Addressing common complaints during Ramadan, Qatar officials have warned motorists against speeding on the roads at iftar time and advised them not to overeat after breaking their fasts.
Noting an uptick in serious accidents during Ramadan compared to the rest of the year, the Ministry of Interior highlighted the dangers of rushing around at sunset in a post on Facebook, saying:
“Although the concerned authorities are taking possible measures to ensure safety of road users, excessive speed and negligent driving especially at the time when all are rushing back to their homes, lead to traffic violations that may sometime end in fatal crashes.”
To decrease stress at sunset, motorists should leave early and allow for plenty of time to get to their destinations, the MOI added.
Those who find themselves running late should pull over, break their fasts “and then proceed calmly to join your family members for iftar.”
Overeating
Separately, an emergency room doctor at Hamad Medical Corp. (HMC) has reminded those who are fasting to not overeat at night, saying the ER has being seeing an increase in patients with gastrointestinal problems.
In a statement, Dr. Saad Abdul Fattah al-Nuaimi, senior consultant of Emergency Medicine, said:
“If people don’t maintain moderate food intake and overindulge, this contradicts the purpose of the fast. It can also lead to weight gain and obesity with its complications, such as diabetes mellitus and heart disease.
Part of the benefits of fasting is to help us develop a healthier lifestyle, in addition to reinforce community relationships and enhance compassion and charity.”
To avoid abdominal cramping and other pain, he recommended keeping the iftar meal light and drinking lots of fluids. Al-Nuaimi also advised against skipping suhoor, saying it could result in dehydration and fatigue.
Finally, he added that it’s best to avoid consuming salty and fatty foods, caffeinated beverages and refined carbohydrates and sugar (such as white bread, white rice, sweets and pastries) that can cause blood sugar surges and lead to weight gain.
Thoughts?
It would be interesting to see the figures for car murders during the month of Ramadan compared to the rest of the year. I would not be surprised if they are higher than any other month. The level of driving on the way home yesterday was obsence. Obviously it was National Drive Like A T*T Day.
For the Ramadan fasting it would be a good exercise for people to weigh themselves at the beggining of the month and then at the end to see if they have lost weight, gained or stayed the same. I find it highly ironic that people bully others into fasting during the day when they have to and then stuff their faces all night long. To me that is not fasting.
And actually using their Holy Month as another excuse for bullying others on the road. Since we are not fasting, we have to give them the highest road courtesy, even if they almost crash your car and yet still they are the ones who will get angry. The irony of life.
Who are they? Can you be more explicit please 🙂
They are those “road users, [who are using] excessive speed and negligent driving especially at the time
when all are rushing back to their homes, [which leads to] lead to traffic violations
that may sometime end in fatal crashes.”
yesterday i almost got hit by two land cruisers which were racing each other. i saw them approach and i shifted to middle track but the second guy got behind me and started flashing his lights and then honking. had other cars in front of me and beside me where should i go. this guy then got in between me and the car in the last track and pushed me towards the other guy in the land cruiser. so i’m then stuck in between these two maniacs racing.
please for god sake if you guys want to kill yourselves while having fun do so out in the desert but not inside the city and not at the expense of other innocent lives.
and before anyone asks i was not hogging any lane by driving slow.
Oh God that sounds terrible! Good that you are safe and sound. It is sad some people like to bully others on the street with their big cars. It says a lot about thear lack of education and respect for others. I wonder how they behave with their families and relatives.
MIMH… sorry you are missing a * in your first paragraph. I think T*T is not strong enough, and T**T would be better !
I’ll raise you a ‘C’ in place of your first ‘T’
Your feeling is fine, but not your choice of word.
Abhorrent word, but sadly appropriate, on many occasions
I don’t consider the month of Ramadan a real fasting experience in places that ban public eating and remove all temptation of food. I have been to Iftar dinners and the amount of food and wastage is sinful. I think people actually gain weight during Ramadan, I’ve never seen anyone who experiences real hunger, gain weight.
Here is actually a good article about fasting in the Jakarta Post. A well balanced argument, which goes against the oppression in gulf countries.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/19/fasting-a-personal-matter.html
what do you mean by oppression?
