TUNIS // Ahmed Benchemsi is a man on a secular mission.
"The most relevant, if not the only relevant debate in the Arab world is the debate between secularism and Islamism," declares the 38-year-old Moroccan journalist. "It is the one relevant societal line in the Arab world right now."
With his website launched last year, Free Arabs, Mr Benchemsi has set himself the task of using reportage, wit and photography drawn mostly from the Arab world to contribute forcefully to the secular side of this argument.
From a series of satirical videos skewering purportedly real fatwas, to a lively debate on nudist feminists Femen, the magazine-style site makes its point with verve and energy.
Mr Benchemsi sees himself as counterbalancing an Arab media that he thinks promotes a prominent role for Islam in politics and in people's lives. But analysts and consumers say that while Islamic media does have an audience, the Arab media is not starkly split between religious and secular, and that there is growing space for debate.
But Mr Benchemsi does not hold back on his view of Arab society - he does not restrict himself to a country or region - and Islam. "Islam is not the number one paradigm to explain Arab society - hypocrisy is," he said in a Skype interview from Stanford University in California, where he is a visiting scholar.
"In most Arab society, the way people live and the way they say they do are, most often, fundamentally different."
By restricting religion to individual acts of piety, he hopes to bring about a freer, happier, more reasonable society. "Millions of Arabs are trapped between the reality of their life, the appearances they are supposed to maintain, and the political system meant to enforce those appearances, which is split between plutocracy and theocracy," he said.
Mohammed Bin Najab, 21, a Tunisian computer science student, watches only religious and state channels on television because he says these fit best with his religious outlook. In Tunisia, much of the print media is secular-leaning, especially that written in French, and he sees it as untrustworthy, presenting a religion in a bad light.
His favourite channel, the one he considers most modern and professional, is Iqraa TV, a satellite channel based in Saudi Arabia and beamed to the Arab world and beyond since the 1990s. Its ethos is far from ascetic, with music and singing part of the programming.
The channels "give good information about religion and they answer so many questions in our life", Mr Bin Najab said. And, rather than the enforcement of an orthodoxy, what he enjoyed about the channels was the forum for discussion of interpretation of faith.
"In our religion, you should take information if it comes from the Prophet," said Mr Bin Najab, "but anything else you should discuss."
He cited a debate he had watched recently about women going out to work, with a number of women and religious experts with different points of view participating.
"It's interesting," he said. "And the viewer can send his opinion by SMS or email."
His favourite presenter is Mustafa Hosni, an Egyptian preacher in his early 30s who appears on Iqraa. "He speaks in the jargon of youth," said Mr Bin Najab. "And he has this way of presenting information with a smile on his face, he is not serious and strict."
In fact, Islamic television is not as dominant as Mr Benchemsi believes, said Yasmin Moll, an anthropologist at New York University whose research focuses on religious programming in Egypt.
And the channels that are popular, both Egyptian and pan-Arab, draw strongly on other entertainment media - television, film, music videos - for their appeal.
"There's an assumption that Islamic media producers only watch Islamic media, and that's not true at all," Ms Moll said. "Their goal is to make Islamic media as enjoyable to watch as the other channels: they go to cinemas, they listen to music, they watch television."
Some preachers - especially hardline Salafi ones - attract a devoted but small following on Islamic channels. But more famous televangelists such as Amr Khaled, who has an affable, widespread appeal, now often have their own shows on channels that have both religious and mainstream programmes, with viewers seeing no contradiction in watching a preacher and then a soap opera.
The tumult of the Arab uprisings of the past few years has intensified an increase in debate and discussion in the Arab world, said Bill Lawrence of the International Crisis Group think tank.
The new atmosphere of discussion happened, he said, in large part because of Islamic satellite channels and the internet. The Arabic traditions of "jadaliyya" or dialectic, has been revived by the debate style of the many of the religious shows, he added.
"By framing debate in this way of opposing views, hitherto taboo subjects can be broached," he said, "because you can have a controversial viewpoint as long as you have the conventional one as well."
afordham@thenational.ae
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
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Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
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.”
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
