised Allah down strategic plans to take care of Khaimah. Called to stage, she present- the Almighty for blessing the UAE with such talented voices, Dr al Kaabi un- ed two initiatives: Letters Articulation wise leadership that ensured providing derscored. Points Robot, using a 2D and 3D tech- its people with inspiring environment nology, which is considered as a prece- that is rich in happiness and tranquilli- Other initiatives highlighted by Dr dent at international level, even at the ty. We are also blessed with a homeland al Kaabi included the licensing with level of modern universities and col- in which we rejoice welfare, stability, sound chain of authorities, which, he leges specialised in linguistics. The oth- prosperity and civilised co-existence. A said, was another source of pride for er initiative was the “Helping Quran”, homeland that celebrates great inno- the Quranic centres. In addition to which is an electronic Quran furnished vative achievements which are being these initiatives, Dr al Kaabi underlined with many features that may help peo- supported and encouraged by the UAE the “Ten Quranic Readings” initiative ple of determination, the elderly and government, Dr al Kaabi added. in which the readings are document- other members of the community in As such, all of the nation’s sons and ed and streamed on YouTube. All such reading, listening to or memorise the daughters hastened to interact and moves are aimed to serve the Book of holy Quran in an easy manner.

22 Jan. 2018 Awqaf holds a workshop on rational consumption of water and electricity

In collaboration with Abu Dhabi Dis- as an applied mechanism that includ- “This is in line with the orders of tribution Company, the Awqaf or- ed type and specifications of bulbs, Allah the Almighty Who says ‘eat and ganised a workshop on rational use of types of cooling units, their status and drink, but be not excessive’. Saving water and electricity in public utilities, expected life. is amongst the objectives of Islam. such as mosques. Participants in the Commenting on the event, HE Dr Moreover, water and electricity are workshop included mosque Imams Mohammed Matar al Kaabi, Awqaf’s national resources that we should who assume the job of Imam al Jamia Chairman, said, “Consumption effi- thank Allah for blessing us with. We - Imams overseeing nearby mosques- ciency in all matters is a religious vir- also need to appreciate the UAE gov- as well as technicians from Awqaf’s tue and a social culture. We should ernment’s efforts for providing us branches in Abu Dhabi and Baniyas. promote such a culture and highlight with these resources and preserving During the workshop, ADDC dis- its positive impacts at personal, social their sustainibility for future genera- tributed guides for saving electricity and national levels.” tions,” Dr al Kaabi concluded.

Awqaf signs a MoU with the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Guinea Awqaf signed on Dec. 12, 2017 a memorandum of un- He also said that Awqaf would train imams and Kha- derstanding with the ministry of the religious affairs teebs in Guinea and qualify them so they can confront of the Republic of Guinea. The aim is to promote the the culture of extremism, bigotry, sectarianism, besides speech of tolerance and co-existence and to refine the factions and groups who distort the truth of religion. religious discourse in Guinea, an African county that On a related note, Awqaf Chairman reiterated the looks up to UAE as a role model of development, pros- will of Awqaf to offer its expertise, studies and publica- perity, tolerance and construction. tions to be available in Guinea as per the approach of Signed the MoU on behalf of Awqaf HE Dr Moham- moderation, tolerance, co-existence. med Matar Al Kaabi, and minister of religious affairs of For his part, the Guianese minister of religious affairs Guinea, HE Al-Haj Ali Jamal Bingoui. As per the memo, expressed his sincere appreciation of the charitable and the two sides agreed upon some projects and charity humanitarian projects that UAE leadership and govern- works that UAE would carry out in Guinea. ment set up for the good of sisterly and brotherly coun- Dr Al Kaabi said: “This agreement comes in line with the tries this year. He also hailed Awqaf big efforts and its initiative launched by HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Na- support for the ministry of religious affairs of Guinea. hyan, UAE President, who declared 2017 as Year of Giving The minister of religious affairs praised the urban de- so the communities in the sisterly and brotherly countries velopment witnessing in UAE, and expressed his admi- cherish the giving as this agreement aims to push forward ration of the mosque construction in UAE, besides the the wheel of development and prosperity in accordance Quran memorisation centres and the official Fatwa cen- with what countries adopt in terms of cooperation, and tre. The guest minister paid a visit to the Fatwa centre the humanitarian and cultural development.” and the Quran memorisation centres.

