Ramadan lecture series in Dubai featuring renowned sheikhs open to public

An Australian doctor named on ISIL’s “kill list” in 2016 will be among the guest speakers at a series of lectures held in Dubai throughout Ramadan.

Sheikh Tawfique Chowdhury founded the Islamic development organisation Mercy Mission and attracted the ire of ISIL in 2016 after giving a speech to British anti-terrorism experts about working with the West to dismantle terrorist ideologies using the Quran.

He will be addressing the Rashid bin Mohammed Ramadan Gathering alongside Ahmed Hamed.

Among the other prominent speakers will be Dr Zair Naik, an Indian Islamic preacher who founded and is the president of the Islamic Research Foundation. Dr Naik also founded the Peace TV channel with a reported reach of 200 million viewers. He will speak about Media and Islam and be available for a question and answer session the following day.

Ismail ibn Musa Menk, who is also known as Mufti Menk and is the Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe, will kick off the first of the talks.

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Read more on Ramadan 2018:

Ramadan FAQs: all you need to know about the holy month in the UAE

UAE announces first day of Ramadan 2018

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In its third year, the Rashid bin Mohammed Ramadan Gathering is open to the public and hosts lectures in a variety of languages, including Urdu, Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali in addition to English.

Lectures - beginning at 10.30pm at the Rashid Bin Mohammed Ramadan Gathering tent in Al Khawaneej 1 - will cover topics such as happiness, the threat of extremism on communities, finding patience and "the celebrities of paradise".

The programmes are organised by Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department and held under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed, Chairman of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation.

The goal behind the Ramadan Gathering is to preserve Islamic values of tolerance and maintain the customs and traditions inherited among different segments of society in Dubai.

Besides the lectures, a traditional souq is also organised to promote the local culture and heritage.

For more information visit the Rashid bin Mohammed Ramadan Gathering website.

Match info:

Manchester City 2
Sterling (8'), Walker (52')

Newcastle United 1
Yedlin (30')

Closing the loophole on sugary drinks

As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.

The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.

Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.

Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category

Not taxed:

Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.