DOHA: The World Cup soccer matches coinciding with Ramadan this year have left religious and community elders worried as young Muslim men are said to be skipping the late evening and nightly prayers.
Matches are held late in the evening and continue until 1am when it is time for Muslims to focus on prayers and worship during the holy month.
A prominent Muslim cleric, while stressing the importance of nightly prayers (Tharaweeh) during the fasting month, has warned Muslim youth against ignoring these prayers.
Mohamed Al Mahmoud said Ramadan being the month of worship and the fact that it comes once a year, Muslim must spend their time worshipping and reading the Holy Quran rather than watching football, TV serials and other entertainment programmes.
The cleric told Al Sharq in comments published yesterday that World Cup matches were making many Muslims sit at home glued to their TVs and not visit mosques to join prayer congregations.
When it is time for late evening (Isha) and Ramadan-specific nightly prayers (Tharaweeh), people must go to the mosque for prayers. There is absolutely no excuse for a Muslim to skip these prayers.
Sheikh Ahmed Al Buainain, famous Islamic scholar and cleric, in his last Friday sermon, spoke on the issue and urged Muslim youth to not watch World Cup matches live since they are played at the time of ‘Isha’ and ‘Tharaweeh’ prayers.
There are TV channels that record matches and telecast them later, so people should watch these channels, he said.
Sheikh Al Buainain said World Cup matches go on until 1am which is crucial time for prayers during the holy month.
The World Cup will continue until the 18th of Ramadan. In Qatar and other GCC states, Ramadan began on June 29.
The last time World Cup coincided with Ramadan was in 1982.
The Peninsula