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 23 The Infinite Mercy of Allah, the Exalted (Mosque Lessons)

Mosque Lessons The Infinite Mercy of Allah, the Exalted

Allah the Almighty says: “And obey Allah and the Messenger that The General you may obtain mercy.” [Al Imran: 132]. Authority of Islamic Affairs and The Exalted Allah says: “Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy: Endowments (Awqaf) that any of you who does wrong out of ignorance and then repents after that and corrects himself - indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.” has published the [Al Anaam: 54]. second series of mosque lessons He also says: “And your Lord is the Free of need, the possessor of book in a fancy mercy.” [Al Anaam: 133]. new edition, which has made an Allah the Most High says: “Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the enormous demand doers of good.” [Al Araf: 56]. among ministries of endowments and He Sublime says: “Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against Islamic affairs of the themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Arab and Muslim Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merci- countries and the ful.” [Al Zumar: 53]. media. The new book consists of a wide Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless range of topics, most and grant him peace, said: “When Allah completed the creation, He of which are about the wrote in His Book which is with Him on His Throne, “My Mercy over- Islamic culture built powers My Anger.” on the lofty principle Abu Huraira also reported that the Prophet Muhammad PBUH said: of moderation. By “Allah Almighty has divided mercy into one hundred parts. He kept doing this, ninety-nine parts and sent down one part to earth. Because of that one Al Manar Magazine single part, creatures are merciful to one another so that even the mare publishes monthly will lift its hooves away from its foal so that it does not trample on it.” some of the topics to keep them handy for The general meaning: parents, preachers, Mercy is one of the most cherished attributes of Allah the Exalted. He sociologists, families, is the all Compassionate and Merciful; He is indeed the Most Merciful. students and society His mercy encompasses everything living thing and is conferred upon members as a whole.

24 Jan. 2018 The Infinite Mercy of Allah, the Exalted (Mosque Lessons)

Islam, religion of hope all creatures. His mercy is bestowed unto His creatures out of His grace and infinite compassion towards His creatures. He the Almighty has divided mercy into one hundred parts. He only sent down one part to earth. Because of that one single part, creatures show mercy to one another; and He kept ninety-nine parts for His creatures on the Day Benefits of Judgment. Out of the great mercy of Allah, He sent to us the Messenger of mercy, our Master Muhammad, may Allah bless and grant him peace, and sent down - Human being is by na- with him the Holy Quran as a guidance and mercy to the Worlds. He has the ture ambitious and seeks Most High placed the heavens and earth at our service and has bestowed us the best. with health, well-being, family, property and offspring. He has also provided Benefits us with innumerable bounties. - Islam is against despair Out of the vastness of Allah’s mercy, He conceals His creatures’ sins in this and frustration since life has world and erases them for them in the hereafter. He accepts the wrongdoer’s downsides- Mercy and is upsides. one of Allah’s repentance no matter how many sins he or she may commit. numerous attributes To attain Allah’s mercy requires some of acts need to be accomplished - We refresh our lives and Mercy: Showing mercy to all people, and those who show mercy to crea- straighten- Mercy our relation encompasses with tures, Allah will surely have mercy on them, as the Messenger of Allah, may oureverything Lord and surroundings Allah bless and grant him peace, said: “Those who are merciful will be shown with hope. mercy by the Merciful.” - Attaining Allah’s mercy Indeed, Allah, the Sublime showed mercy to a man who never did good, Orequires Allah, grant some my of soulacts itsneed but he was merciful to people. He would alleviate the hardship on those in debt and would allow them some time to clear off their debts, and he was pietyto andbe accomplished purify it, You are pardoned. the best to purify it, You are In this context, Abu Huraira reported that the Prophet Muhammad PBUH its GuardianWe implore and Master.Allah to said: “A prostitute saw a dog moving around a well on a hot day and hanging O Allah,have mercynot to uponmake usour and out its tongue because of thirst. She drew water for it in her shoe and she was heartsto blessgo astray our afterMaster you and pardoned (for this act of hers).” haveProphet guided Muhammad,us to the righ - his Piety: Fearing Allah the Almighty, worshipping Him regularly, and obeying teouspure, track, blessed and have family mercy and His commands and those of His Prophet PBUH. The obedient to Allah and uponhis us,companions. the Most Giving. His Prophet’s commands, he or she will be bestowed with the mercy of Allah May the peace and bless- more than anyone else. When Allah’s mercy includes the wrongdoers, His ings of Allah be upon our mercy upon the obedient is definitely much more considerable. Master and Prophet, Mu- Reading the Quran: Reading the Holy Quran and properly listening to the hammad, his pure blessed recitation of the Quran. Whoever recites the Quran or listens to it or discuss- family and companions. es it with other people, he or she will be conferred upon with Allah’s mercy, surrounded by angels and sent down upon him or her tranquility. Seeking Allah’s forgiveness: Seeking Allah’s forgiveness leads to attaining Allah’s mercy since asking Allah’s forgiveness is a way to seek Allah’s pardon.

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 25 Fatwas Answered by: THE UAE OFFICIAL FATWA CENTRE

putting on the seatbelt. The aim is to protect peo- The ruling on fastening the safety belt ple’s lives, their wealth and properties and to obey the Ruler who passes such laws. What is the ruling of fasten- The act of protecting your life and other people’s ؟ ing the seatbelt when driving a ve- lives requires you to stay away from anything that hicle? may cause you destruction and damage, and not - First, we pray to Allah the Almighty to confer pull yourself into devastation. Rather, you have to on you and us with success, safety and protection. comply with the safe driving as it brings about life Please bear in mind that complying with the driv- to you and people alike, in compliance with Allah ing rules as laid down by the State is a religious the Exalted says: “and do not throw [yourselves] must and it is upon the society’s members to ob- with your [own] hands into destruction [by re- serve. fraining].” [Al-Baqara: 195]. He the Gracious also There is a swarm of religious texts that call on says: “And do not kill yourselves [or one another].” fastening the seatbelt for being a religious obliga- [Al-Nisaa: 29]. tion and a preventive necessity. As such, the Is- The Muslim scholars have concluded that lamic rulings and goals and hand-on experiences among the most magnificent goals of Sharia is to are the sources for emphasising the importance of preserve lives that must be seriously considered

26 Jan. 2018 Toll free (8002422) available from 8 AM to 8 PM during office hours in three 01 languages: Arabic - English - Urdu.

Fatwa SMS Service 02 (Etisalat & Du) ( 2535 )

Al Murshid Al Ameen Service 24 / 7 03 at the GAIAE's website: www.awqaf.gov.ae

International Phone Number 04 ( 00971 2 20 52 555 )

and anyone deliberately neglects the fastening the Warning against driving a vehicle without seatbelt is negligence that leads to the potential license cause of murdering people. Anyone sitting behind the wheel must adhere to Is it permissible for my 15-year old son to ؟ the religious ethics and laws governing driving, for drive a car to the mosque to observe the Friday they will be rewarded by the Allah the Almighty. Prayer, knowing that there are many other ways And Allah knows best. to go to the mosque like either father or mother In summary: who can drive him out there? Complying with traffic regulations is a religious - First, we supplicate to the Exalted Allah to pro- duty, and it is one of the rights of the country and tect you and bless you. As for the question, it is society that need to be enforced. There is a swarm not permissible for anyone who does not have a of religious texts that call on fastening the seatbelt driving license to drive a vehicle by himself even for being a religious obligation and a preventive though driving the car is meant to perform the Fri- necessity. The aim is to maintain people’s lives and day Prayer. Parents should oversee their children protect their properties and to obey the Ruler. and not allow them to use cars.

