ABU DHABI // Try to maintain a tidy personal appearance and dress well, especially when gathering for prayers, worshippers will be told at this week’s sermon.
“Allah has honoured human beings by creating them in the finest form,” says the sermon. Or, as a verse from the Quran says, “Surely We created man of the best stature.”
Therefore, Allah has given humans clothing that they can dress in. “O Children of Adam! We have revealed unto you raiment to conceal your shame, and splendid vesture,” says another Quranic verse.
Worshippers must always try to look their best for prayers by wearing clean and neat clothing.
“O Children of Adam! Look to your adornment at every place of worship, and eat and drink, but be not prodigal.”
The Prophet Mohammed was very keen for Muslims to dress well, especially during Eid gatherings and during prayers.
The sermon cites an incident from the life of the Prophet, when a man entered a mosque with unkempt hair and beard.
The Prophet pointed at him as if gesturing for him to leave to fix himself. The man then returned after tidying his hair and beard, at which point the Prophet said: “Isn’t this better than one of you appearing with a wild head [hair and beard] as if he were the devil?”
He also considered dressing well as a way to show Allah’s blessings, as the Quran says: “Therefore of the bounty of thy Lord be thy discourse.”
Another incident is cited, when Malek bin Nadla, one of the Prophet’s companions, wore raggedy clothes that contradicted his financial status.
The Prophet asked him if he had money, to which Nadla replied he owned camels, cattle and horses.
So, the Prophet told him: “If Allah gave you money, let Him see the effects of his blessings and honouring on you.”
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if you go
The flights
Emirates offer flights to Buenos Aires from Dubai, via Rio De Janeiro from around Dh6,300. emirates.com
Seeing the games
Tangol sell experiences across South America and generally have good access to tickets for most of the big teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Independiente. Prices from Dh550 and include pick up and drop off from your hotel in the city. tangol.com
Staying there
Tangol will pick up tourists from any hotel in Buenos Aires, but after the intensity of the game, the Faena makes for tranquil, upmarket accommodation. Doubles from Dh1,110. faena.com
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Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
