Flashes from the Muslim World

Arab countries are bracing up for a sharp rise in the price of all things sweet after it emerged this week that India, a major supplier of agricultural products to the import-reliant Middle East, plans to suspend sugar exports from this October until September next year.

According to three Indian government sources who spoke to Reuters news agency, New Delhi imposed the eleven month ban – the first of its kind in seven years – mainly due to reduced cane yields caused by a lack of rain over the summer monsoon season.

Sugar is a staple ingredient in Gulf Cooperation Council countries, making them especially susceptible to price rises. Last year, Qatar imported 90% of its sugar from India, the UAE 43%, Bahrain 34% and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait 28% each, according to figures from the International Trade Center.

India has proven to be one of the fastest growing sugar exporters in recent years. India holds the position of the second-largest sugar exporter globally, after Brazil, contributing to 15% of global exports.

Sri Lanka is reorienting its diplomacy to prioritize the Middle East, the country’s foreign minister said, after a parliamentary review of diplomatic relations. The key countries for Sri Lanka are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council – a region that is already a preferred destination for Sri Lankan expats, as more than a million of them are employed there.

Expat workers are a main source of foreign exchange for the country, which since last year has been gripped by its worst financial crisis. In 2022, remittances amounted to USD3.8 billion and this year are expected to be even higher as they have reached USD2.8 billion between January and June.

The Philippines will focus on strengthening its ties with the UAE in the areas of innovation and technology, its envoy told Arab News as the two countries celebrated 49 years of bilateral relations. Manila and Abu Dhabi established diplomatic ties on 19^th August, 1974, and Filippinos were among the first expatriates to come to the UAE in the 1970s to help develop the country.

Currently around a million Filipino expats live and work in the UAE, making the Emirates their second largest employer after Saudi Arabia. Most are employed in hospitality, healthcare, construction, the creative industries, or housekeeping.

Indonesia is hoping to boost commerce with the UAE more than two fold in the next three years, Jakarta’s envoy to Abu Dhabi said as a free trade  pact the two countries went into effect at the beginning of this month Bilateral trade volume reached around USD5 billion in 2022.

With the reduction of tariff or zero tariffs, Indonesia could strengthen exports. I believe once exports increases, it will attract more investment. The UAE is a hub for Indonesia, and it is an entrance to countries in the Middle East, East, Africa and Europe.

Indonesia is in talks with the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language to expand the reach of Indonesian literature in the Kingdom and attract more Saudis to study at its university, Jakarta’s mission in Riyadh said recently.

Arabic is an important language among Indonesian Muslims who comprise over 80%of the country’s 270 million population. Most of Indonesia’s thousands of public and private universities facilitate Arabic as a foreign language and offer Arabic studies in their programs.

Waste occurs at almost every stage of the global food-supply chain, costing money and precious resources, damaging the environment, and unnecessarily adding billions of tons of climate changing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Impulsive shopping decisions and poor storage methods are the two biggest reasons for loss and waste in GCC countries. But there are solutions in hand. Studies have shown that consumers in rich countries waste approximately 222 million tons of food annually, which is almost equivalent to the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa, estimated at 230 million tons per year.

While GCC countries have some of the highest rates of food wastage in the world, it is also found that cultural norms play a significant role. Big feasts and large amounts of food on the table are directly associated with good hospitality and generosity. During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, for instance, food wastage almost doubles in the UAE.

Oman’s Islamic banking sector witnessed a 12.6% year-on-year surge in total assets reaching seven billion Omani Rials (USD18.25 billion), data issued by the country’s central bank showed. This figure accounts for approximately 17.2% of the Gulf Cooperation Council country’s overall banking systems assets as of the end of June 2023. Total deposits held with Islamic banks and windows rose by 10.5%, reaching 5.2 billion Rials.

In a significant development for Qatar’s economy, the country’s industrial production index registered a 4.2% increase in June compared to the same month last year. According to data released by Qatar’s Planning and Statistics Authority, the country’s IPI also grew 4.2%, compared to May.

The boost in the mining sector is primarily attributed to an increase in crude oil and natural gas extraction activities. There was an increase in production in the food products industry by 4.1%, the chemical substances and products industry by 1.8%.

Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul karim Al-Issa, announced the League’s initiative to establish the Al-Nejashi Mosque in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian government and the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council praised this historic project, which holds cherished significance for the Islamic nation and the Ethiopian people. Al-Issa, the President of the Association of Muslim Scholars, visited Awolia College in Addis Ababa, where he interacted with staff and students.