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 27 It is known that the end does not justify the means and that car driving is a trust and responsibility and contra- vening the regulations in effect may result in grave consequences. The rules are imposed to protect people’s lives and prevent them from being hurt. The Islamic Sharia calls on people to eschew harm and destruction, as Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Mazzini reported that the Prophet Muham- mad, may Allah bless and grant him peace, said: “There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.” And Allah knows best. Al Murshid Al Ameen In summary: It is not permissible for anyone who does not have a driving Service 24/7 license to drive a vehicle by himself even though driving the at Awqaf car is meant to perform the Friday Prayer. It is known that the website: end does not justify the means. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ

Warning against obstructing road traffic Can you tell me of the religious ruling of parking ؟ illegally or stopping the car behind other vehicles in a way that may cause a traffic disruption in front of the mosque on the grounds of observing the prayer?

- It is not permissible to obstruct the traffic on the grounds of parking next to the mosque to perform the prayer as this apparently breaches the traffic regulations that aim to save people’s lives. In this regard, the Messenger of Allah PBUH has commanded us to give way for people on the road as well as to remove harm for pedestrians. The latter also requires us not to obstruct the traffic on the road. The Imam Al-Nawawi, in this context, wrote, in his interpretation of Sahih Muslim Hadith as follows: “ abstaining from harming people involves in shunning backbiting people, having the bad opinion of others, looking down on pedestrians and obstructing the road traffic.” It is critical for anyone happens to find a car being parked right behind his vehicle should wait for a couple of minutes www.awqaf.gov.ae until the owner of the car comes back. If, however, he or she

28 Jan. 2018 does not show up, then you have the If the damage caused is the result of stopping in the wrong right to speak to the relevant authorities spot where taxi stop is not allowed, it is then the relevant au- to uplift the harm upon you. And Allah thority to make a report whether or not it is a traffic offence. knows best. As the latter lays down traffic rules to ensure people’s safety and protect their properties, they should be respected. In summary: Whoever breaches the traffic rules has to bear the responsi- It is not permissible to obstruct the bility of his or her error. And Allah knows best. traffic on the grounds of parking next to the mosque to perform the prayer In summary: as this apparently breaches the traffic You should consult the relevant authority who is assigned to regulations that aim to save people’s make reports on traffic accidents to make sure whether it was lives. The Prophet Muhammad PBUH has a traffic offence or not. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ commanded us to give way for people on the road as well as to remove harm for pedestrians. Warning against passing cars and reckless driving ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ One day I was travelling by my car from one city to ؟ another, and an incident occurred to me during the trip On bearing the damage caused to a vehicle as follows: a driver of a motorcycle was approaching me while driving at high speed and the biker was close to col- I was taking a taxi car, liding with me. I blew my horns so that he could ؟ and the driver stopped in pay attention and give way. The biker did drive the wrong spot. Then, I away a little, and I was forced to drive fast- opened the door to get er around the motorbike so that I could off the cab, and the make sure I was driving away, and the driver had told me to biker would not collide with me, or the be careful, but after I biker could force me to collide with oth- opened the door, an- er vehicles on the road. other car was coming in The problem is that I have grown fears the wrong direction. So, that I could hit the biker or cause him or can you tell me who bears her any injury since the lighting was rather the responsibility of repairing the dim. So, what can I do about this incident from damage inflicted on the two cars? the religious perspective?

