Guardian of children's rights

Dubai A community can be called safe and developed only when even the weakest person in that community enjoys social, civil and economic rights on a par with the most powerful one. Human beings in any society must be respected and valued. In the UAE, they did not create human rights... human rights created the UAE.

That is the powerful message that was brought home in 2007 by Law No. 9 issued by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to establish the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation in Dubai (AMAF) for the well-being of minors in the Emirates.

"A decree to establish the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation in Dubai was issued in the year 2004 by late Shaikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and with the expansion of the Foundation affairs, Shaikh Mohammad issued Law No. 9 of 2007 for organising the affairs of the Foundation," said Tayeb Abdul Rahman Al Rais, secretary general of AMAF.

In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Al Rais said AMAF champions the cause of minors, providing them with social care, investing their funds for them and thus empowering them.

However Al Rais said: "We are not a charity organisation. We do not give charity to people or donate. AMAF is a service organisation that provides financial and social support to the minors in the UAE," he said.

There are 3,000 orphans under the age of 21 in Dubai currently and AMAF looks into their care and well-being, he said. "We also provide care for handicapped people who suffer mental or physical problems," he said. Care and investment

"When Shaikh Mohammad set up this foundation to handle the fund of Awqaf and minors, it was to invest and set up funds for them. Today, a bank [trust] invests money for Awqaf."

Al Rais stressed that the AMAF is a separate organisation from Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. It is a government department in charge of the well-being of minors in the Emirates and it manages and invests their money through an Islamic perspective with full Sharia compliance. The AMAF is also responsible for the legal supervision of the Awqaf, its care and investment.

The foundation, Al Rais said, takes care of five categories of minors including minors who are well off as well as the very poor. The assets which the foundation invests in come from national banks, from Awqaf, from minor's Zakat and also from inheritance, said Al Rais. "We take care of the orphans from the day they are born till they are 21. In the past five years, we received Dh14 million as Zakat for orphans which went to charity work and social funding," he said.

Islamic nature

Al Rais says: "We are responsible for getting the money and then giving it back to society. We invest for them but in very low-risk options. We mainly work in real-estate, banks, and other investment areas but everything is Islamic in its nature." According to Al Rais, "Awqaf is getting bigger. But I'm looking for more big services.

"The reason for this foundation is that a lot of people still keep their endowment in their family. They run it themselves instead of coming to us." This type of family endowment, he says, helps only the benefactor's children or other relatives rather than the wider community.

"At present," said Al Rais, "many endowments are used to build and maintain mosques. But I think Awqaf and Islam are not only about that. We need to encourage donors to support other causes.

"It is our responsibility to educate the community to seek goodwill from more than just building a mosque," he added. "The community needs hospitals, schools, funds to be spent on sick kids, like for a four-month-old boy who if he doesn't get eye surgery will be blind for the rest of his life. This is what the community needs," he stressed.

Al Rais added: "The foundation operates five Awqaf accounts; mosques, health, education, social and general, but 80 per cent of contributions go into the mosques fund." The same trend, he added, is seen globally.

Even though the UAE is today a very wealthy country, Al Rais said there is still a need for Awqaf. "Awqaf was created with the birth of Islam; it has always been there to support the community. Yes, the government is rich, but because of that inflation goes up, living expenses go up, and then you have a band of people who need support. They are our responsibility as we live in an Islamic community."

On the issue of the guardianship of the foundation for minors, Al Rais said it will "stop when minors turn 21 with legal capacity to further the help only if the courts order the guardianship of AMAF to continue upon the request of the foundation or the concerned bodies." The guardianship also ceases in the event of the death of the minor or due to the return of the legal guardianship of the father.

The AMAF, Al Rais said, is considered one of the Arabian and Islamic foundations, and worldwide, it aims to attract the attention of UN institutions to Islamic Endowment as a developmental financial source crucial to social enterprises in the Arab and Islamic world.

Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation

Amaf is aimed at developing culture through enhancing the concept of social solidarity leading to the unity of all society individuals and creating an environment of mercy and friendliness.

It provides care, safeguards endowments and investments of its funds to set up successful economic projects under Sharia.

To supervise the funds of the minors and alike from the disqualified persons as per an order issued by the competent courts.

To provide advice and consultation for the endowments supervisors.

To encourage charitable work and to encourage people to donate. Investing and developing the endowment funds.

To purchase the existing companies or engage shares therein for the purpose of exercising all commercial, services or agricultural and industrial activities.


(2012-04-07/gulfnews)