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 Introduction to SMCCU
The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understand-
ing (SMCCU) is a non-profit organisation established to
increase awareness and understanding between the vari-
ous cultures that live in Dubai. Established under the pa-
tronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
al Maktoum in 1998, we operate under the banner of
“Open Doors, Open Minds.” whilst striving to remove the
barrier between people of different nationalities and raise
awareness of the local culture, customs and religion of
the United Arab Emirates.

“When people arrive in the UAE, many do not know what

to expect nor do they have a real understanding of Emi-
rati culture. In fact, there are many expatriates who have
lived and worked in the UAE for years and are yet to meet
an Emirati,” says SMCCU’s Director and founder, Mr.
Abdullah Bin Eisa Al Serkal.

The programmes offered by SMCCU can help explain the

customs, culture, religion and etiquette within the context
of Emirati culture.

Our sole aim is to welcome non-Emiratis into UAE culture

and give them a chance to truly integrate within Emirati
society. It is the goal of SMCCU to be the initial step for all
people entering the UAE, and SMCCU will undoubtedly
enhance working and living experience here.

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 Cultural Breakfasts
SMCCU continued its extremely popular tradition of host-
ing guests for Cultural Breakfasts in our traditional wind-
tower house in Bastakiya, Bur Dubai. In 2010, SMCCU
increased the number of breakfasts hosted from once
to twice weekly, meaning in an average year we now
host approximately 100 Cultural Breakfasts during which
guests chat with a Emirati host and ask questions about
local customs and heritage.
In 2010, SMCCU hosted:

• 1159 guests in public breakfasts

• 402 guests in private breakfasts

In total, 1561 guests participated in SMCCU’s Cultural

Breakfast programme in 2010.

A private group from the Dubai International Film Festival visiting SMCCU
for breakfast in December 2010.

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A private group of Australian missionaries listen to a presentation by SMCCU’s General Manager Mr. Nasif Kayed.

The largest single party SMCCU hosted for a private breakfast in 2010 was group of 60 Australian missionaries who were
visiting Dubai and keen to find out more about Emirati religion and culture.

Additionally, we also hosted various other parties for private Cultural Breakfasts including groups from: the Universal
American School (Dubai), Japanese journalists, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Guests of the Dubai World Cup, the
Emirates Foundation and the College of Arabic & Islamic Studies

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 Cultural Lunches
SMCCU also continued its extremely popular tradition
of hosting guests for Cultural Lunches in our traditional
windtower house in Bastakiya, Bur Dubai.

As with the breakfast programmes, SMCCU increased

the number of lunches hosted from once to twice weekly,
meaning in an average year we now host approximately
100 Cultural Lunches during which guests chat with an
Emirati host and ask questions about local customs and
heritage.

In 2010, SMCCU hosted:

• 1183 guests in public lunches

• 456 guests in private lunches

In total, 1639 guests participated in SMCCU’s Cultural

Lunch programme in 2010.

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Students from the College of Islamic + Arabic Studies enjoy lunch Students from The Japanese School pose with their Emirati host on
alongside other guests at SMCCU. SMCCU’s rooftop terrace.

The largest number we catered for at a public

Lunch was 34 people, and the largest group we
hosted for a private breakfast was a group of 50
students from Hult International Business School
(Dubai).

Some notable groups that SMCCU hosted for

private Cultural Lunch include: Thunderbird Uni-
versity (USA), guests from the Dubai World Cup,
students from Duke University (USA), students
from the Japanese School and guests from The
Ibrahim Leadership & Dialogue Project in the
Middle East from Washington (DC), USA.

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 Bastakiya Walking & Heritage Tours

Our Bastakiya Walking Tours continue to be a popular

option for people who want to learn more about the older
areas of Dubai.

The walking tour lasts for around 40 minutes and takes

place in the Bastakiya area surrounding SMCCU. The
tour is followed by a 20 minute Question & Answer ses-
sion with Arabic coffee and dates hosted by our guide at
the SMCCU house.

In 2010, SMCCU hosted a total of 847 guests on guided

walks through the Bastakiya area.

Private groups included representatives from Shell Pe-

troleum, West Virginia University (USA), the Dubai Inter-
national Film Festival, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and The
Emirates Foundation.

A guest from the Dubai International Film Festival holds a falcon

whilst touring the Bastakiya with SMCCU.

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Students from the Regent International School watch an SMCCU presenter demonstrate a prayer inside the Bastakiya masjid.

