The Arab world witnessed some jaw-dropping incidents in 2018 - as it does routinely, day in, day out.
During the course of the year, many weird events took place in the region, but these 7 topped the charts on the WTF scale.
1. When a plane was forced to land because a passenger couldn't stop farting
Back in February, passengers boarding Transavia Airlines HV6902 from Dubai to Amsterdam were expecting a routine flight, but one passenger simply >couldn't stop farting.
The captain of the budget airline flight was forced to land the plane early after a couple of passengers got into a physical altercation with an elderly man who refused to check his flatulence, De Telegraaf reported.
2. When Footballer Mohamed Salah turned into a popular unofficial candidate in Egypt's elections
Over one million Egyptians scratched the names of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his opponent Moussa Mostafa Moussa in Egypt's presidential elections back in March, voting for Liverpool's Mohamed Salah instead.
3. When an Egyptian preacher said "no private parts or sex" exist in heaven
In December, Egyptian preacher Khalid Al Joundi >said private parts and sexual relations don't exist in heaven.
The Islamic scholar made the statement during an episode of a TV program he hosts on Egypt's DMC channel. It came as part of a segment where he discussed the afterlife.
"In the afterlife, the moment we die, we no longer have reproductive or excretory organs. There are no stools, no urine. I am discussing this in detail because this part has always created a problem for people. Therefore, sexual and excretory activities end when a person dies," he said.
"There are no toilets in the afterlife. You won't pee, you won't pass stool. People don't reproduce in heaven, no pregnancies or anything related to that. There are no sexual relations in heaven. It's a place that's over and above the things we do in this world," he added.
4. When a brilliant Egyptian girl's social experiment went viral
Sarah Abouelkhair is not your typical Egyptian ... and the world has definitely taken note this year.
With a simple plan to throw a >BBQ party during one of NASA's rocket launches, Abouelkhair got NASA, Netflix, Ellen Degeneres, and more people to "approach her."
Until she revealed she has fooled everyone, including international media, with her mini social experiment, saying it was all fake.
5. When EgyptAir published a fake, error-ridden article about Drew Barrymore
Back in October, writer Adam Baron was en-route to Cairo when he spotted the so-called >feature article in Horus, EgyptAir's in-flight magazine. That's when he shared photos of the "surreal" feature, going viral soon after.
>The article, full of typos and grammatical mistakes, intended to show Barrymore as mentally unstable, with the opening paragraph referring to her as "unstable in her relationships."
6. When Lindsay Lohan announced a plan to design her own island in Dubai
"I'm discussing designing my own island in Dubai at the World Islands," Lohan >announced on The Wendy Williams Show at the beginning of 2018.
She also has a name for it .... Lohan Island. Creative.
7. When a Kuwaiti cleric said "it's haram for women to wear pants"
In November, Kuwaiti cleric Dr. Othman Al Khamees uploaded a video to Twitter in which he said "it's haram for women to wear pants."
The statement came in reply to a question the cleric was asked about whether it's permissible for women to wear pants above their heels. In his reply to the inquiry, Al Khamees said:
"Pants are 'haram' altogether and they're asking about ones that go above the heels! It's impermissible for Muslim women to wear pants except if they put on a 'thawb' [floor-length garment] over them. It isn't acceptable in Islam for a woman to expose her legs and thighs, and pants define these body parts. Ones that go above the heels also reveal a part of the body that shouldn't be out."