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BURAIDAH: A number of Islamic scholars and economic experts have underscored the need for an overhaul in the Kingdoms zakat system in a way that would make it more effective and help realize the actual spirit and purpose of zakat in Islam.

The scholars and experts say that the proper collection and distribution of zakat would alleviate poverty, adding that there is a need to upgrade the entire system of collecting and distributing zakat using modern technology, and a revamping of the Zakat Department, which they said should be independent and be given more powers.

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RIYADH – A number of female academics and engineers have called for female students to be allowed to enroll at King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran.

They have argued that there are no religious restrictions preventing females from studying at the university and that they will not mingle with males because they could have separate sections.

Dr. Hassa Aal Al-Sheikh, Dean of the Womens College at Al-Yamamah University in Riyadh, said females will benefit significantly from studying at KFUPM because it is one of the most important and prestigious universities regionally and internationally.

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JEDDAH – A Saudi female dentist has been given a financial grant to go to the United States to complete her potentially ground-breaking research into the use of stem cells to treat decaying teeth.

Dr. Mai Bint Abdul Rahman Al-Habib is being sent by the Dentistry College at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah for postgraduate studies at Boston Medicine School.

The aid is also the highest money ever given to a doctorate student in the history of the American Doctors Association. Al-Habib works as a lecturer at KAU.

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RIYADH – A total of SR20 million in sales is expected from the Riyadh International Book Fair, according to observers.

The observers expect the value of book purchases to exceed SR3 million in the first few days. They estimate that at the end of the book fair this total will exceed SR20 million. They also expect more than 900,000 visitors over the 10 days of the event.

The average purchase of books per individual ranged between SR200 and SR300. There was a high demand for religious, literary and history books. Science books attracted fewer people.

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JEDDAH: The second phase of a yearlong campaign to get rid of men who work as sales clerks in lingerie shops has commenced with activists calling for a two-week boycott of such shops starting on Saturday.

The move comes four years after the Labor Ministry had announced an initiative to employ women in these shops. Since the announcement was made in 2005, nothing has been done, boycott organizers have said. For their part, lingerie shop owners have viewed the ministry’s decision as optional and the ministry has denied the initiative was canceled or postponed.

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LONDON: Kenya is fast developing as the Islamic finance hub of East Africa. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has already licensed two Islamic banks – Gulf African Bank (GAB) and First Community Bank (FCB) – under CAP 488 of the Banking Act of Kenya.

In terms of capital and deposits, FCB, whose CEO is the experienced Islamic banker, Nathif Adam, formerly with Qatar Islamic Bank and Sharjah Islamic Bank, is the largest Islamic bank in Kenya. With a capital of 1 billion Kenya shillings (KSh), FCB is ahead of many of the 44 Kenyan banks who are required by the CBK to have the new minimum capital of 1 billion shillings by 2011. Since starting operations in June 2008, FCB has surpassed the targets in its business plan for the year ending December 2009, in some cases by 50 percent.

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Sheikh Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz Bin Baz is the son of the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baz, one of the most notable muftis in the Kingdoms history.

Sheikh Ahmad has been accused of many things since airing his views on a wide range of topics in articles in the Saudi press over the past eight years, with his detractors labeling him a “lackey of the liberals” and a “fame seeker,” particularly for his opinions on thorny topics made public in newspaper articles over the last few years.

In a lengthy interview with the Al-Arabiya news network published on its website recently, Sheikh Ahmad spoke candidly on subjects ranging from his fathers fatwas, women driving, the role of religious authorities in the Kingdom, and the nature of the relation of the Islamic state to the rest of the world.PAINTED by some as riding on the coattails of his fathers reputation, Sheikh Ahmad told Al-Arabiya he was fully confident of his own credentials as an Islamic scholar. “I am honored to have studied under my father Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baz and learn from him and his approach in the call to Islam, and in practical and academic work, for over 20 years. He had a huge influence on me. I also studied at the Shariah College at the Imam Mohammed Bin Saud Islamic University where I earned my degree and then a Masters in Islamic Jurisprudence. I was also a lecturer at the university for over 10 years. Theres no doubt that the sheikh being my father conferred on me great responsibility, and at times left me unable to say what I wanted,” Sheikh Ahmad said.

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Literary chairman backtracks, claims he did not file police complaint

BAHA – The Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution summoned Wednesday the moderator of a literary debate to testify over complaints of an alleged call for the “live broadcast” of a woman’s lecture to an audience of men at a Baha Literary Club event.
Ahmad Hamid Al-Mass’ad, the chairman of the club, has accused a club member, Dr. Ali Muhammad Al-Rubai, of trying to get organizers to have a woman’s lecture broadcast live to the men’s side of the Al-Khansa Hall.
Al-Rubai has been defended by the woman lecturer, her husband and other male members of the club.
In a dramatic new development, Al-Mass’ad now appears to have backtracked, and claims he never laid a complaint with the police against Al-Rubai.
Abdulrahman Al-Sabi, the moderator and head of public relations at the club, has stood up against his boss, Al-Mass’ad, saying that Al-Rubai had asked for image effects to accompany the sound, without necessarily having the woman’s face or the female audience on the screen.
Al-Sabi will answer questions from the Bureau of Prosecution and Investigation on the matter.
The saga began Tuesday when Al-Mass’ad lodged a complaint with the police calling on them to take Al-Rubai “under their wing” until he gives up his alleged “Satanic” views which reveal him as an “enemy of the religion.”
He also asked the police to prevent Al-Rubai from entering the club or to speak on any of its platforms, in order to protect the public from his “diabolic thoughts”.
Al-Muss’ad now denies filing an official complaint against Al-Rubai with the authorities, blaming the media for inaccurate reporting.
But Al-Rubai has insisted that Al-Muss’ad had filed a complaint with the police against him.
The chairman of the club wrote his complaint on a sheet of paper with the club’s letterhead, seeking legal action, Al-Rubai said.
“This is a clear contradiction in his position on the case.”
Al-Rubai said that he would take the case to the Ministry of Culture and Information as it is the government body responsible for managing literary clubs.
Al-Rubai said that he had the support of the woman lecturer, her husband, and other club members.
The lecturer, Mona Al-Mattar, said: “I didn’t hear of any requests demanding the transmission of the women’s pictures from within the Al-Khansa Hall.”
She said that Al-Rubai’s comments should be taken in the context of a discussion she had two weeks earlier with the club’s media coordinator Arij Han’ash, where she had suggested that an audio-visual show be held at the meeting, on the men’s side, while her lecture took place.
Al-Rubai said earlier that the lecturer’s husband, who was present at the hall, came to the police station and cleared him of the allegations made against him by the club’s chairman.
The lecturer’s husband is Dr. Ali Al-Shehri, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Baha University. – Okaz/SG

RIYADH: The business of optics has always been a mans world, and even if a woman owns an optics shop the management is always conducted by men.

Noha Al-Shwaier decided to enter this world full force, relying on her educational background as one of the first optometrists in the Kingdom and a lecturer at King Saud University.

Al-Shwaier not only owns Luminoptics, but also has become the executive manager, handling customers herself as an optician regardless of their gender.

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BAHA – Two leading members of the Baha Literary Club are involved in a legal row over broadcasting a womans lecture, with one accusing the other of trying to see the “beauty” of the women, sitting in a separate hall, on closed circuit television.

Ahmad Hamid Al-Massad, Chairman of the Baha Literary Club, has accused a club member, Dr. Ali Muhammad Al-Rubai, of trying to get organizers to have a womans lecture broadcast live, with pictures, to the mens side of the Al-Khansa Hall. He has registered a complaint with the police in this regard.

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