A rigorous and traditional Islam
Officially, Qatar embraces Wahhabism, a movement of Sunni Islam founded by Saudi Arabia's Muhammad ibn Abd el-Wahhab around 1745. Its followers reject any tradition outside the Koran and the sunna and refuse the invocation of saints or the prophet Muhammad himself. This Islamic doctrine is based on the historical alliance between the political and financial power represented by Ibn Saud and the religious authority. The 5 pillars of Islam are applied here with rigor. The first, Zakat, is the legal alms, the amount of which is determined by the Koran. It is a religious tax, levied by the ministry, and that every Muslim has the duty to pay for the benefit of the needy. The second pillar, the Sawn, is a month-long fast that Muslims are required to observe during the period of Ramadan. During the day, between sunrise and sunset, practitioners must abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse. They are also encouraged to perform good deeds. The3rd pillar, Hajj, is a pilgrimage to Mecca that every Muslim is supposed to perform, even if only once in his or her life. The4th pillar is the Salat, the ritual prayer. It must be said five times a day, in Arabic and facing Mecca. The first prayer is the dawn prayer, around 4-5am. In general, most Muslims perform this ritual in the mosque compound. But it is not impossible to see them praying in public places, when the mosque is too far away. In all cases, the prayer is accompanied by precise rituals: ablutions, spreading a carpet to protect oneself from the impurities of the ground and turning towards Mecca. The prayer always begins with the recitation of the first sura (or chapter) of the Quran. Finally, the 5th pillar is the Shahâda, the profession of faith. It consists of a single sentence: "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet
Mosques in Qatar
While Qataris often go to the nearest mosque in their daily lives, for Friday prayers (a holy and non-working day in the Muslim calendar) they like to choose larger mosques. The government of Qatar aims to build mosques every 500 meters or so, so that each practitioner can easily go there several times a day. The mosque's architecture is simple and uncluttered, but it always has a minaret, a long and high tower, plain or ornamented, from which, five times a day, the muezzin calls the believers to prayer. The call to prayer is made by the muezzin from the top of the minaret at times determined by the position of the sun. Some mosques have only one minaret, while others, the most important, have several (but never more than 7, the number of minarets of the Great Mosque of Mecca). The other essential element of this type of worship building is the mihrab: a niche in the wall indicating the qibla (the direction of Mecca). A mosque always has a water point, which is essential for the ablutions that the worshippers have to perform before praying, in order to purify themselves. Doha has some remarkable mosques. The Great State Mosque, also known as Imam Muhammad bin Abdulwahhab, can be visited, as well as the Education City Mosque. Of futuristic architecture, it is a reflection on Islam and modernity. The building designed by the Iranian architect and calligrapher Taha al-Hiti rests on 5 large columns symbolizing the 5 pillars of Islam. The Qur'anic botanical garden is located here
Family and lively religious celebrations
Most Muslim holidays and religious festivals are based on the appearance of the moon in the month or week of the Hegira calendar, which is about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian year. Therefore, the exact date of most of them is known only 24 hours in advance. The holy month of Ramadan and the three days of Eid al-Fitr (little Eid) that follow are the most important religious holidays, in Qatar as in the rest of the Arab world. People abstain from eating, drinking and smoking from sunrise to sunset. The fast is broken after sunset with a meal called iftar. During this period, workdays in companies are usually shortened by 2 or 3 hours, while stores are closed from 1pm until very late, after the meal. Thus, most stores and shopping malls remain open well past midnight. Eid el-Kebir (the great Eid), the feast of sacrifice, is also a festive time when family members gather to eat the sheep. It takes place on the 10th of the last month of the Muslim calendar and marks the end of the Hajj. Children are given gifts or money and sumptuous meals are shared. Families walk in the parks, have picnics or go to the cinema or shopping malls.
Christianity and the church of Notre Dame
Christians are the second largest community in Qatar with nearly 13% of believers. The Franciscan order of Capuchin Friars Minor, in India since the 16th century, has a discreet Catholic presence, with the agreement of the authorities. Without a visible cross or ringing bell, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Doha (12 km south of the Corniche) has been welcoming the faithful for regular masses since 2008. Every Friday, from early morning to sunset, they are celebrated every hour in all the languages of the Qatari working communities, including French, English, Sinhalese, Hindi... At each service, the church is full! For the record, the stained glass windows of the Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire church are the work of the French master glass artist, Emile Hirsch (1832-1904). This artist from Metz trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Eugène Delacroix and Hippolyte Flandrin. Among other things, he restored the stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral, as well as those of the churches of Saint-Séverin and Saint-Thomas d'Acquin in Paris, and those of Saint-Louis Cathedral in La Rochelle
