Imagine you are a teenager who loves football. It is Ramadan and playing during the day while you fast is tough. So you join the Midnight Ramadan League, a community initiative, which organises matches after iftar, when the day's fast has ended and before the next early morning meal of suhoor. But playing football after ending a fast and late at night is a struggle because of the fatigue.
Qaiser's younger sister Aaminah kicks a ball at him because he’s dozed off before iftar. “Stop being lazy,” she scolds him. After the family ends their fast together, Qaiser heads off to the league at night. He’s exhausted when he plays, and gets knocked over by a tackle. Hamza Choudhury, a Fifa ambassador and midfielder from Leicester City appears, gives him a hand and says: “If I can do this, so can you”.
A screengrab of FIFA 21's Inspiring the Next Generation of Footballers: Midnight Ramadan League. EA Sports FIFA / Youtube
I will be honest. I am no football fan. But I don't need to be one to appreciate the ad's depiction of a person's motivation and his struggle to resolve competing tensions in life. The sense of being part of something bigger, and the feeling of being given a hand in that endeavour – or being the one to lend a hand – are worthy sentiments. The experience of trying to navigate life while holding on to your goals is universally refreshing.
In fact, the director Bassam Tariq commented: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever direct such an unapologetically Muslim commercial with my fellow sisters and brothers in faith.”
Unfortunately, as studies show, too often in popular culture in non-Muslim majority countries, Muslims are not typically depicted as being equal to everyone else: people with aspirations, goals and struggles – just like everyone else. Troublingly, Motivations of the Muslim community, espeically in some cultures, are too often seen as suspect.
A study published in the UK in 2019 by the Muslim Council of Britain found that media reports on Muslims contribute to a rise in Islamophobia. The "negative and misleading" coverage of the Muslim community is not new.
More than 100,000 news articles and broadcasts in the UK in 2018 were analysed and "serious problems" were identified in the way Islam and Muslims are written about. In some print media, the study found 59 per cent of articles associated Muslims with negative behaviour, while more than a third misrepresented or made generalisations.
Nadiya Hussain, a national treasure in the UK, 2015 winner of The Great British Bake Off. Getty Images
Citing statistics to keep underscoring the constant negativity surrounding Muslims is tiring. But no matter how many statistics you quote, these facts rarely change some minds or perceptions.
Being treated equally as a consumer or audience is not a given
That is why personal, humanising stories that portray Muslims being, again, just like everyone else – and this should hardly be a surprise – are so important. And it is also why it warms the heart when Muslims are easily and without a fuss established into a general mainstream narrative.
Take for example, the actor Riz Ahmed being nominated for an Oscar. Or Nadiya Hussain winning the TV show TheGreat British Bake Off and becoming a national treasure in the UK. There are many such heartening examples and it is always nice to see more.
Riz Ahmed was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in "Sound of Metal". AFP
Honest, normal portrayals of Muslims in popular culture and in the mainstream are a relief. They are not yet the norm but such portrayals are a reminder of an obvious but often forgotten fact: that it is just fine to be who you are, without explanations, justifications or caveats.
So when you see an ad like this one, is a joy as well as a shock to the system – to watch TV without being on edge that a portrayal of who you represent could undermine your humanity. It means being able to relax and be your full self.
The aim of the ad was to raise representation of British Asians in professional football. In 2020, only 0.25 per cent of the UK’s professional footballers were British Asians, compared with 7 per cent of the population and 9.7 per cent of recreational footballers. About two thirds of UK Muslims are of Asian heritage.
I love the ad also because the narrative is so natural, normal and celebratory. It does not explain or announce itself as an ad about being Muslim or Asian.
Anyone who watches it can tell that the ad also harbours a feeling of inclusivity. Any young Muslim football player – or any Muslim viewer, for that matter – comes away feeling as important and significant as anybody else – any other footballer, viewer, shopper or consumer.
When a brand or an organisation or a business really sees you, regardless of faith and belief, with no discrimination or preconceived notions, it fosters well-being, as it would have for the thousands of viewers of this ad.
Being treated equally as a consumer or audience is not a given. In our culture it is significant and noteworthy. And during Ramadan it feels particularly special.
Shelina Janmohamed is an author and a culture columnist for The National
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
FINAL SCORES
Fujairah 130 for 8 in 20 overs
(Sandy Sandeep 29, Hamdan Tahir 26 no, Umair Ali 2-15)
Sharjah 131 for 8 in 19.3 overs
(Kashif Daud 51, Umair Ali 20, Rohan Mustafa 2-17, Sabir Rao 2-26)
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
