ABU DHABI // A Muslim Council of Elders had been formed in a bid to find a solution to the violent problems plaguing Muslim countries around the world.
Egyptian Grand Imam, Sheikh Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb, Sheikh of Al Azhar, said that “it was necessary that we stood up and say we have to take responsibility as Muslim scholars to face this wave of extremism and fundamentalism”.
“We are witnessing these extremists groups, this fundamentalism where some people pretend to be Muslim and are spreading chaos and terrorism using weapons and killing other and contributing to the bloodshed of innocents,” Dr Al Tayeb said.
Made up of one Emirati woman and 13 men – including another Emirati – the members of the newly former council come from the Mena region and the United States.
The establishment of the group followed recommendations that came out of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, which was held in Dubai in March.
“This Ummah, the Islamic Ummah, we wanted to have peace between its people, between its societies, but unfortunately this is not the case nowadays,” said Dr Al Tayeb.
“We have to ask the questions: how this is turning upside down? Why we are witnessing nowadays these bad situations after almost 1,500 years?”
Dr Al Tayeb said: “In the United Arab Emirates, we thank its leaders for taking the initiatives to launch the Muslim Council of Elders because we are all threatened by the dangers and threats of these groups.”
Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, a Muslim scholar from Mauritius, and chairman of the peace forum, said that “unfortunately, there is a kind of craziness and madness that is exercised in some Muslim countries”.
“There is chaos, people are terrorising each other in the name of Islam,” he said. “No wisdom, not rational thinking, and the result is bloodshed. Victims – and the murderer who doesn’t even know why he committed this murder.
“Given this reality, we called each other, scholars and elders – starting in the UAE – and the leaders of the UAE convened a meeting where we decided to prepare an initiative which generated later this Muslim Council of Elders.”
Dr Kaltham Al Majid, the Emirati woman member of the group, said because the council was in its infancy, it had not been determined how often they would meet or to whom they would advise.
She said they would spread the messages and campaigns on an “as-needed” basis.
The council would work with youth and community groups to spread the correct interpretation of the Quran, said Mr bin Bayyah. Misinterpretation and incorrect application of certain verses of the Quran by misinformed or misguided followers of Islam was fuelling much of the strife, he said.
“The first problem in the Islamic people is that they confuse and mix between the legitimate and illegitimate, he said.
“Here lies the problem, the people who do not differentiate between the two speeches of Islam, they are the most probable ones who can commit mistakes and get confused and mislead others.”
The council’s role would be to “set the right path” using scholarly interpretations of the Quran and spreading a moderate message, he said.
“We should work together, we are not talking here merely rhetoric,” said Sheikh Abdullah “We will work with the youth and we will address these people who are misled, who are mobilised in the wrong way. We will communicate with them. We will discuss what we believe in with them ... we want to stop the bloodshed in the Muslim countries and to establish new trends of reconciliation.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Why does a queen bee feast only on royal jelly?
Some facts about bees:
The queen bee eats only royal jelly, an extraordinary food created by worker bees so she lives much longer
The life cycle of a worker bee is from 40-60 days
A queen bee lives for 3-5 years
This allows her to lay millions of eggs and allows the continuity of the bee colony
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Honey is packed with vital vitamins, minerals, enzymes, water and anti-oxidants.
Apart from honey, five other products are royal jelly, the special food bees feed their queen
Pollen is their protein source, a super food that is nutritious, rich in amino acids
Beewax is used to construct the combs. Due to its anti-fungal, anti-bacterial elements, it is used in skin treatments
Propolis, a resin-like material produced by bees is used to make hives. It has natural antibiotic qualities so works to sterilize hive, protects from disease, keeps their home free from germs. Also used to treat sores, infection, warts
Bee venom is used by bees to protect themselves. Has anti-inflammatory properties, sometimes used to relieve conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, nerve and muscle pain
Honey, royal jelly, pollen have health enhancing qualities
The other three products are used for therapeutic purposes
Is beekeeping dangerous?
As long as you deal with bees gently, you will be safe, says Mohammed Al Najeh, who has worked with bees since he was a boy.
“The biggest mistake people make is they panic when they see a bee. They are small but smart creatures. If you move your hand quickly to hit the bees, this is an aggressive action and bees will defend themselves. They can sense the adrenalin in our body. But if we are calm, they are move away.”
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