and also inshallah we’ll be able to see more websites about Qatar (especially by Qataris )

Take care!

I in no way meant to give offense, and upon reflection I understand why you took it that way… I sincerely apologize. I see that you were trying to express your particular practice rather than what maybe prevalent in Qatari society necessarily.

I think you have misunderstood some of the things I said. I did not mean to claim that you are not Qatari in any way, nor that your western exposure made you any ‘less Qatari’ (I too spent 5 years abroad in University). In fact, I constantly argue against such bigotry since I don’t believe that any person’s worth should be tied to notions of social groupings of any kind. Furthermore, my comment regarding attending the prayer was definitely out of line, and I apologize profusely.

I would ask you to consider however, that the mistake I made in thinking that you were writing about Qatari eid in general, rather than your eid specifically is one that many of your audience would make. Specially in the context of the site.

I’m glad you responded the way you did, to what was a provocative and emotional comment. You showed remarkable restraint and responded rationally and respectfully. Much more so than the way I critiqued your blog post. Your replies were not harsh, instead it was my assessment of your article that was hasty and emotional. 

Finally, I congratulate you again on your site and blog. You have clearly made a great effort that has produced an informative and useful website for many people. It is only through efforts of people like yourself that we promote ourselves and our society.

Abdulaziz

I write Mr. Q (it’s my personal blog) to share my own experiences. It’s ‘A’  Qatari’s View. Just one Qatari’s view. Inshallah I can encourage you to write your own and share with everyone else so that they have additional insight.
Now, to answer a few questions/comments

1) No where in my post did I say that Eid is like new year… I did compare it to Christmas, and that was meant in terms of importance. 

2) In regards to kids waking up and adults slumbering. Perhaps I should have a comment in my blog post that says that my ‘experience’ starts from 7am? May I should have explained every detail to be as lucid as possible.

3) How dare you comment that I haven’t attended the prayer (haram 3alayk wa ista7 3ala wayhik). 

4) My breakfast is just that. My breakfast. You want to be super specific about a typical breakfast these days? Walla these days kids just eat cereal. Let alone balaleet.  Remember, this is ‘A’ Qataris view. 

5) My background. Yes I’m a Qatari with western exposure, but how you understood that to mean anything else, I’m confused. Yes, I spent 5 years in the UK when at university, thats it. 

Please don’t tell me that I’m not qualified to speak about Qatar. As a Qatari, I have the right to share my views and insight. If you’d like to start another blog and do the same, that will be great.

Now if you feel my replies are harsh, put yourself in my shoes and empathize. 

The internet is quite big, if you don’t agree with what I have to say, there are plenty other ways to go around it (I personally support you creating one to share your own experiences with the public).

Il sara7a, I don’t know what to make of your comment. 

I also want to add that the purpose of my personal blog is to show that all Qatari’s are not all the same. We are not the Borg. We don’t all wear the same brands, necessarily drive the same cars, have the same habits, or in this case celebrate Eid exactly the same way.

I applaud you on your efforts to bridge cultures and promote understanding between peoples, particularly in the very relevant context that your site provides, representing itself as a resource for people living in Qatar.

I take issue however with your explanation of what ‘Eid il Fitir’ is, what it means to Qataris, how they conduct themselves in the celebration, and the analogies you present with Christian practice.

Eid al Fitir is NOT our new year. The closest analogy would be Easter following lent, or the Christian version of Ramadan where people abstain from the the things they like to remind them of those less fortunate (notable difference being, in Ramadhan the fast is abstenance from any and all food and drink not just those things we like or enjoy, and is defined by a different time interval) …. This is the primary focus of Ramadan, and Eid al Fitir Celebrates the end of this period as Easter celebrates the end of Lent among other things.

You say Kids wake up early in the morning and ‘adults lay slumbering’. This is simply false if you are talking about the majority of Qataris! While I am sure many adults lay slumbering, if you are talking about the eid tradition, then in fact it starts very early in the morning with the eid prayers coinciding with the sun rise call to prayer usually around 5 am. In fact, traditionally Eid has not started until after the prayer, and if the author had ever attended one of these prayers they may have noticed that people don’t actually say ‘Eid Mubarak’ when they first meet coming to the prayer area. Instead they wait until the after the prayers are concluded to say ‘Eid Mubarak’.

Furthermore, your breakfast of cream cheese, olives etc. can hardly be called traditional or Qatari. We all have our preferences, but the items you list as breakfast are most certainly not Qatari. I would understand if you said ‘Balaleet’, or ‘Khabees’, or something like that.

I read elsewhere on this site where you wrote that you are a Qatari with western exposure and as such are motivated by bridging cultures and making Qatar a better place to live for all. This is a noble cause and I congratulate you sincerely on your efforts…. I honestly don’t mean to mock you or anything like that. You must understand however, that if you don’t understand Qatari culture, then you are not qualified to speak about it. Adding to it the claim that you are Qatari makes things much worse. Because in the minds of many of the readers of your site, that makes what you are saying authentic and authoritative as a matter of course…. And while it doesn’t make much difference on issues like what we eat for breakfast, it does in the bigger context of what your saying. Your article does not need to be an analysis of Qatari social norms, but what facts you do present, you are obliged to present the correct ones in the correct light.

I know that I have rambled. So I will close by saying that I was motivated to write this response because I am frustrated by constant misrepresentation of the Qatari society. Thats not to say that I agree with Qatari cultural norms, people who know me know this to be true… Still, I can speak of Qatari culture with authority as I am one of them, not only born and bred, but “aban 3an jad” as we say in arabic….. My name is Abdulaziz Khalid Al-Khater

We usually have lunch at 10 am or something…

When I was a child, I used to make QR2000 or close to it… my grandparents loved to give me amounts like QR500. I saved most of that money and it helped me during the first years of my marriage.

p.s. Eid Prayers this Friday will be at 5:33 am.

4th paragraph mentions the prayer