- The one who caused the damage - First, we beseech the Exalted Allah to protect you and would bear the responsibility of repair- bless you. Please bear in mind that the religious rulings are ing the damage. In this regard, the schol- not built on probabilities, and therefore we cannot make a ar Al-Qarafi said: “if there were reasons judgment on what happened for not knowing the truth. either causing the damage directly or be- The driver is not allowed to surpass other vehicles on the ing the reason for the damage, causing road for fear that such action may result in harming the the harm shall bear the responsibility.” driver himself or herself and other people. To avoid any po-

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 29 tential accident, the driver should pay attention to what is lice or judiciary about the regulations in happening on the road. force in your home country about this To make sure whether or not you hit the biker, you ought type of incidents. And Allah knows best. to consult traffic police department in that area whether police reported an accident in the same area and on the same In summary: date and time where you were driving your car. And Allah There is no sin upon your brother for knows best. not intending to cause harm to the two donkeys. Therefore, we cannot make the In summary: judgment on the consequences of the The driver is not allowed to surpass other vehicles incident for not being unable to verify on the road for fear that such action may result the damages whether the two in harming the driver himself or herself and donkeys are owned or not. other people. To avoid any potential It is crucial to consult the accident, the driver should pay attention relevant authority either to what is happening on the road. in police or judiciary To make sure whether or not you hit the about the regulations biker, you ought to consult traffic police in force in your home department in that area whether police country about this type reported an accident in the same area and of incidents. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ on the same date and time where you were driving your car. Using the printer for personal ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ purposes On unintentional accident There is a printer available in my ؟ -My brother got off the car to give bread to two don- workplace, so can I used it for person ؟ keys, but they got scared and ran away. While crossing al purposes? the road, they were hit by a fast-driving car, and one of the donkeys was killed, and the other suffered a fracture. - First, we pray to the Exalted Allah to Is my brother sinful for that incident? protect you and bless you. Bear in mind that it is not allowed using the printer - We ask Allah the Almighty to protect you and bless you. for personal purposes other than your There is no sin upon your brother because he did not intend work so requires. However, you have the to cause harm to the two donkeys. Therefore, we cannot right to use the printer only when you make the judgment on the consequences of the incident have the permission from your manager for not being unable to verify the damages whether the two to make use of the printer. donkeys are owned or not. In addition, we are not sure of Also, you need to comply with the whether the car and passengers are harmed or not. The act requirements as laid down in the work of making up for damages must be equalized before the er- contract including utilising everything ror and intention. available in the workplace for purposes It is crucial to consult the relevant authority either in po- they are made for. In this regard, Allah

30 Jan. 2018 the Gracious says: “O you who have believed, fulfill [all] con- tracts.” [Al-Maeda: 1]. In interpretation of the verse, the scholar Al-Qortobi wrote: “you have to fulfill the contract enjoined upon you by Allah and the contract you conclude with one another.” Fatwa toll free In summary: phone number: It is not permissible for you to use the printer for personal purposes unless you have the permission of the manager. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ

Giving advice to the manager Shall I absolve myself from any responsibility when ؟ I advise my manager in the for utilising all tools available at the workplace for his personal purposes including the business hours, in addition to the inappropriate work environment that is notoriously spoiled by the use of bad language?

- We supplicate to the almighty Allah to protect you and bless you. Please be informed that if you advise your line manager in the workplace and you follow the appropriate administrative procedures, this will absolve from any respon- 8002422 sibility that may be borne on your shoulder. Equally important, advice is a fundamental element in Islam. In this context, Tamim Al-Dari reported that the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless and grant him peace, said: “Re- ligion is sincerity, religion is sincerity (Al-Nasihah), religion is sincerity." They said; "To whom, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "To Allah, to His Book, to His Messenger, to the imams of the Muslims and to their common folk.” The scholar ibn Tabal, in his interpretation of the above 24/7 Hadith, said: “advice is an obligation shall absolve anyone from any responsibility when he or she does it, and is lift- ed upon the rest. Advice shall be given as much as one can when he or she knows the person will accept it, and his or her command will be obeyed and they feel secure from any potential harm. However, they are afraid of being harmed, they better … When you give advice, you need to do it quietly and wisely away from insult and slander, as Allah the Exalted says:

