Ramadan 'is an opportunity to strengthen family cohesion': Experts and Specialists

The holy month of Ramadan has a special impact on the hearts of Qataris and has different meanings in their lives. It is not a month like other months of the year, but rather a month filled with sincere human values of generosity, visiting relatives, and an opportunity for tolerance and strengthening family ties. Qatari society receives the holy month with great joy that pervades all family members, and it is an opportunity to exchange visits, renew the atmosphere of warmth, and organise Ramadan tables, which contributes to strengthening communication between segments of society. Qataris used to revive Ramadan traditions and customs that they inherited from their ancestors, generation after generation, that appear in preparing Ramadan tables with their delicious popular dishes, juices and dates. Social researcher Dr. Haya Abdullah Al-Dosari says that the preparations of Qataris for the holy month start from the beginning of the month of Shaban, and in the past, the women gather to prepare flour and Ramadan requirements, accompanied by traditional songs from folklore, until preparing the necessary quantities that cover the period of the holy month. Despite the hardship in preparing flour, there is a kind of enjoyment of gathering and preparing supplies. Dr. Haya Al-Dosari added to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that by the middle of Shaban, dishes are cooked as "a food experience" and served on the supererogatory night for fasting people, and part of it is distributed to neighbors. After sighting the crescent and welcoming Ramadan, the family gathers in the "house of oud" or the house of the great-grandfather of the family to bless the holy month with joy and celebrate the arrival of the guest, and the Ramadan table consists of popular dishes that were previously prepared, in addition to the juices "namlit" sharbat, tamarind, Vimto, orange and lemon, as well as sweets. Al-Dosari pointed out that the family gathering is a mini popular parliament in which families inspect their conditions and daily events, focusing on family concerns, including living matters, marriage and social relations. She pointed out that the joy of children and grandchildren at the gathering of families in Ramadan exceeds the joy of everyone, where they spend wonderful nights of friendship amid the warmth of the family. Among the most prominent Ramadan rituals that Qataris are keen to revive are the Garangao nights, during which children dress in traditional costumes and wander between the alleys, while their parents wait for them to present them with sweets, nuts and other attractive gifts. Thus, the children rejoice, chanting, "Garangao Girga oh, give us sweets, may God give you more, and send you to the House in Makkah. Oh Noor, with the gold necklace, give us from the blessings of God, may he bless your child Abdullah." She stressed the need to adhere to the Ramadan tables for their role in achieving family cohesion between the segments of society and ensuring its continuity, stressing that its importance stems from family reunification and knowledge of all family members' conditions, which is an ancient Arab and Islamic tradition.(MORE) In the same context, Mohammed Salem Al-Darwish, who is interested in Qatari heritage, said that Qatari families are keen to meet in the home of the head of the family in order to strengthen the ties of kinship that our true religion enjoins and to earn reward in the holy month, which is an opportunity to strengthen ties, relationships and bonds between family members. He pointed out that one of the most important Ramadan customs is family visits and communication with neighbors after the evening prayer, in addition to joining majles with daily gatherings and discussing issues that affect their daily lives, their hopes and their future. He pointed out that the stress of daily life continued to impede communication and meeting between extended families, and that Ramadan represented a good opportunity for communication, compassion and strengthening the family by reuniting its members, visiting relatives and sick family members, visiting the needy and helping them, adding, that Ramadan is the only month of the year in which all members of the family gather and eat with each other, which leads to the strengthening of family ties and inspires a feeling of intimacy, love, affection and social solidarity. He explained to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that Ramadan is a 'generous guest', and therefore we must live the spirit of Ramadan, and heads of families should be keen to take their children to mosques to perform prayers and bring them to family gatherings, which strengthens social ties. He noted that Ramadan provides an appropriate atmosphere to address family disputes, remove estrangement between quarrels, and share good deeds, which achieves the principle of social solidarity that our religion calls for and is in line with our customs and traditions. He pointed out to the importance of staying away from waste, extravagance and exaggeration in preparing food and drink, as this contradicts the wisdom of fasting, pointing out that 'Ramadan Ghabga' was originally made of fried fish and rice cooked with "roasted" sugar, and not like the current situation, which some exaggerate by preparing tables of food containing ready meals, juices and various types of unimportant foods. It is worth noting that the spread of Coronavirus (Covid-19) during the years 2020 and 2021 is constrained by the establishment of Ramadan tables that were organized by Qatari families, in which families exchange abundant feelings of faith and affection, eat and perform devotional nights with Tarawih, Tahajjud and 'Qiyaam al-Layl'.