Fart Master and others, I don't think there's any stupidity involved.
Some time ago now, thanks in part to its RAF Base, and its messes and the off base establishments that catered for the servicemen, Sharjah was where expats living in Dubai went to make whoopee. (Old timers talk of the excitement involved in coming back across the desert half cut towards the Dubai forts - that were manned then by armed guards - and the quite real possibility of being fired upon. Hence they would come at speed with all lights on, making as much noise as possible so the sleepy guards wouldn't think they were bedu intruders.)
Then Sharjah ran out of money and looked to Saudi Arabia for a bail out. Saudi Arabia complied, but at a cost, that (among other things) being that Sharjah went 'dry'.
What we're seeing now is a (thankfully far) milder form of the same thing. Which makes one wonder, despite newspaper reports to the contrary, just how much - and what - of Dubai Inc that Abu Dhabi Inc now owns.