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.
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.”
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm) Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm) Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm) Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1 Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm) Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11 What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time. TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