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 31 “And those who are to their trusts and promises attentive.” [Al-Maarij: 32]. It is important that you remind your manager of that Allah has commanded His servants to choose the best of speech when addressing people, in compliance with what Allah the Most High says: “And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. In- deed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy.” [Al Israa: 53]. In interpretation of the Aya above, the scholar Al Shaarawi said: “to say that which is best means”, the best here means: every righteous word.” (Etisalat) You effect on your manager in the workplace can be & (Du): more powerful when you work harder and strive to make it perfect, plus your sincerity in giving advice. And Allah number: knows best. )2535( In summary: You absolve yourself from any responsibility as much as you can. When you give advice, you need to do it quietly and wisely away from insult and slander. You effect on your manager in the workplace can be more powerful when you work harder and strive to make it perfect, plus your sincerity in giving advice. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ

Taking advantage of the money without a permission from its owner

I work for a company owned by my brother, who is ؟ the director general. I receive instructions from him and from the owner of the property. I work as an accountant and cashier for the owner of the property, and I am also in charge of the owner’s credit cards such as paying the monthly dues. Sometimes, my brother asks me to pay the outstanding fees against his credit card, and the owner of the property knows about it, but he is aware of the de- tails. For record, my brother and owner of the property have some sort of agreement concerning their money. So long as my brother is the director general of the com-

pany, does he have the right to ask me to pay the fees Service via SMS Fatwa against his credit card from the money of the property owner in respect that there is an agreement between

32 Jan. 2018 both of them? Is this the correct way has its own administrative and financial system regulating to do? And if there is any doubt about the business in a very clear way, and that properties owned what I am doing, what shall I do with by the company differ from the properties owned by indi- regards to what I did in the past? viduals and staff. Does your brother’s credit card is used in favour of the company or is it owned by your brother? Did - First, I pray to Allah the Exalted to the owner of the company give you an unlimited permis- make you trustworthy in private and sion or did he give your brother a procuration to utilise the in public. Please be informed that the money for personal purposes? trust is of high moral. Your question ad- I ask you another question in order to make your case dresses a major issue studded with a lot clearer because you are a believer and the believer has an of hustle and bustle around it. As long inner balance when he or she comes to judge himself or her- as you feel confused and bewildered, self. Let’s say if you were present at a meeting attended by this implies that your faith is robust and all directors and very important people, and someone start- your fear of Allah the Most High. Before ed to read out articles that you were held in trust in detail, I embark on answering your question, would you then feel embarrassed? let me remind myself and yourself of In this context, Al Nawas bin Samaan said: “I asked the what the scholar Ibn Hanbal in his book: Messenger of Allah PBUH about virtue and sin and he re- “If a man is entrusted with a trust, he plied, “The essence of virtue is (manifested in) good mor- or she must fulfill it, as Allah the als (Akhlaq) whereas sinful conduct is that which turns Exalted says: “Indeed, Allah in your heart (making you feel uncomfortable) and commands you to render you dislike that it would be disclosed to other trusts to whom they people.” are due.” [Al-Nisae: Now if you feel that the case is dubious be- 58], and what the cause of the fact that the owner of the com- Prophet Muhammad, pany does not know about it in detail, all you may Allah bless and need is to ask for his forgiveness either directly grant him peace, said: or through your brother. Moreover, you must “Fulfill the trust for the not repeat what you were doing unless you have one who entrusted you.” the permission from the owner to do so. And Allah Also, the Prophet Muham- knows best. mad PBUH said in the speech of the farewell Haj (pilgrimage) as follows: “So In summary: if anyone of you is having something Trust is a great moral, and an obligation enjoined upon by held in trust, he or she must restore it to Allah in the Holy Quran and commanded by the Messenger of the owner.” Allah PBUH. The believer who truly believes in Allah definitely In this regard, Allah the Almighty says: feels the tranquility of benevolence and enormity of sins. If you “O you who have believed, do not be- feel that the case is dubious because of the fact that the owner tray Allah and the Messenger or betray of the company does not know about it in detail, all you need your trusts while you know [the conse- quence].” [Al-Anfal: 27]. The betrayal of is to ask for his forgiveness or take permission from him just to the trust is a signal of hypocrisy. be clear ground. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ It is well known that each company

Manar Al-Islam Issue 517 33