Senior leadership of Jamiyyathul Salaf has met with President Mohamed Muizzu without publicly addressing growing public outrage over the allocation of land from Rasmalé to Eagle Hills, a company owned by Mohamed Alabbar, who is widely viewed as a supporter of Israel.
According to sources, the meeting took place at the President’s Office yesterday from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Attendees included Salaf President Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohamed Ibrahim, Sheikh Ahmed Sameer, Vice Chancellor of the Islamic University Dr. Ali Zahir, and Salaf’s event manager, Mujthaba Hameed.
The meeting follows previous statements from Salaf indicating they were conducting a review to determine if there were concerns regarding the sale of Rasmalé land to Eagle Hills Chairman Mohamed Alabbar.
Although Salaf spokesperson Hassan Fikury said on X on September 28—one week after the project’s announcement—that the matter was being looked into, the organisation has remained silent on the issue ever since.
Sheikh Abdullah, the President of Salaf, has previously been unavailable for comment and did not answer phone calls regarding the progress of their review of the project.
Under a confidential agreement signed on September 21, Eagle Hills has been granted 500 hectares of land in Rasmalé. The company has already begun marketing apartments for permanent residency to foreign tycoons.
The terms of the deal allow property buyers in Rasmalé to secure a new 99-year lease upon the resale or gifting of the property, effectively creating a perpetual leasehold system.
The silence of religious scholars, who have generally been vocal on major national issues, has sparked widespread public questioning and criticism.
In contrast, an investigative study by the "Ilmuveringe Gulhun" (Scholars’ Union) has asserted that halting the Rasmalé project in its current form is a religious obligation for the government.
Neither Jamiyyathul Salaf nor the government has issued an official statement regarding the details of yesterday’s meeting.
Under the current arrangement, any buyer who resells or gifts a property in Rasmalé is eligible for a fresh 99-year lease. The initial 99-year leases being issued are not set to expire until the year 2125.
