Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has met with the Director General of Zakat House Director Dr. Majid Sulaiman Al-Azimi to discuss upgrading the Maldives Zakat House.

The minister confirmed this via X (formerly Twitter), highligting that the two discussed about expanding the services of the Zakat House, including staff and Sharia Board training, and the legal requirements of Zakat recipients.

Earlier, the minister announced the administration’s plan to introduce a financial aid system to extend aid to orphans permanently. Dr. Shaheem said orphans will receive financial support annually until adulthood.

However, the minister did not specify how much the government intended to provide as financial support each year.

The current administration established the Maldives Zakat House with the objectives of increasing public awareness on the importance of paying Zakat, and foster love among the public towards the Islamic sacred act.

Under the Zakat Fund, government provided financial support to 52 individuals earlier in March 2024.

Statistics recently provided by the Zakat House showed the fund had been disbursed mainly in four areas, which are;

For Cancer Treatment – MVR 190,822.50
Brain Surgery – MVR 180,407.19
Heart Surgery – MVR 8,482.00
Transplants – MVR 25,443.00

Additionally, another MVR 227,872.50 was disbursed for various other areas.

Source(s): sun.mv

Negotiations over Israel’s upcoming offensive in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah and efforts to achieve a ceasefire deal with Hamas were “very good” between Israeli officials and a high-level Egyptian delegation, media and sources said Friday.

The negotiations were “very good, focused, held in good spirits and progressed in all parameters,” a senior Israeli official told Israeli media Ynet.

“In the background, there are very serious intentions from Israel to move ahead in Rafah,” and the Egyptians are willing to exert pressure on Hamas to achieve a deal, the official was quoted as saying.

According to the Israeli official, Israel made a warning that it would not agree to foot-dragging by Hamas on the hostage deal to delay the military operation in Rafah, and he also mentioned that Israel had deployed reserve soldiers to the Gaza Strip.

According to Channel 12, the official added that Israel is prepared to make more “significant compromises,” such as permitting the evacuation of Gazan civilians in northern Gaza and removing its troops from a crucial corridor that divides Gaza.

Meanwhile, Egypt reportedly sent a high-level delegation, led by senior intelligence official Abbas Kamel, to Israel on Friday with the hope of brokering a ceasefire agreement with Hamas in Gaza.

Considerable progress has been achieved in bringing the views of the Egyptian and Israeli delegations closer together regarding reaching a truce in Gaza, Egypt’s Al-Qahera News TV reported.

In addition, two high-ranking Egyptian security officials confirmed to Xinhua news agency that the talks discussed Egypt’s “rescue initiative,” which aims to prevent any more escalations in the Strip and avoid the invasion of Rafah.

On Thursday, Israeli media reported that the country is expected to “soon” begin evacuating civilians from Rafah ahead of a planned ground attack.

Earlier Thursday, Israel’s wartime cabinet and security cabinet convened to discuss a possible assault on Rafah, a city previously considered a “safe zone” from the relentless Israeli bombardments, where about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have found refuge.

Source(s): CGTN

The third session of the public forum of ministers, ‘Ahaa’, which translates to ‘Ask’, is slated for Monday night.

The President’s Office said the next session of “Ahaa’ forum, organized by the office in collaboration with state media, PSM, will be held at 8:30pm on Monday night.

This session will feature Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen, Home Minister Ali Ihusan, Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shiyam, Higher Education Minister Dr. Mariyam Mariya and Youth Ministry Ibrahim Waheed.

Members of the public can send the questions they wish to ask these ministers to 300 with the keyword ‘AH’.

The current administration launched and held the first session of ‘Ahaa’ forum on January 25th which featured Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Mohamed Saeed; Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed; Minister of Social and Family Development, Dr. Aishath Shiham; Minister of Sports, Fitness and Recreation, Abdulla Rafiu; and Minister of Construction and Infrastructure, Dr. Abdulla Muththalib.

The second session of the forum, held on February 23rd, featured President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

A direct portal was launched during the session to allow the public to send their questions and concerns to the President.

Source(s): sun.mv