The Mirage (Al-Suwaidi book)

Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi, Director General of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR), launched the English version of his most recent book Al-Sarab ( The Mirage ). The book will be distributed by the UAE, Arab and other publishing houses and bookstores around the world. The fifth edition of the Arabic book Al-Sarab was published earlier this year. The Mirage , which has been acclaimed in scholarly and academic circles in the Arab world, deals with the phenomenon of political Islam and the danger it poses to Arab and Muslim societies. The book – which includes an introduction, seven chapters and a conclusion – adopts a scholarly approach in analyzing the concept of the political ‘mirage’. This is described as an illusion being created by political-religious groups in the Arab and Muslim worlds. In March 2015, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, received a copy of the Arabic version of the book from H.E. The main idea discussed in the book is that of political mirage promoted by religious political groups among Arab and Muslim nations. Jamal Sanad Al Suwaidi at Al Remaila Palace, who presented to him a copy of his recently released book The Mirage . Sheikh Hamad said that the release of The Mirage was well-timed as it elucidates facts about the groups that exploit Islam to reach their own goals. Jamal Sanad Al Suwaidi, Director General of the ECSSR and organized a symposium to review and discuss his book, The Mirage . The discussion was moderated by Professor Rashid Al Araimi while Dr. Abdul Hamid Ansari, Professor of Islamic studies and former Dean of the College of Law at Qatar University; Dr. Ammar Ali Hassan, a writer and researcher of political science and Dr. Mohamed Bin Huwaidin, Chair of the Political Science Department at UAEU, spoke about the book. On 19th May 2015, scholars from across the region gathered at the ECSSR in Abu Dhabi to discuss the threat of extremism and how to counter it. The symposium was themed The Mirage: Enlightened Thought in Countering Terrorism, and was organized to discuss the book written by ECSSR’s director general, H.E. Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi on one of the most pressing issues in the Arab and Muslim world – political Islam and the forces that exploit it. The United Arab Emirates University Hosts a Symposium about 'The Mirage' by Jamal Al Suwaidi: A Book Dealing with the Future of Religious Groups" .¹