The Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Solo, in Central Java, Indonesia, is marking Ramadan with a series of activities benefiting more than 12,000 Muslims each day. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office
The Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Solo, in Central Java, Indonesia, is marking Ramadan with a series of activities benefiting more than 12,000 Muslims each day. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office
The Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Solo, in Central Java, Indonesia, is marking Ramadan with a series of activities benefiting more than 12,000 Muslims each day. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office
The Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Solo, in Central Java, Indonesia, is marking Ramadan with a series of activities benefiting more than 12,000 Muslims each day. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office

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UAE

Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Indonesia celebrates Ramadan with 10,000 iftar meals each day

Mosque in Solo, Indonesia, was established in 2022 as tribute to UAE Founding Father

The National

March 21, 2025

  • English
  • Arabic

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Indonesia is marking the holy month of Ramadan with a series of activities for more than 12,000 Muslims on a daily basis.

Among those activities are religious lectures, Islamic lessons, daily Quran recitations and the study of its hadiths, as well as the Psalms of the Quran competition for the best Quran recitation, said Abu Dhabi Media Office.

The mosque in Solo, in Central Java, is also holding a daily iftar serving up more than 10,000 meals in four large tents set up in the grounds and courtyard.

Emirati charitable and humanitarian institutions are helping to organise the iftar. Around 20 volunteers from the Solo community and local students oversee the Iftar distribution and other Ramadan activities and events at the mosque, added the media office.

“Worshippers at Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Central Java will have a blessed experience as they listen to the most beautiful recitations and chants from the UAE, leading Tarawih prayers and reviving the nights of the holy month,” said Dr Sultan Faisal Al Rumaithi, director general of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque Centre in Solo.

Solo's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, named in a tribute to the UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was inaugurated by President Sheikh Mohamed and Indonesia's then president Joko Widodo, in November 2022.

“The different activities organised by the Sheikh Zayed Mosque board of directors aim to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan meaningfully and to strengthen the ties between the Emirati and Indonesian peoples,” said Dr Al Rumaithi.

“It is a relationship based on enlightened awareness and its approach is co-operation in righteousness and piety in building nations and serving humanity.”

The mosque in Solo has become one of the region’s most prominent Islamic landmarks, fostering Islamic studies and culture while celebrating the strong fraternity between Indonesia and the UAE, he added.

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Islamophobia definition

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”.

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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Group C: Sporting Braga, Ludogorets, Hoffenheim, Istanbul Basaksehir.
Group D: AC Milan, Austria Vienna , Rijeka, AEK Athens.
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Group F: FC Copenhagen, Lokomotiv Moscow, Sheriff Tiraspol, FC Zlin.
Group G: Vitoria Plzen, Steaua Bucarest, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, FC Lugano.
Group H: Arsenal, BATE Borisov, Cologne, Red Star Belgrade.
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Manchester City 0

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