In the summer of 2010 SMCCU introduced the ‘Bastakiya Heritage Tour’ which is a Bastakiya Walking Tour plus a 30 minute guided visit inside
the Bastakiya Mosque. This was created in order to meet the growing demand from people who did not have the time to visit both the Jumeirah
Mosque and the Bastakiya area but were keen to learn as much about local culture and religion as possible.

Starting from June 2010, SMCCU hosted 252 people on Bastakiya Heritage Tours. Special groups included visitors from Adidas, Woollongong
University Principle, missionaries from Australia and students from Regent International School.

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 Ramadan 2010: Iftar Dinners
The Iftar Dinners are a seasonal event held in the holy
month of Ramadan. During the months of August and
September 2010, SMCCU invited guests to join a tradi-
tional “breaking-of-the-fast” meal at our traditional wind
tower house in Bastakiya, Bur Dubai in order to learn
about the Islamic tradition of fasting and prayer.

Following the meal, guests are guided on a casual walk

around the beautiful and historical Bastakiya neighbour-
hood, and watch and learn about Ramadan prayer rituals.

In 2010, SMCCU hosted a total of 1,040 guests for Iftar

during Ramadan.

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Guests chat with a volunteer at SMCCU’s Iftar dinner during Ramadan 2010.

Spanning August and September 2010, SMCCU hosted 641 guests at public Iftar celebrations as well
as 399 guests at private Iftar celebrations in our historical wind tower house in Bastakiya, Bur Dubai.

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 Mosque Visits - Jumeirah Mosque

In an effort to demystify Islam and educate visitors on the

role of religion in UAE society, SMCCU hosts guided vis-
its of mosques, or masjids, in Dubai.

Over the past ten years, the Jumeirah Mosque has be-
come a focal point of SMCCU’s “Open Doors, Open
Minds” practice as it is the only working masjid in Dubai
which is open to the public and dedicated to receiving
non-Muslim guests.

In 2010, SMCCU hosted a total of 20,224 guests at our

public mosque visit. Additionally, we also hosted 6,397
guests on private mosque visits meaning that in 2010,
SMCCU hosted a total number of 26,621 guests on our
educational mosque visits.

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Guests queue up outside the Jumeirah Mosque for a guided tour open to the public.

Under SMCCU’s “Freedom to Ask” policy, no question is off limits and guests are encouraged to ask
as many questions as possible in order to clarify common misconceptions about Islam. We have hosted
groups ranging from Emirates Airlines to public school groups aiming to increase students’ awareness
of the role which plays in Emirati culture and life.

Some notable groups that SMCCU hosted for Mosque visit include: Australian Intl School Sharjah, New
York Uni Abu Dhabi Campus, The Japanese School of Dubai, Jaguar Land Rovers + British Airways
representatives.

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 Mosque Visits - Rashidiya / Bastakiya

In an extension of SMCCU’s Mosque visit programmes

and in order to make our visits more accessible to every-
one, non-Muslims can now also have guided visits to the
Bastakiya Mosque in Bur Dubai by pre arrangement. We
have also developed an educational programme exclu-
sively for schools at the Grand Mosque in Rashidiya.

Regent School At Bastakiya Masjid

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 Corporate Partnership Programme in
2010

In an effort to achieve team building and social harmony

in the workplace, SMCCU launched a campaign offering
customized Cultural Partnership Program to all institu-
tions wishing to enhance their current induction programs
for UAE-based staff in 2011. These programs contribute
towards fulfilling corporate social responsibility objectives
and provide staff with exceptional experiences and insight
in to local customs and culture of the UAE.

Each cultural program is unique, and incorporates SMC-

CU’s “Freedom to Ask” policy under which no question
is off limits. Participants can engage in activities from SMCCU representative Souad with Nestle Team for Cultural Awareness
cultural meals, heritage tours, Mosque visits and Arabic Training in 2010.
classes, all of which are hosted in the historical Bastakiya
district of Bur Dubai. UAE-based companies who choose
to partner with SMCCU can be sure that their employees
will directly benefit from cultural awareness training which
will improve business tactics in the Middle East.

Some notable groups that SMCCU hosted for private

Cultural Lunch include: Adidas, GEMS World Academy,
Australian Missionaries, West Virginia Univercity, Nestle
ME etc..

If you would like to enquires further about this programs,

please contact us directly on smccu@cultures.ae
or 04 353 6666.

