DOHA: For many Qatari families Ramadan, being a month of austerity and worship, is also a time when family disputes and fights over inheritance, are amicably resolved with intervention from family elders.
As Qatari extended families are crumbling giving way to nuclear families, this is the time for members of the extended families to gather and interact with one another.
Few people know that there is a tradition in Qatar whereby families host late night dinners for neighbours and relatives during the holy month and the idea is to sort out long-standing differences. Some use these occasions to fix marriages for their sons and daughters.
These dinners are called ‘Ghabqa’ and they are mostly held between 11pm and 2am during the fasting month. Nearly all members of an extended family, including elders and children, attend.
A stranger is never invited to such dinners, and it is hosted by families in rotation. If you have invited some relatives tonight, they would follow suit, local Arabic daily Al Arab reported on Wednesday.
This is the occasion when no one who has been invited says a no unless there is a pressing reason. It is the bounden duty of everyone to be present, the daily said, quoting community sources.
Family disputes are casually raised at these dinners and elders take a lead and listen to the parties involved with patience and then they give their verdict.
Most disputes are to do with family inheritance and they are amicably resolved, according to the daily. For members of nuclear families, it is an occasion to mix up with relatives for old time’s sake. The dinner is held for men and women separately. It is also the time when parents look for prospective partners for their sons and daughters.
Khalid Al Rashid told the daily that ‘Ghabqa’ is the occasion when youngsters in an extended family get to know their customs and traditions.
Mohamed bin Ali said this is the time when children mix up with elders from extended families and learn about their customs and traditions. “Most of the time our children are with maids so this is the occasion when they break away from them and mix up with family members,” Mohamed said.The Peninsula
