Now that the faithful are in the middle of the holy month of Ramadan in the UAE, people have become used to the rigours of fasting even in the middle of a hot and dry summer. During this time, we hear stories about the essential goodness of people – stories that are joyful and heartening; making people feel that Ramadan is indeed the holy month.
A new world record was set recently in Abu Dhabi for the "Longest Line of Hunger Relief Package". The credit for this goes to an India based charitable trust called Pehal, which is run by Joginder Singh Salaria.
Not only was this a world record way to feed people and bring smiles to their faces, but this Iftar was also unique for another reason: the food served was all vegetarian! This is to ensure that people eat a healthy meal and also to save animals. The Iftar meals were lined up continuously for one kilometre making this the ‘longest’ iftar.
This being the Year of Tolerance, we have already had the unprecedented event of the Pope visiting the UAE. In addition, the UAE authorities also organised an interfaith Iftar in Rome. This was hosted by mar Obaid Mohammed Al Shamsi, the ambassador of the UAE to Italy. The event was attended by leaders of the Vatican, the Jewish community as well as from the Islamic Cultural Centre.
He is an Indian expat named Muhammad Jafar and he works as a watchman and maintenance in-charge for an Abu Dhabi building. He is on duty at all times, regardless of the time of day. Apart from going to the mosque to pray he is always on call. He believes that Ramadan is no excuse for rest.
Aleena Khan is just six years old and is keeping her Ramadan fasts for the first time. She fasts half days as a lot of kids do. She finds it easy and would have done the more arduous whole day fasting if her parents had not forbidden it. What is even more important is that little Aleena has understood and absorbed the important fact that Ramadan is a month for “charity, sharing and treating others kindly," as much as it is about the physical aspect of fasting.
Some of the museums in the UAE had announced longer working hours for one day during Ramadan, celebrate International Museum Day. The Louvre Abu Dhabi remained open till 1 AM on 18th May. The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority announced free entry into its museums on this occasion.
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