DUBAI // A leading Pakistani religious scholar believes his home country should follow the UAE’s example and oversee what is preached in mosques.
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, 63, a prominent Muslim theologian, was in Dubai recently to record a television debate show.
He said that in Pakistan mosques are run privately and anyone can give a sermon without permission from authorities. “This has eventually become the source of promoting extremism and hatred,” he said.
In the UAE, sermons are standardised by Awqaf, the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments.
Mr Ghamidi used to run Al Mawrid Islamic research institution in Pakistan. Its moderate teachings and his opposition to extremism led to conflict with the Taliban. Mr Ghamidi was forced to flee the country.
In 2010, he moved to Malaysia with his family after police foiled a plot to bomb his home and school in Lahore. Members of his team were attacked and murdered by the Taliban.
He now continues Al Mawrid through its website, as well as branches in Australia, the US and India.
Mr Ghamidi said education is the best way to curb the rise of extremist organisations.
“We have to invest and focus on education. It is the only way to safeguard the minds of our generation from extremism. There is no other way out,” he said.
Mr Ghamidi opposes the way madrasas – religious seminaries – operate in Pakistan.
“It is improper to admit a child as young as five to learn religion. Every child should complete 12 years of broad-based education before deciding whether he wants to pursue religious studies or not.”
He said that the role of Islamic scholars is to make religion clear to Muslims and the world at large.
“In Pakistan, the problem arises when scholars leave their main responsibilities and get involved in those activities which should not be their business,” he said.
Mr Ghamidi said that tragedies like the recent terror attack on a school in Peshawar are unforgivable.
“Similarly, attacks on churches and other public places where innocents are killed are equally gruesome and no Islamic leader and scholar can support such crimes by any means,” he said.
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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.
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“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.”
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1. |
United States |
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2. |
China |
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3. |
UAE |
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4. |
Japan |
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5 |
Norway |
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6. |
Canada |
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7. |
Singapore |
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8. |
Australia |
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9. |
Saudi Arabia |
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10. |
South Korea |
