Omar Chatriwala

Hundreds of Qatar residents marched toward the US Embassy in Doha after Friday prayer today, joining their voices to protests being held across the region against a YouTube video that disparages the Prophet Muhammad.

Police estimated at least 2,000 people turned out for the tightly-controlled rally, which was called for by prominent Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi.

“There is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger, Muhammad is our prophet, Muhammad is our love,” was the initial chant as protesters marched from the Omar ibn Al-Khatab mosque alongside the Doha Expressway.

But another chant taken up by some was more controversial: “Obama, Obama, we are all Osama,” in evident reference to Osama bin Laden.

When asked about the Osama chant, one rallier, Hisham Al-Jindi, said it was meant to send a message. “We are at peace in everything, except our prophet. We can fight only for our prophet,” he said.

Others explained that they were at the rally to show their disappointment in the film. “The prophet is a good person, even non-Muslims agree on this. So, why is this always happening?” asked Indian citizen Asif.

Ahmed, from Egypt, told Doha News: “This is my prophet, my Islam is not like the movie.”

Attendees, however, said they also condemned the deaths of Americans at the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya. “The person who did this should be punshed,” said Asif.

Al-Jindi, too, felt the United States wasn’t at fault for the film, but wanted to send a message that its creator needed to be held accountable. “[If] one American makes bad things, it doesn’t mean all American are bad,” he said.

This was the same sentiment expressed by Sheikh Qaradawi himself. During the Friday sermon, he told those gathered in the mosque:

“It’s unfair to put all the guilt on a full nation, they are few Americans and some Christian Egyptians who live in the US [that are responsible]…

Going to the embassies and breaking it or throwing rocks at it or burning it is not the right solution. We need to ask the USA to have an official stand against such acts of insulting religions, like other European countries.

He also said Qatar is producing its own film about the Prophet Muhammad and spoke at length about Syria, saying that Qatar, Arabs and Muslims all support the revolution there.

Qaradawi called on all Arab countries to help Syria, in many ways, including sending soldiers and weapons to the Free Syrian army. “It’s their duty,” he said. 

The post-prayer rally opposite the US Embassy was separated by the multilane Doha Expressway, and didn’t end up last long. Held in temperatures over 40° C, those gathered gradually dissipated before a much smaller group marched back to the mosque to end the rally about an hour later.

Credit: Reporting by Omar Chatriwala and Mostafa Sheshtawy. Photos by Omar Chatriwala

As Qatar’s temperature rises, so too are hemlines at Qatar’s malls, according to a story in local Arabic newspaper Al Raya.

In an article published last week, author Aisha Buhadi asserts that more expat women are wearing short shorts and miniskirts - in violation of expectations of modest dress - and are creating friction with locals.

Here’s a translated excerpt from the story: 

(Qatari women) confirm that the scene has become provocative towards the feelings of many shoppers, and has often pushed some of them to directly criticise the women who don’t respect the customs and traditions of the conservative Gulf society.

And sometimes, the discussion turns into a heated dialogue, that ends up with the Qatari woman insisting that the naked (skimpily dressed) foreign women leave the shopping mall for violating the instructions that call for modest dressing.

This forces the mall security to take the indecent foreigner outside the shopping mall.

Al Raya’s English-language sister publication Gulf Times touches on that story again today, with a salesperson telling the newspaper that “displaying mini skirts and shorts and matching blouses is a must because they are very much in demand.”

Sheikh Tariq al-Kubaisi, referred to as a cleric, is meanwhile insisting that such attire “is a sign of loose morals and it must be checked by the authorities.”

It certainly isn’t the first time the issue of what constitutes appropriate dress in Qatar have been raised.

Just three months ago, a user posted on popular community forum Qatar Living that she was harassed at Villggio Mall for the way she was dressed.

What do you make of all this? Has what’s considered “appropriate” to wear become a bigger issue in Qatar? 

Credit: Photo by Omar Chatriwala