Pope Francis will visit the city of Najaf during his historic three-day trip to Iraq.
Najaf is home to Shiite Islam's most prominent hawza – an institution of religious learning, and Iraq's marja'iyya, the most learned and respected Shiite clerics in the country.
The city is revered by Shiites as the burial place of Imam Ali, described as a martyr, saint and would-be successor to the Prophet Mohammed. For this reason, Najaf is home of a gold-plated shrine, which has 35-metre tall golden minarets.
Other prominent marja'iyya reside mainly in Qom, Iran – some observers characterise the two cities as rival centres of Shiite religious authority.
This is largely because Najaf’s Shiite leaders – such as Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani – are quietists who tend to avoid political statements, unlike their Iranian counterparts, who believe in religious rule.
Considered the most learned cleric in the Najaf hawza, Mr Al Sistani, the holiest figure for Shiite Iraqis and millions of Shiites around the world, is known as the "marja taqlid", or venerated object.
The pontiff will hold a private meeting with Mr Al Sistani, because the ayatollah seldom leaves his residence or makes public appearances, communicating with the public through a spokesman.
Pope Francis will meet Mr Al Sistani in his humble home, down a narrow alley in the ancient city, and while there may be photos of this trip, it is unlikely there will be more than one official image of the meeting.
Famous visitors to Najaf include Arabian explorer Ibn Battuta in the 14th century, who described the Imam Ali’s shrine as being “carpeted with various sorts of carpets of silk and other materials, and contains candelabra of gold and silver, large and small”.
So holy is the city for Shiites, millions have sought the distinction of being buried there.
Najaf has the world's largest cemetery, at the Wadi Al Salaam, or valley of peace.
As with much of Iraq, peace in Najaf has been far from assured in recent years.
After the US invasion of 2003, Iraq collapsed into chaos and the city was the focus of Al Qaeda-linked suicide bombers and Shiite militias fighting US forces.
Some of the attacks were near the shrine, including a car bomb in 2004 that killed more than 80 people.
Today, the area around the shrine is pedestrianised and visitors have to go through several checkpoints to enter, so Pope Francis can at least have peace of mind when he makes the journey to meet Mr Al Sistani.
Watch: Pope Francis and why his papacy is different
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