The Koran States no compulsion in religion yet non Muslims in the gulf are threatened with jail and fines for the simple thing of taking a drink of water. As the Muslim man says in the article fasting is a personal choice and should not be forced on other.
Well Gulf countries made it a law, to observe fasting, in UAE eating or drinking in public during the daytime of Ramadan is considered a minor offence and would be punished by up to 150 hours of community service.. They have to follow the Laws of the country
2014 article–Kuwaiti authorities have arrested 19 people for eating in public during Ramadan, Kuwait Times reported.
The men and women included an American and Dutch girl caught eating on the side of a road during the day.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/19-people-arrested-for-eating-in-public-during-ramadan-557401.html
So the gulf countries consider themselves above the Koran. Hmmmmm. No compulsion in religion.
Good article.
Gastrointestinal issues…..Doc says, try not to consume caffeine, carbs, complex sugars….that is the entire meal, minus the lamb, at nearly every Iftar I have attended. How does one reconcile this with the facets of faith that say this is to be a time of self-reflection, charity, and renewal of their faith in God? Running people off the road, general bad behavior, laziness, and overeating all excused because a person is fasting? Seems more like a collection of sins to me. For the years I have been living here, I have chosen to fast, just to understand people a bit better. Yet, I am not rushing about at the last minute running people off the road, crashing cars, and then stuffing my face until I am hospitalized. So maybe I am missing something? Maybe instead of the MOI saying, hey slow down, they should be out in force seizing the cars of fools. Rather than the already full hospitals filling up with people that have acid reflux, maybe they should just setup some tent out in the dirt where these people can be treated in the same way they are treating themselves and others, with complete disrespect.
I’ve already seen 4 accidents in the last two days, more than I’ve witnessed in the previous 6 months … come on people Ramadan is supposed to be a spiritual time for reflection and calmness.
Apparently it doesn’t become one. It becomes the month of road accidents due to arrogance and sense of entitlement on the roads.
These idiot drivers won’t listen to the MOI… same story every year. Either we wait for God to calm their souls, or we wake up the Qatari Police.
the Qatari police are some of the perpetrators!
To right remember being bullied on the road by a staff sgt in a land cruiser, tailgate, flashing his lights. when he pulled up beside me, narrowly missing the rear of my car with a 3 year old in it. Abused me for staying in the left hand lane to turn left 50 metres ahead , he pointed to his uniform, I shrugged and shouted so what…they think respect comes from fear, well not from me, as I could not of cared less if I was deported…never heard another thing about it , too gutless or perhaps he knew he was in the wrong…moron.
Fasting in Qatar is an amusing concept. When you sleep most of the day work 4 hours a day or not at all, all you do is reverse your times and effectively live a night shift, so it is not really fasting.
That’s what I have always thought, it’s cheating and if you are actually putting on weight then what is the point. We might as well say it is a nice holiday for a month, the same as Christmas has become a commerical business and an exercise in gluttony.
Actually, I don’t find it amusing at all. Neither, i assume, do the 250,000 plus people currently fasting here, never mind the hundreds of millions around the world doing the same. They are doing it because they ‘feel’ it’s fasting and whatever my personal beliefs are, I certainly wouldn’t publically belittle the process by calling it an “amusing concept’ just for the sake of antagonism.
to be honest, I went to mall just the day before Ramadan, and I couldn’t believe how crowded it was and, I can’t believe that most racks are empty. and there was not much fruits left. for a second I felt like its the day before the world crises, or that day before that the sun will not rise again. If people are fasting, then how on the earth these sales are so big. and most racks are empty. I guess the word fasting need a new definition. like how fast you can eat. LOL.
This is has to be change if religious people need to really make this month as a month of Ramadan. give meal to a worker or person who cannot afford a good meal. do it for a month. Don’t miss understand this with giving donation to a charity. Give a meal by your hand to a person, to a labor, just for a month. then you really had done some thing to get closer to your god or to heaven, in what you believing.
Yes Qataris are known for their self control and driving with care for others.
Ha ha ha.