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 Cultural Awareness Presentations and
Special Events in 2010

SMCCU hosts Cultural Awareness Presentations (CAPs)

for companies to introduce the customs, cultural and heri-
tage of the UAE. In 2010, SMCCU hosted 2,126 guests
for Cultural Awareness Presentations.

We also host special events across Dubai, including au-

thentic cultural themes and dancing to traditional food and
educational seminars on Emirati and Islamic history. In a presentation by SMCCU’s General Manager Mr. Nasif Kayed.
Highlights of SMCCU special events in 2010 include our
participation at the Arabian Travel Market, and a tradi-
tional Emirati tent set up in Ibn Bhuttuta Mall during Ra-
madan.

In 2010, SMCCU hosted a total of 388 guests for private

dinners and cultural awareness training.

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 Spoken Gulf Arabic Classes
In addition to SMCCU’s regular programmes, we also
have been offering Spoken Gulf Arabic classes for over
eight years. Small class sizes available on week days or
weekends in which our students learn traditional Khaliji
Arabic, the dialect spoken in the GCC states in the Arab
Gulf.

In 2010, SMCCU hosted several series of weekly classes

with a total of 33 participants learning how to speak Khaliji
Arabic.

Looking forward to 2011, SMCCU will be launching ex-

panded Arabic programs, offering both Classical Arabic
classes and private classes for institution wishing to train-
ing their staff in Arabic language skills both in and outside
of the workplace. For further information on these pro-
grams, please contact us directly on smccu@cultures.ae
or 04 353 6666.

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Three students from a Spoken Gulf Arabic class hold up their prizes for top marks in
front of SMCCU’s traditional wind tower house in Bastakiya, Bur Dubai.

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 Special Guests
In 2010, SMCCU hosted several notable guests, all of
whom were welcomed under our philosophy of “Open
Doors, Open Minds.”

Notable guests of SMCCU’s programmes in 2010 include

American pop singer Beyonce Knowles, Mr. Doug Trap-
pett who serves as the Australian Ambassador to the
UAE, representatives from the Dubai International Film
Australian Ambassador Mr. Doug Trappett meeting visiting SMCCU.
Festival (DIFF) and guests from the World Ship Visit pro-
gramme!

Guests from the Ship of the World Guests from Dubai International
American pop singer Beyoncé Knowles visiting Youth visiting SMCCU. Film Festival enjoying a Cultural
SMCCU’s Jumeirah Mosque in November 2010. Breakfast at SMCCU.

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 Future Projects for 2011
SMCCU has a lot of exciting plans for 2011, including
opening a permanent Visitor’s Centre at Jumeirah Mosque
which could receive guests outside of tour hours.

This Majlis will be used for various cultural programmes

as a way of making the UAE’s culture, traditions and reli-
gion more accessible to everyone.

Also, we are planning on operating more SMCCU’s cul-

tural activities across the Bastakiya neighborhood in Bur
Dubai.

Main entrance to the Majlis The Majlis next to Jumeirah Mosque

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Also in the works for 2011, SMCCU is planning on offer-
ing a traditional desert venue for guests to visit and enjoy
an authentic and entertaining Bedouin Tent experience!

In addition to our current cultural training scheme which

includes Cultural Awareness Presentations and Cultural
Partnership Programs, SMCCU is planning to launch a
Policy Advisory Service in 2011, which will include cul-
tural advice for international corporations doing business
in the UAE.

Finally, SMCCU will be expanding on a current program

with Emirates Airlines to provide regular Cultural Aware-
ness Presentations and training for new staff entering into
the UAE. The is a valuable program, ensuring that SMC-
CU is the first step which foreigners take when integrating
and being welcomed to life in the UAE.
If you would like to become involved in any of these proj-
ects, please contact us directly on smccu@cultures.ae or
04 353 6666.

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 SMCCU Volunteers for 2011

We rely on bright, outgoing UAE nationals to make our

programs as dynamic and exciting as they are. If you are
interested in being part of this unique opportunity to intro-
duce your culture to the world, please contact us directly Volunteers: Mohamad, Abdula G., Humaid and Abdula A. at SMCCU in
on smccu@cultures.ae or 04 353 6666. 2010.

SMCCU volunteers SMCCU volunteers Hanna, Souad and Himian.

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SMCCU volunteers

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 Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding
Tel: +9714 3536666, Fax: +9714 3536661, E mail: smccu@cultures.ae, Web: www.cultures.ae
Come and experience our ‘Open Doors. Open Minds’ activities

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