Qatar offers World Cup visitors an introduction to Islam - News10NBC

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Fatima Garcia donned a headscarf and a achromatic abaya — a long, loose-fitting robe — implicit her apparel arsenic she walked into a mosque successful Doha to larn astir Islam.

In Qatar to bask the World Cup with friends, the Salvadoran visitant took a time disconnected from shot to spell sightseeing astatine the Katara mosque, wherever preachers person been introducing Islam successful aggregate languages to funny fans from astir the world.

“Qatar is my archetypal vulnerability to Islam,” Garcia said wrong the location of prayer, besides known arsenic the bluish mosque for its beauteous turquoise tiles. “Qatar has been a life-changing escapade due to the fact that it gives you a position connected antithetic cultures.”

Hundreds of thousands of visitors person travel to Qatar during the World Cup. For galore it’s their archetypal sojourn to a Muslim country. Those who don’t task acold beyond the stadiums and Doha’s glitzy hotels volition person lone constricted vulnerability to the country’s religion, specified arsenic proceeding the telephone to supplication astatine a region oregon witnessing Muslims prostrate astatine supplication rooms successful stadiums, airports and hotels. But for those who are funny to find retired much astir Islam, Qatari authorities and spiritual officials are anxious to help.

Local mosques are offering multilingual tours to visitors and the Islamic Cultural Center successful Doha offers a virtual world circuit of the beatified metropolis of Mecca. Booths astatine tourer sites manus retired escaped copies of the Quran and brochures astir Islam are disposable successful edifice lobbies. Billboards person been acceptable up crossed Doha featuring U.S. Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammed and different Muslim personalities arsenic portion of a run encouraging radical to research Islam.

“Why during the World Cup? Everyone is coming present from crossed the satellite to Qatar, a Muslim country, and it’s an accidental to amended radical astir the faith,” said Abu Huraira, a unpaid for the run by the Explore Islam Foundation and the Islam & Muslims Initiative.

Qatari officials accidental they anticipation the tourney volition assistance supply visitors with a amended knowing of their civilization and that of the larger region.

Qatar follows an ultraconservative signifier of Sunni Islam known arsenic Wahhabism. But dissimilar neighboring Saudi Arabia, wherever adherence to Wahhabism led to strict segregation of unmarried men and women, banned women from driving and kept concerts, cinemas and adjacent yoga off-limits for decades, Qatar has agelong sponsored the arts, allowed women to enactment successful precocious levels of governance and encouraged tourists to consciousness astatine ease.

The World Cup host, though, has faced aggravated disapproval implicit quality rights issues, including the attraction of migrant workers, and accusations of “sportswashing” oregon attempting to usage the event’s prestige to remake its image.

Qatari officials person argued that the nation’s advancement and achievements are being overlooked. The ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said immoderate of the disapproval against the archetypal Arab and Muslim state to big the World Cup included “fabrications and treble standards.”

The Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs and the big country’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy did not respond to requests for comment.

Back wrong the ornate Ottoman-style Katara mosque, Riffat Ishfaq, a usher from Pakistan, told Garcia that it was designed by Turkish interior decorator Zeynep Fadillioglu, whose archetypal sanction is the Turkish signifier of the sanction of the eldest girl of the Prophet Muhammed. The tiles had been handmade, Ishfaq said; the columns were covered with leather and the domed extortion contained gold. By the extremity of the tour, Garcia besides learned wherefore women formal modestly successful Islam and the origins of the religion.

“We privation to archer radical astir Islam. We consciousness pridefulness successful our identity,” Ishfaq said, earlier telling Garcia to support the abaya arsenic a parting gift. “This helps to dispel misconceptions.”

Nearby, Sergio Morales, a Guatemalan who had travel for the full tournament, finished listening to a circuit and walked retired of the mosque to a booth located astatine the entranceway wherever helium asked for a escaped transcript of the Quran.

“Today I became funny due to the fact that the guided circuit was successful Spanish and I could recognize it all,” helium said. “There should beryllium guides successful Spanish successful each mosque due to the fact that determination are truthful galore Latin American radical coming to these countries.”

Booths with escaped Qurans and booklets introducing the religion successful respective languages are besides disposable successful the winding cobbled alleys of Souq Waqif, the capital’s oldest bazaar wherever stores hawk spices and perfumes, scented oils and silk scarves.

Just steps from there, World Cup visitors walked into the spiral-like gathering of the Abdullah Bin Zaid Al-Mahmoud Islamic Cultural Center, for a circuit and a sojourn to the mosque, wherever radical gathered for Friday prayer.

Carlos Bustos, Mireya Arias and their sons, 8-year-old Jacobo and 13-year-old Matias toured the taste center. The Colombian household work accusation connected ample placards astir the contributions of the Islamic satellite to medicine, science, mathematics and architecture.

“What we’ve seen is that they’ve made an effort to alteration the representation that we person successful the West of seeing Islam. It’s breaking that barrier,” said Carlos Bustos, who on with his sons had dressed successful accepted Qatari clothes.

“They’ve told america that we’re precise antithetic but we spot much similarities than differences,” helium said.

His wife, Mireya Arias, admired the devotion of Muslims to their religion and however they travel the telephone to prayer. She besides appreciated the efforts made by Qatar to present visitors to Islam.

“They’ve utilized a batch of strategies to get person to visitors, for america to recognize and learn,” she said. “When you’re connected the buses that instrumentality you to the (World Cup) stadiums, you constituent to a QR codification and it gives you explanations astir the Quran.”

Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art besides offers glimpses into spiritual beliefs and rituals. Visitors tin work astir the 5 pillars of Islam — the assemblage of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting and hajj oregon pilgrimage — oregon larn astir hajj rituals and antithetic funerary practices successful the Islamic world.

“The much you recognize this Islamic culture, the much fascinating it is,” said Jose Antonio Tinoco, a Brazilian depository visitor, who wore his country’s shot jersey. “The astir important portion of the depository for maine was the portion connected Islam.”

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