The Qatari Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs (AWQAFM) is a Qatari government agency also known as the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs and the Qatar Awqaf Authority. AWQAFM was created in April 2022 with the stated aim of "ensuring that all areas of modern life comply with the principles of Islam." [1]
The current Minister is Ghanem bin Shaheen bin Ghanem Al Ghanim. [2]
The Ministry's mission includes collecting donations, increasing awareness and practice of Islam amongst Muslims and non-Muslims, supporting Islamic clergy, and building and maintaining mosques. [3] "Its vision is to build a contemporary Islamic society along with fostering the Sharee'ah and cultural heritage". [4]
Many of the Ministry's missions are carried out through the Qatar Islamic Cultural Center. The center is also known as Abdulla Bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Islamic Cultural Center (formerly known as Fanar, which translates to "lighthouse"). The name was chosen in reference to the center's missions to "act as a guiding light to mankind". [5]
Abdulla Bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Islamic Cultural Center's Education Center offers courses in Arabic as a foreign language, Shariah Law, and Islamic arts and calligraphy. It also delivers Introduction to Islam classes in a number of different languages, including Filipino, Sri Lankan, Nepali and English. [6]
The center also publishes the Muslim lifestyle magazine Baseera, distributes free Islamic books in multiple languages, and live-streams English-language sermons online every Friday.
Islamweb [7] enables AWQAFM to broadcast web-based information with articles, Quran recitations, Q&A information, fatwas, lectures and fiqh [4]
The Ministry has invested heavily in the construction of the cultural center and a large number of mosques, but also holds shares in various Qatari corporations including Al Jazeera Finance, [8] a Sharia-compliant financial institution established in 1989.
Former minister Mohammad Abd al-Latif al-Mana was dismissed from the cabinet in 2005 following allegations that he had been involved in the illegal trading of Qatar Natural Gas Transport Company shares.[ citation needed ] Mohammad Abd al-Latif al-Mana was also a co-founder of Retaj Marketing and Project Management [9] in which the Ministry still owns a 20% stake. [10]
The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs has solicited the radical Sa'ad Ateeq al-Ateeq on several occasions. [11] On Ramadan in 2010 the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs invited al-Ateeq to give sermons. [12] In May 2011 the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs (Qatar) invited Sa'ad Ateeq al-Ateeq to give sermons. [13] One of his sermons is listed on the media section of the website of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs (Qatar). [14] In February 2014 the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs tweeted that the Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mosque was hosting another sermon by al-Ateeq. [15] Sa'ad Ateeq al-Ateeq has called for the destruction of Shias, Christians, Nusayris (Alawites), and Jews and called for Muslims and Islam to be exalted in Qatar's Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mosque in January 2015. [16] [17] This was advertised on the website of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs [18] and on the official Twitter account of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. [19]
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Sulaymān al-Tamīmī was a Sunni Muslim scholar, theologian, preacher, activist, religious leader, jurist, and reformer from Najd in central Arabia, considered as the eponymous founder of the so-called Wahhabi movement. His prominent students included his sons Ḥusayn, Abdullāh, ʿAlī, and Ibrāhīm, his grandson ʿAbdur-Raḥman ibn Ḥasan, his son-in-law ʿAbdul-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd, Ḥamād ibn Nāṣir ibn Muʿammar, and Ḥusayn āl-Ghannām.
Foreign relations of Qatar is conducted through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Arab states were among the first to recognize Qatar, and the country gained admittance to the United Nations and the Arab League after achieving independence in 1971. The country was an early member of OPEC and a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Diplomatic missions to Qatar are based in its capital, Doha.
Maghrebiscript or Maghribi script refers to a loosely related family of Arabic scripts that developed in the Maghreb, al-Andalus (Iberia), and Bilad as-Sudan. Maghrebi script is directly derived from the Kufic script, and is traditionally written with a pointed tip, producing a line of even thickness.
Abdulla Bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Islamic Cultural Center is a cultural organization in Doha, the capital of Qatar. It is located close to Doha Corniche and is a prominent landmark in the city.
Qatar is a Muslim-majority country with Islam as the state religion. Salafi version of Islam is the state sponsored brand of Sunni Islam in the country, making Qatar one of the two Salafi states in the Muslim world, along with Saudi Arabia.
The Ministry of Awqaf of Egypt is one of ministries in the Egyptian government and is in charge of religious endowments. Religious endowments, awqaf, are similar to common law trusts where the trustee is the mosque or individual in charge of the waqf and the beneficiary is usually the community as a whole. Examples of waqfs are of a plot of land, a market, a hospital, or any other building that would aid the community.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the ministry responsible for handling Qatar's external relations as well as its diplomatic efforts, including the maintenance of its diplomatic missions across the globe. The current minister is Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Saʻad al-Ghāmidī is a Qāriʾ and a former imam of the great holy mosque Masjid an-Nabawi. Shaykh Sa'ad Al-Ghamdi has served as imam to Muslim communities across the globe.
The Great Mosque of Salé, also known as the Masjid al-Tal'a, is a mosque in Salé, Morocco. Covering an area of 5,070 m2 (54,600 sq ft), it is the third-largest mosque in Morocco, and was originally built between 1028 and 1029. It has been destroyed and rebuilt several times since the original construction. It was built in Almoravid and Almohad architectural styles, and the mosque features nine gates. It was severely damaged in the Bombardment of Salé of 1851, and was briefly closed during the French protectorate in Morocco.
Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mosque is the national mosque of Qatar. It is named after Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a Sunni Muslim preacher, scholar, and theologian from the Najd region in central Arabia, founder of the Islamic revivalist and reformist movement known as Wahhabism.
Retaj Hotels & Hospitality is a Qatari real estate and hospitality company with a total of 10 hotels operating in Qatar, Turkey, Comoros, and Saudi Arabia.
Sa'ad bin Ateeq bin Misfer Al Ateeq, is an Islamic preacher, religious scholar, thinker and university professor from Saudi Arabia. He is considered controversial by some for the topic of the religious sermons he has delivered and his connections to governments of Arab states of the Persian Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, particularly the Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mosque. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, The Daily Beast, and Foreign Policy magazine have run articles about Al-Ateeq, expressing concerns about his alleged fanaticism and fundamentalist hard-line views. Foreign Policy has even compiled extensive documentation of his government-sponsored activities.
Kuwait Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs is a cabinet department of the executive branch of the government of Kuwait dedicated to spreading tolerant Islamic culture. Specifically, it seeks to spread awareness and expand the influence of Islamic faith, Islamic history, and Islamic sciences.
The Sunni Endowment Office is an Iraqi administration created by the Iraqi Governing Council after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. It was created from the dissolution of the Ministry of Awqaf and religious Affairs in former Baath rule, separating from it the religious endowments of Shi'ites and non-Islamic religions.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Qatar on 27 February 2020.
Ghaith bin Moubarak Al-Kuwari is a Qatari Muslim Scholar And Minister of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs in Qatar.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments (GAIAE) or (Awqaf) is a federal agency of the government of the United Arab Emirates.
The Ministry of Endowments or Ministry of Awqaf is a department of the Government of Syria.
Da'wat al-Ḥaqq is a monthly Islamic cultural magazine published by the Moroccan Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs. It was first published in 1957, under King Muhammad V the year after independence.
Ali Bin Ghanem Al-Hajri is a Qatari sinologist, writer, historian, and diplomat, who has held several positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar. He is currently the Ambassador of Qatar to Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe