Metadee, a newly launched London digital NFT marketplace, has recently released a unique NFT collectable: a historically significant, handwritten Quran manuscript.
Authenticated and certified by the University of Oxford’s research laboratory for archaeology and the history of art, the handwritten Quran is currently held by the custodian family and is safely kept in Geneva, Switzerland.
After having travelled through modern-day Syria, Madinah and Makkah over the centuries, the family has protected and preserved some of the volumes, never opening them as they were signed by Zayd ibn Thabit, the personally appointed scribe of the Prophet Mohammed himself.
Almost 1,500 years since the handwritten Quran was completed, Metadee is now releasing it as an NFT to the public. According to Metadee's founder and managing director, Deepali Shukla, the rare collectables market is expected to reach $700 billion by 2032.
“Rare collectables and religious artefacts add the missing market segment that the NFT market may have been deprived of,” Shukla tells The National.
“Tokenising rare collectables and sacred scriptures allow these artefacts to be more accessible than ever, and will further contribute to the spread of ancient knowledge among global youth.”
Metadee is tokenising volumes three, four and five from the handwritten manuscript and offering the NFTs at $1 million each.
Shukla, a collector and art enthusiast, believes NFTs are the future.
“The nature of NFT as blockchain-based cryptographic assets results in more security than our traditional transactions,” she says. “It helps to prevent piracy and provide equal opportunities to showcase and commercialise art creations.”
One of the main attractors around NFTs is the way in which such digital artworks give creators autonomy over their work. Since NFTs are stored on a digital blockchain, they use unchangeable distributed ledgers which anyone within the network can access. This empowers and protects both creators of NFTs and customers, allowing the authentication of genuine work while reducing issues around fraud.
“Unlike the original manuscripts of Quran that need to be heavily guarded and repeatedly validated, its NFT is easily stored on the blockchain and transferable between owner/owners,” Shukla says.
“The NFT can be accessed from anytime and anywhere across the globe. Meanwhile, with web3 and metaverse changing the way people think, act, and breathe, everything in the digital space is highly likely to gain value.
"In the near future, people will prefer studying, learning, reading and archiving things online, and hence the manuscript NFT will surely witness a steady increase in value amid the digital space.”
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
