Qatari spends $4.4 mln on Ramadan charity work

A Qatari foundation said that it would spend 16 million Qatari riyals ($4.4 million) on charity work in Qatar and abroad during Ramadan. Shaikh Thani Bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF) will spend QR10 million ($2.750 million) in Qatar and QR6 million ($1.650 million) outside the country, Ayid Bin Dabsan Al Qahtani, RAF Director-General, said. ‘Bashair Al Rahma\' (Good News of Mercy), a big cultural programme in association with Katara, Ezdan, Villaggio and Landmark malls, will be the main programme scheduled to be held in Ramadan. \"The programme features religious speeches in Arabic and English by prominent scholars as well as religious songs by popular groups in English and Arabic, cultural competitions, a special exhibition with rare photographs about the Holy City of Makkah, a special religious and education exhibition, RAF competition based on the book ‘Maalim Al Rahmah\' and interviews with educationists and imams at Ezdan villages,\" Al Qahtani said, quoted by Qatar Tribune daily. RAF will distribute 1,400 purchase cards called ‘Bithaqath Hadiyyathie\' worth QR500, QR1,000 and QR1,500. \"The one priced QR500 will be for a family of up to five members and the QR1,000 card would be for a family of 5-10 members while the card worth QR1,500 will be for a family of 10-15 members. Over 1,400 families will benefit from this basket of charity,\" he said. The RAF will put up 10 Iftar (breaking of the fast) tents on the occasion of Ramadan and about 100,000 people are expected to visit them. There will also be seven Iftar programmes for Indian, Nepalese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Filipino, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi communities amid expectations that around 8,000 will attend them. An Iftar programme will also be hosted at the students\' accommodation of the Qatar University. The Public Relations Department of RAF will be printing 40,000 copies of religious booklets that will be given away, while a cultural competition will be held through four Arabic newspapers. A film shot in Kenya focusing on the social life of Muslims will be screened for 30 days in 30 segments on Qatar TV. Outside Qatar, RAF will organise the biggest Ramadan competition related to religious texts in Comoros. A grand Iftar will be hosted in Darfur for around 25,000 people. According to Al Qahtani, the RAF has funded 115 projects this year. The Markaz Al Sahaba, which is a comprehensive Muslim centre implemented by RAF in Somalia, will be inaugurated within the first 10 days of Ramadan while the project of establishing a university in Africa is in the pipeline. The foundation stone-laying ceremony is expected to be held next month. Ramadan, during which Muslims abstain from drinking, eating and indulging in sensual pleasures from sunrise until sunset, is expected to start on August 1 and end on August 29. From / Gulf News