The 43^rd King Abdulaziz International Competition for the Memorization, Recitation and Interpretation of the Qur’an concluded at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. The competition was organized by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Da’wah, and Guidance, represented by the General Secretariat of the Local and International Holy Qur’an Competition.

Contestants from 117 countries participated in the competition, a total of SR 4 Million (USD1.07Million) will be awarded to winners. The jury listened to contestants from Tajikistan, Libya, Mauritania, Jordan, Zambia, Syria, the US, Malaysia, Singapore and Uzbekistan.

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Asheikh, said that the contest encouraged Muslims to memorize and recite the Qur’an, while also promoting the development of a generation that followed the holy book, the Sunnah and moderation.

The International Fair and Museum of the Prophet’s Biography and Islamic Civilization, based in Madinah, recently celebrated a remarkable achievement. Its branch located at the headquarters of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Rabat, Morocco, welcomed three million visitors.

The International Fair and Museum of the Prophet’s Biography and Islamic Civilization opened in Madinah next to the Prophet’s Mosque in 2021. It is dedicated to the history of the Islamic world and the life of the Prophet.

The Saudi aid agency, KS relief, and the Kuwait Red Crescent Society have teamed up to provide USD1 million for drugs and personal hygiene kits for cancer patients in Sudan. The two bodies signed a cooperation program to this effect at KS relief’s headquarters in Riyadh.

The hygiene kits will be shipped from Saudi Arabia to Port Sudan. The funding aims to provide support for health, protection and food security, and alleviate the urgent humanitarian needs of those affected in Sudan.

Summer is considered the golden season in most regions of the Kingdom, because it is when dates are harvested. Many Saudi regions known for producing dates compete by holding festivals to attract more customers to buy their products.

The Palm and Date sector accounts for SR7.5 billion (USD2 billion) or 12% of the Kingdom’s total agricultural output. Riyadh’s production exceeds 400,000 tons, accounting for nearly a quarter of the Kingdom’s total output, while the number of palm trees in the Kingdom exceeds 34 million.

Historic coins from around the Arab and Islamic world are prominent artifacts that can reveal the religious, political, economic, social and artistic events that occurred in the era they originated.

The King Abdul aziz Public Library in Riyadh boasts a collection of more than 8,100 historical coins made of gold, silver and other metals. The study of these coins is related to various areas of life as well as to the countries and places where they were minted.

The King Abdul aziz Public Library’s coin collection covers all Islamic periods of the past 1,400 years. The first Arab-Islamic dinar can be found at the library: it is distinguished by the fact that it is the first Arab-Islamic coin to be minted. The Arab and Islamic coins at the library fall within its cultural and knowledge strategy to preserve Arab and Islamic heritage.

King Abdulaziz Public Library in Riyadh has unveiled a 190-year-old book by British artist, David Roberts.

The work, of which only 30 copies were made, contains paintings drawn by Roberts in Andalusia in 1832-1833 depicting a number of famous landmarks he visited in Spain.

Roberts used natural colors in the books 26 lithograph printed and hand-colored paintings. Most of the paintings are devoted to Arab-Islamic monuments and palaces in Andalusia, as the book offers splendid and beautiful images of Granada and the Alhambra Palace and the fine details of Islamic architectural inscriptions. The Library acquired the book in 1997 when it obtained it from the library of King Don Carlos I of Portugal.

Secretary-General of the Muslim World League and Chairman of the Association of Muslim Scholars, Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, met with Sheikh Haji Ibrahim, President of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, along with the accompanying delegation at the League’s headquarters in Makkah.

The two sides discussed topics of mutual interest, including the implementation of the League’s initiatives in Ethiopia. Al-Issa also received engineering plans for the Najashi Mosque, which the League announced last month would be established in Ethiopia.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt have condemned the recent storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by hundreds of Jewish settlers under the protection of Israeli forces. Recently, 430 extremist settlers launched a raid on the compound’s courtyards in occupied Jerusalem, in the latest breach of one of Islam’s holiest sites.

The Foreign Ministry called on Israeli authorities to take responsibility for ending all attacks that would escalate tensions. Egypt’s Foreign Minister called on Israel to immediately stop any actions that would provoke feelings of millions of Muslims around the world and stoke violence in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Egypt is focusing greater attention on developing tourist and heritage sites to help achieve sustainable economic growth and improve quality of life for citizens, said Local Development Minister, Hisham Amna, in Zhenghzou, China.

