About half an hour before Iftar, we would take plates full of food to the neighbours, and they were often soup or puree dishes and others,” she said. “One of the customs that have almost disappeared and is brought in relative form in some areas is the exchange of the Ramadan dishes between neighbours. ![]() I remember that my mother used to make tortillas in the traditional way without using power tools, mashing by beating the grains and cutting the meat into a saucepan, and she sometimes asked us to help her with these tasks,” she said. “That period witnessed customs and traditions that are almost absent today. Speaking about the extent to which Ramadan customs are preserved in Qatar, writer and storyteller Nada Al Dosari, went down the memory lane from her childhood during the mid-1980s when satellite TV channels, cell phones and various social networking sites were not available, and people gave time to family members. ![]() “Marking ‘Al Ghabqa’ in Qatar is not limited to families, friends and relatives at home, as it has moved to hotels and Ramadan tents, as organisations invite their employees to this feast, which is an opportunity to strengthen relations between managers and employees.” He added, “Al Ghabqa feast includes various types of fish, especially grilled and fried, and rice cooked with date extract and tharid meal, which mixes crumbled bread, meat and broth, as well as many types of sweets, including Luqaimat and Aseeda, as well as dates, tea and coffee. ![]() “The Qatari folk traditions have preserved their character unchanged and they are still being practised as the ancients did, including the collective Iftar with the family throughout the days of Ramadan and ‘Al Ghabqa’ feast, which brings family and friends together at a night table, the time of which begins after the Taraweeh prayer, which the people of Qatar, men and women, are keen to perform in mosques,” he said. According to folklore researcher Dr Ahmad Al Tayeb, Ramadan customs and traditions are still cherished in Qatar, despite the social changes caused by globalisation and these customs are similar in the Arab Gulf countries.
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