Mosques across the UAE have been preparing to receive worshippers for the first Friday prayers in nine months.
Short daily services resumed in July but mosques remained closed on Fridays, when large numbers of worshippers gather, owing to the pandemic.
Capacity has been capped at 30 per cent and worshippers are required to maintain a two-metre distance from each other, bring their own Quran and prayer mat and perform ablutions at home.
Imams said worshippers were excited to return. During Thursday evening prayers imams will remind the faithful to adhere to the rules for their own safety.
“People are very happy about being able to pray at the mosque again for Friday prayers. They have been waiting for almost nine months," said Dr Fares Al Mustafa, an imam at Al Farooq Omar bin Al Khattab Mosque and Centre in Dubai.
“We are encouraging everyone to be safe and follow the guidelines that have been issued by authorities. They should wear their masks and maintain social distancing.”
Dr Al Mustafa said he expected about 400 to 500 people at the mosque on Friday, about half the number that came before the closure in March.
Mohammedullah Moin, the imam of Ali Salem Al Kaabi Mosque in Abu Dhabi, urged all worshippers to be careful.
His mosque would normally have the capacity to host 250 people for Friday prayers.
"They are so happy and excited that they'll be praying at the mosque for Friday prayers after so long," said Mr Moin.
"We did get a message from Awqaf [the General Authority of Islamic Affairs] to announce the Friday prayer guidelines during today's maghrib [evening prayer] and isha [night prayer]."
The prayer will last 10 minutes, instead of 30 minutes. Children are not allowed inside mosques.
Mosques will not be allowed to distribute lunch boxes after the prayer.
The country has steadily reopened most public spaces in recent months.
Most churches and temples have also reopened and weddings are allowed in places of worship, hotels or private venues, although there are restrictions on the number of guests.
The mandatory use of masks in public remains, unless you are dining, at the beach or exercising.
Another 1,317 cases of Covid-19 were reported throughout the Emirates on Thursday, taking the number of infections to 172,751.
The cases were detected after another 132,380 tests were carried out.
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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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
