By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: Prayers and celebrations marked the first day of Eid Al Fitr yesterday.
Braving hot and humid weather, thousands of believers converged at mosques and specially designated prayer grounds early morning to perform Eid prayers.
The historic Eid Prayer Ground in Msheireb Downtown received thousands as it opened to the public well before the prayer time of 05.08am.
Imam Muhammad Abdul Wahhab Mosque and Al Sheikh Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Islamic Cultural Centre (previously known as Fanar) were packed with worshippers.
Authorities made elaborate arrangements at 360 mosques and several prayer grounds.
At some places, faithful were seen offering the prayers on pavements as mosques and prayers ground got filled to capacity before the prayer time.
Many Asian expatriates performed the prayers with their communities and non-Arab Africans at Al Sheikh Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Islamic Cultural Centre. The Indian community performed the prayers at places, including Al Arabi Sport Club and near the Lulu Hypermarket.
Many Sri Lankans performed the prayers at their embassy. The Indonesian embassy also organised Eid prayers for its community.
Umm Abdullah, a Nigerian mother of three, said, “Many of us went to Fanar because the sermon was in English... Several other non-Arabic speaking African communities were present, mainly because we could understand the sermon,” she said.
Ahmed Zaareh a Sudanese expatriate, said, “We went to Imam Muhammad Abdul Wahhab Mosque as many people gather there and it gives an opportunity to meet and greet a lot of people.”
Families and bachelors who preferred to remain indoors after the early morning prayers due to the inclement weather, ventured out in the evening.
Souq Waqif, the Corniche and Katara Cultural Village were crowded with people enjoying the Eid holidays. The souq drew a large crowd as popular Arabic singers performed late into the night, rendering traditional Arabic songs. The event was held with support from Al Rayyan Radio.
Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has lined up fun-packed celebrations, including music, fireworks and family entertainment.
Shopping malls have also announced entertainment shows, including mime shows, ‘Rene Magritte’ and ‘Babylon Joe’ shows, a performance by Paper Magic Artist and other events inspired by Qatari heritage.
‘Eid Al Fitr Celebrations 2015’ a cultural and sports event organised by the Ministry of Interior attracted thousands of single workers at Barwa Workers Recreation Complex in Al Khor industrial area and at Asian Town (Former West End Park near Grand Mall). Events featured community performers, cricket, football and basketball matches and other activities.
The Philippine embassy organised Eid Al Fitr Filipino Food Festival at Big Tent in Al Dafna. It ends on Sunday.
The Peninsula
DOHA: Outage in Al Jakheera, Raya and Al Jadid lasting up to five hours spoiled celebrations.
Some people came out on the streets and complained about the damage to food in fridges due to sudden power failure, Al Sharq reports. They called Kahramaa which sent a team to rectify the problem. “Our technical crew is on site and working to restore supply as quickly as possible to the affected areas,” Kahramaa said in a tweet in the afternoon.
Residents in Al Raya and Al Jadid expressed anger over power disruption from 12.50pm to 6pm, which Kahramaa said was due to overloading. “It should be noted that most interruptions are due to overloads without our approval,” Kahramaa said.
Residents complained that they did not get any response from Kahramaa when they called its offices. They said Kahramaa should be on alert during summer as power consumption goes up due to hot weather and interruptions create problems for people.
They said the outages spoiled their celebrations as they could not receive guests, adding if Kahramaa had alerted them earlier, they could have booked hotels to celebrate Eid. “Kahramaa would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused by any power interruption,” the company said. The Peninsula
