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Muawiyah Among Us... Sharpen Your Swords!

The event is monumental. The character is alluring. It whets the appetite. Everyone can throw in their opinion about it; whether Shia, Sunni, Alawite, Christian, Druze, secular, or even an atheist, they can all express a viewpoint if they are not swayed by the temptation to engage in it. We are a society of sects and hatred, raised on fear of one another, so how can we distance ourselves from this grand incident? We will not let it pass quietly, or else our skins will itch. Do the merchants of religion have a more fertile ground than this to invest in? Where will drama producers find a controversial figure like the Umayyad caliph Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan to achieve their massive profits through him?
"The owner of the money is a coward." This truth has never been denied by history. The merchant knows how and where to invest; he understands the right moment to cast his nets to increase his wealth. He is also greedy. The merchant knows that Arab and Islamic peoples are always ready to die for their history. He realizes that we continue to sanctify our heritage, and that evoking it can easily spill our blood and sow discord among us whenever needed. He knows we are children of sects, not nations, and that religious and sectarian bias is ingrained in our genes. The merchant reads too—not to understand, but to profit. He invests in the stones of the graves of our predecessors because he knows they still control our present and shape our future. The merchant cares about history only enough to play within its gaps, of which there are many, to ensure guaranteed profits and ample resources.
Therefore, it only took a simple announcement of the name "Muawiya" as a television series for Ramadan. The episodes of the series may not exceed the holy month, but only God knows where its repercussions will stop. With the first marketing signal, the fever of excitement and partisanship exploded on social media, and “internet users” took their positions as if they were on the front lines of the Battle of Siffin; one side cries "Woe to me," while the other exclaims "Woe to Muawiya," as the clashing of loyalties, opinions, and pre-made thoughts resounds without us knowing when it will end or how.
Thus, it is a trade that has not seemed, and will not seem, to fade until the Day of Judgment in the market of these afflicted peoples. The cost is simple; it requires nothing more than shaking the course of history a little to stir the stagnation and provoke the already packaged emotions of the masses, ready at any moment to engage in a war that they have no stake in. However, being loyal children of history with hearts yearning and groaning for ancestral glory, believing that there is no salvation for us except in heritage, we have sworn by the strongest oaths to the righteous and the unrighteous predecessors, that we, as children of the twenty-first century, will remain committed to protecting our ignorance and backwardness, and confirmed to them that we will not have a hand in building human civilization nor in shaping its future. We have bound ourselves to history, wandering in it and nursing illusions of its past.
With these past-oriented peoples, Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan will continue to be able to move them, and his scepter will persist in directing the armies of Facebook and other internet platforms in whatever direction he inclines. The first caliph of the Umayyads, who passed away over 1300 years ago, still commands all the tools necessary to reignite war.
What we hope for now is that the script of the series does not provoke a new incitement to strife, lest we believe that the hour has come, and we sharpen our swords to descend into the fields of battle to defend or combat Muawiya.
The initial ramifications that can be read following the first episodes of the series clearly affirm that we are peoples regurgitating our history and heritage, and that we are immersed in the minutiae of the past and its figures, and that this amazing heritage still holds a tremendous capacity to mobilize the streets despite the passage of time and the divergence of standards. Our peoples have not yet realized, unfortunately, that they do not possess any form of cognitive structures except those offered to them by the pages of history and heritage, which contain the fleeting glory that falsehood cannot approach from before or behind, and all else is worthless.
Thus, we do not call for a severance from this heritage, but at least to study it carefully and from a scientific and historical perspective rather than as a sacred text, and to reread all its characters based on an academic methodology, just as we read Gandhi, Lenin, John Kennedy, Charles de Gaulle, Saddam Hussein, Yasser Arafat, and other names that played roles in history.
by: Bashar Abboud
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BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
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