🇸🇦🏡 A home in Madinah?

In a week when a Muslim NASA engineer told us to reach for the stars, and the whole world (well, large parts of it) watched thousands of hours of soccer, Musletter laced up its boots, put on its shin pads … and sat back down to watch highlights.

Here’s what we have for you in this edition:

Plus: Our recommendations on what to read, watch, and buy!

Let’s jump right in!

🇸🇦 Ta-da! KSA unveils where foreigners can buy homes: Back in January, KSA announced new real estate ownership pathways for non-Saudis. Then we awaited the release of a map detailing the designated regions. Well, the wait is over. Feel like moving permanently to Madinah? How about Makkah? Passed through Jeddah and thought, ‘Hmm, wouldn’t mind having a place here.’ It’s now possible for foreigners to buy freehold property in specific areas of Saudi Arabia. If you’re outside the country, you’ll need a digital identity card (from your nearest Saudi embassy), and you can start the process and check which developments are approved on the official digital platform.

🇹🇷 Türkiye has big AI plans: Türkiye is putting its money where its artificial intelligence strategy is – with a mega $10 billion private-sector investment into the AI sector. That means expanding data centers and training thousands of AI specialists. But there’s more: the country will also create a National Data Library (with 2,000 public data sets) and has plans to collaborate on a Turkic-language LLM. It’s not all about big business either, with programs to support SMEs and improve AI literacy in the general population, Türkiye is pursuing its aim of becoming a major AI hub over the next four or five years.

🇵🇰 Who was the father of modern Islamic finance? Islamic finance is a trillion-dollar industry. Not a day goes by when we don’t hear about a new Muslim fintech, insurance product, or investment management firm. Where did it all start? Dr. Muhammad Umer Chapra’s name has been in the media since he passed away last month, and the Pakistani-Saudi economist is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern Islamic economics. Dr. Chapra’s major works include Towards a Just Monetary System and Islam and the Economic Challenge. He also served as the Senior Economic Advisor to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and won many awards for his work. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.

☪️ Muslim World Cup mania: Got zero interest in soccer? No problem. Here’s the Muslim goings-on from the world’s biggest sporting event. First, FIFA removed the alcohol branding from the ‘Player of the Match’ presentations for Muslim recipients. Nice. Then, there’s the Moroccan team (and many others) with their post-match sujood making Islam more visible than ever. Oh, and a beautiful moment (get your lip-reading skills ready) from one Moroccan player to another after a victory: ‘Go home, perform wudu, pray two raka’at, and thank Allah.’ Finally, Zidane Iqbal became the first player of Pakistani heritage to appear in a FIFA World Cup. Who’d he play for? Iraq, of course.

🇦🇪 Sharjah welcomes foreign founders: The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center has launched Sheraa Membership, a program open to all nationalities to help young entrepreneurs set up and grow businesses. What do you get? Year-round mentorship, funding opportunities, investor networks, business training, and discounted licensing and co-working spaces. It’s all part of the Entrepreneurship Center’s aim to support 1,000 ventures and facilitate millions of dollars in commercial deals. Applications are on a rolling basis, with those accepted moving through a series of modules from validating their idea to scaling their business. You can apply here.

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