Qatar’s sole liquor store Qatar Distribution Company (QDC) will for the first time be closed for nearly two weeks in the run-up to and during Eid Al-Adha next month.

The outlet in Abu Hamour, which allows residents who have a permit to buy alcohol for home consumption, is likely to be shut for 13 days, with its last day of trading expected to be on Sept. 12.

It will reopen around Sept. 26, depending on the official date of Eid, a representative said.

The move comes after hotels in Qatar have also been instructed by the government to cease selling alcohol in the nine days prior to Eid and on the first day of the celebration itself.

While the dates for Eid have not yet been formally fixed and are dependent on the sighting of a new moon, Eid Al-Adha is expected to start around Sept. 23.

QDC refused to officially comment on the closure or confirm the dates when Doha News called, saying: “It’s a sensitive subject.”

However, customers with liquor licenses were told about it when inquiring over the phone, and a notice outlining the closure dates is expected to be posted on the doors of the store “soon,” a store official said.

Hotel closures

Previously, QDC remains closed during the first days of Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha, and other public holidays such as Qatar National Day (Dec. 18). It also does not open at all during the month of Ramadan.

Long lines snake around the store for days ahead of the start of the holy month, as customers stock up ahead of its closure.

Earlier this year, the Qatar Tourism Authority contacted all hotels in the country, telling them they would not be allowed to sell alcohol for the first 10 days of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijjah, when Muslims perform the Hajj.

At the time, a representative of one five-star Doha hotel said that during the week or so leading up to Eid Al Adha, restaurants and bars would not be allowed to serve or sell alcohol, and minibars in guest rooms would not be permitted to stock it.

However, it is understood that guests would be able to order alcohol through room service, as long as it was consumed in private in their rooms.

Even for observant Muslims who are not performing Hajj, the first 10 days of this month are believed to blessed days to undertake good deeds.

Thoughts?