Dr Reza Pankhurst says that the UAE, and especially Dubai, represent the antithesis of the Islamic message – societies built on exploitation and oppression, promoting the deformation of Islam, and collaborating with the worst enemies of the Ummah.
To love Dubai today is to be mesmerised by an illusion – an aesthetic mirage that conceals the brutal realities it rests upon.
Increasingly, one of the clearest dividing lines between sincerity and hypocrisy, between a sign of īmān and a sign of kufr, between political insight and wilful ignorance, is where one stands with regard to the UAE regime.
Hatred for this regime has become a marker of concern for the Ummah, of clarity, and of Islamic consciousness – whereas love or even tolerance for it is rapidly emerging as a sign of nifāq, of ideological confusion, and of moral failure.
Domestic exploitation and oppression
Economically, it is well documented that Dubai is built upon foundations of injustice. The kafāla system that governs its labour market reduces millions of migrant workers to little more than bonded labour. Passports are confiscated, wages are withheld, and living conditions are appalling.
This is not a flaw in the system – it is the system. The city of gold is paved with the sweat and blood of the dispossessed.
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Built on exploitation and deception, the political edifice of the Emirates is no less rotten. The United Arab Emirates – and particularly Dubai – stands as the most glaring embodiment of a new form of betrayal: glossy, opulent, and deeply poisonous.
It is not merely a bystander in the crises engulfing the Muslim world. Instead, it is an active player, reshaping the region to serve the interests of tyranny, Zionism and imperialism. It has not only enabled authoritarianism but has positioned itself as an ideological vanguard through its campaign of Islamic deformation on every level – with shaytan-compliant finance and business, shaytan-compliant tourism, shaytan-compliant politics and shaytan-compliant fake piety, it is clearly a Devil’s deception.
بَشِّرِ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ بِأَنَّ لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا ١٣٨ ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّخِذُونَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۚ أَيَبْتَغُونَ عِندَهُمُ ٱلْعِزَّةَ فَإِنَّ ٱلْعِزَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًۭا ١٣٩
Give good news of a painful punishment to hypocrites, (4:138) who choose disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek honour and power through that company? Surely all honour and power belongs to Allah.(4:139)
Deforming Islam
The UAE’s foreign policy reflects a consistent pattern of counter-revolution. It played a pivotal role in financing the 2013 coup in Egypt, toppling the elected government of Muhammad Morsi and propping up a military junta with billions in support. This was not a matter of pragmatic alignment – it was a calculated assault against Islamic political expression.
In Sudan, the UAE is the chief backer of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose campaign of violence against the Sudanese Armed Forces and civilians has plunged the country into turmoil. Its weapons, funding, and diplomatic manoeuvres aim to ensure that Islamic or even vaguely independent political voices are excluded from Sudan’s future.
But the ambitions of the UAE – or more precisely, those it serves – extend far beyond geopolitics. Its most insidious project is the afore-mentioned campaign for the deformation of Islam itself. Through well-funded institutions and state-sponsored clerics like Abdullah bin Bayyah, it exports a theology tailored to preserve authoritarian rule.
This is a pacified, obedient version of Islam that discourages resistance, silences dissent, and sanctifies rulers. In this state religion, fiqh al-istislām – the jurisprudence of surrender – has replaced fiqh al-jihād and al-amr bil-maʿrūf wa-n-nahy ʿani-l-munkar. It is a hollowed-out shell of Islam – rituals without resistance, robes without righteousness.
Zionist collaboration
This ideological distortion is the bedrock upon which the UAE normalised relations with the Zionist entity. The Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, merely formalised a relationship long in the making.
Yet even as Gaza burns and tens of thousands of Palestinians are massacred, Emirati-Israeli relations have only deepened. Flights to Tel Aviv continue. Israeli tourists walk Dubai’s promenades. IDF soldiers have been reported holidaying in Dubai – enjoying luxury and leisure between military offensives. While Israel violated the most recent ceasefire, the UAE hosted joint iftar gatherings with Israeli representatives – both in occupied Palestine and in the Gulf.
This is the reality of UAE – a regime that clothes its betrayal in silk, gold and a veneer of righteous piety. Like the hypocrites of Madinah, its officials speak the language of Islam while harbouring contempt for its message and its people.
Just as Allah forbade the believers from worshiping in Masjid al-Ḍirār – a masjid built to divide and deceive – what excuse remains for any conscious Muslim to admire, endorse, or remain silent about this regime?
Dr. Reza Pankhurst is a writer, academic, and political thinker whose work focuses on Islamic political thought, the Caliphate, and movements seeking Islamic revival in the modern era. This article was first published on his blog.
