Business & Money | Saturday 28 May, 2016 5:14 pm |

In line with its efforts to raise awareness about endowments and their crucial role in achieving social stability, Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF) in collaboration with the Kalemah Center in Dubai organized the first meeting for foreign Muslims under the theme ‘Leave Your Legacy’. 

 

The aim of this meeting was to introduce foreign Muslim businessmen and affluent residents in the UAE to the concept of endowments and also to highlight AMAF’s initiatives and projects in this important domain in order to encourage them to contribute to these initiatives. The meeting was also intended to help AMAF increase and develop endowment assets under its care in order to ensure a sustained flow of financial resources from these assets to meet the Foundation’s needs in supporting its orphans and minors.

 

Held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, on Saturday, May 28, the session drew the presence of His Excellency Tayeb Al-Rais, Secretary General of Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation, Dr Sajid Omar, Professor at Knowledge International University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Abdelouaheb Soufane Director of Salma Humanitarian Relief Programme, as well as 150 foreign Muslims including businessmen, traders, and proprietors of small and medium enterprises.

 

 

Addressing the foreign Muslims, His Excellency Tayeb Al-Rais, Secretary General of Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation, said: "I am pleased and privileged to address you all today. You have been blessed by Allah and accepted into his fold as true Muslims. I pray to Almighty Allah to make it easy for you to follow the path of righteousness. May he guide you in your philanthropic and charitable efforts for the benefit of the Muslim Ummah and the world at large. I also pray that you gain the opportunity to spread the message of love and charity in all corners of the world as ambassadors of Islam and convey the UAE’s humanitarian beliefs.”

Explaining the significance of the Islamic economic system, Al-Rais said: "There are many endowments in the world today that have contributed to the improvement of people's lives through educating generations, treating patients, caring for orphans and supporting the needy in the event of disasters and crises. There is a strong and well-entrenched relationship in the Islamic economic system, between endowments and sustainable economic and human development. Endowments are a kind of financial assistance offered in Islamic societies to transfer the wealth of the rich through commercially sustainable methods in order to benefit the underprivileged sections of society.”

Al-Rais stressed that the launch of more endowment projects invariably creates more job opportunities, reduces unemployment and ensures the presence of more upwardly mobile youth that can aspire to a better life and enhance a nation’s productivity. He added that endowments serve as direct mutual assistance for members of the society, and support governments through easing up the pressure on development projects - especially in the areas of health, education and the care of orphans.

 

For his part, Abdelouaheb Soufane presented an explanation about salma Humanitarian Relief program that was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2014. The program, is providing urgent halal food relief to those affected by conflicts and natural disasters around the world.

 

Soufane highlighted prominent achievements of salma Humanitarian Relief program during the last three years. He pointed out that the program was able to distribute 200,000 ready-to-eat meals that do not require cooking or refrigerating to victims in Gaza, and 7,000 meals to flood victims in the Philippines, 70 thousand meals to Yemen, and 40 thousand meal in Africa, in addition to 50 tons of meat distributed to Syrian refugees in Jordan.

 

 

For his part, Dr Sajid Omar said: I think this particular event is very important because it's dedicated toward educating the public about the endowments. I think many of the attendees have no knowledge about different endowments and sectors, many of them were thinking the endowment is building a mosque. No doubt the development of anything great begins with education and sessions such as this one is very important and should be supported.

 

At the end of the session, His Excellency Tayeb Al-Rais, honored the organizations and individuals that had contributed to the success of the first meeting of its kind between the Foundation and foreign Muslims. He noted that AMAF would organize more such initiatives in the future with other segments of society, in order to continue the journey of charity work. He thanked the large-hearted and generous people across the UAE from various nationalities for their support to AMAF’s charity endeavors.

 

Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation works to manage and develop endowment funds through investing them efficiently and leveraging investment proceeds according to a carefully prepared plan. AMAF cares for minors and handles their money through making sound investments on their behalf. The Foundation provides them with social care, rehabilitation and empowerment. To achieve its goals, AMAF runs several projects - most notably its Family Village - a fully dedicated community orphanage and the first of its kind in the region, as well as the salma Humanitarian Relief program - that aims to provide a million Halal meals to disaster victims around the world.