He said that Egypt’s government has been allocating resources to develop needed infrastructure in cities with their sites. The state has taken broad steps and adopted important initiatives over the past decade to boost the sustainability of our cities, said Amna. The Minister also touched on the unprecedented challenges that threaten our tourist and heritage sites, such as climate-change and rapid urbanization.

Representatives of Islamic fatwa boards, councils, and universities recently joined international law experts, academics, and thinkers to discuss issues related to freedom of expression.

Organized by the League of Islamic Universities, the conference was staged at the headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.

The gathering, held under the title, “Framing Freedoms According to Islamic Values and Principles of International Law,” came in the wake of an increasing number of crimes against Islamic and religious sanctions.

North Africa suffered two disasters in three days when a devastating earthquake struck Morocco, followed by catastrophic flooding in Libya, leaving thousands dead and many more missing, sparking a global aid response.

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck high in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains about 70 km, south of Marrakech, killing at least 2,900 people. In Libya’s coastal city of Derna, Storm Daniel caused two river dams to burst, killing at least 5,000 people with thousand still missing. Offers of assistance for Libya and Morocco have come from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Tunisia and Turkiye.

Pope Francis expressed hope for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Niger following the military coup in the West African nation. The pontiff told the faithful in St. Peter’s Square that he is following events with concern, joining an appeal for peace in the country and stability in the Sahel region.

He called on the international community to find a peaceful solution as soon as possible, for the good of all. Mutinous soldiers overthrew Niger’s democratically elected President, Mohammed Bazoum, and his wife and son have been kept under house arrest in the capital.

MamadouSafayou Barry’s dream was to study Islam at Al-Azhar, but he lacked the funds to fly to Cairo from his home in Guinea. Barry cycled nearly 4,000 kms through Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Niger and Chad, where he managed to obtain enough funds to purchase a flight to Egypt.

Now the young man has been given a warm welcome to Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning. “I learned about the status of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in my country, Guinea, and everywhere in Africa, and I wished to join this historic institution,” he said. Barrry has also been given a set of books to learn Arabic. He thanked Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, for the support he had been offered.

More than four million people have been driven from their homes in Ethiopia, mainly by conflict or drought, according to new United Nations figures. Conflict is the primary cause of displacement and displaced 2.9 million, followed by drought which displaced 810,855, said the report.

Ethiopia’s northernmost region was wracked by two years of fighting between pro-government forces and Tigrayan rebels until a peace deal was signed in November last year. A total of 28.6 million people are in need across Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country, according to UN figures.

Brazilian exports to Saudi Arabia recorded robust growth in the first seven months of the year to reach USD1.87 billion, the highest amongst all Arab countries, Emirates News Agency reported citing data from the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.

Additionally, Brazilian imports from the Kingdom were also the highest among Arab countries standing at USD1.98 billion. The consistent growth in Brazilian exports to the Arab countries further underscores the unwavering commitment of both regions to foster mutually beneficial economic ties.

This thriving trade relationship reinforces the Arab world’s position as a pivotal partner in Brazil’s global trade network. During a recent visit to Brazil, Saudi Investment Minister, Khalid al-Falih, said green energy and food are two of the main sectors in which Saudi Arabia is interested in investing in Brazil.

For Tagreed Elhassan, it’s the feeling of the wind in her face. Cycling gives her a sense of independence and a way to exercise. She learned the basics growing up in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and now a program in her new home of Toronto has taught the 24-year-old Eritrean refugee how to steer and basic bike mechanics, giving her the confidence to teach others.

Hijabs & Helmets aims to provide education and a welcoming environment toward people new to cycling and the city – especially to Muslim women who may come from backgrounds where cycling was not the norm. As a Muslim hijabi, they noticed that there was a gap in recreational sports for women. The group serves Toronto’s Taylor Creek area, which has a high proportion of newcomers.

The Danish government plans a new law that would make it illegal to burn copies of the Qur’an in public places. The move follows widespread anger in Muslim countries after a series of desecrations of Islam’s holy book in Denmark and Sweden.

The government will propose legislation that prohibits the inappropriate handling of objects with essential religious significance for a religious community, Justice Minister, Peter Hummelgaard, said recently The proposal will thus make it punishable to, for example, in public burn a Qur’an, Bible, or Torah, he said.

The government rejected protests by some Danish opposition parties that banning Qur’an-burning would infringe on free-speech. “I fundamentally believe there are more civilized ways to express one’s views that burning things,”Hummelgaard said.