A mobile phone application associated with the Muslim Brotherhood has yet to be removed from the Apple Store and Google Play, 18 months after its launch. To the contrary, the app espousing extremist view points has exploited the rising use of online tools to spread hate in Muslim households across Europe.
Euro Fatwa has consistently ranked among the top 100 most downloaded apps in many European countries. In Finland, it is ranked 34th, and 45th in Ireland.
The application was created by the European Council for Fatwa and Research, a private foundation in Dublin headed by Yusuf Al Qaradawi, the Doha-based spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al Qaradawi has been banned from Britain, France and the US for his extremist views, which include condoning suicide bombings. He has also been sentenced to life in prison in his native Egypt. The Brotherhood is officially designated a terrorist group in a number of Arab countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.
At the time of its launch, the Euro Fatwa app contained an introduction by Al Qaradawi, in which he made anti-Semitic remarks, prompting Google to take it down. It has since been restored, after the introduction was taken out.
The core ideology of Euro Fatwa, however, has not changed. The application is meant to help users “fulfill their duties as Muslim citizens while taking care of the legal, customary and cultural specificities of European societies”, according to its description on Google Play. In reality, it is a tool of extremism that incites users to detach from their wider European societies.
In one statement, the app said European laws do not have to be obeyed if they contradict Islam. It has also instructed followers in the British Army to disobey orders and refrain from swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen. Other digital tools, such as Zoom and Telegram, are being used by extremists to spread their ideology.
No one should be allowed to spread hate and sow division — especially not under the guise of religion. Not only do the Muslim Brotherhood and other extremists mislead Muslims who seek religious guidance, they also taint the image of Islam by associating it with violence and racism.
Another area of concern is that these organisations often serve foreign agendas. Al Qadrawi, for instance, has been living in Qatar for decades. He routinely spreads hateful rhetoric from his Doha home, broadening Qatar’s reach in Europe and beyond.
No one should be allowed to spread hate and sow division — especially not under the guise of religion
Doha has also financed a wide array of dubious charities across Europe, often linked to or inspired by the brotherhood. These findings are presented in extraordinary detail in the book Qatar Papers: How Doha Finances the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. The authors, two French journalists, found that Doha funnelled more than $80 million to various projects in seven European countries to support the brotherhood’s ideology.
The Muslim Brotherhood has also taken root in Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey, a country that was once considered a pluralistic haven in the Middle East.
The concerns around this app are part of a wider problem of too many tech companies refusing to take action against extremist groups abusing their platforms. Google and Apple have a duty to take down Euro Fatwa, and European leaders must ensure that companies who fail to curb the spread of extremism are held to account.
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
What is the Supreme Petroleum Council?
The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.
