UAE: Dubai Ramadan Iftar Cannon Tradition

The firing of a cannon to signal the end of the fast is a much loved tradition associated with the Holy Month of Ramadan.

During the Holy Month this year, which is expected to begin on Sunday 5 May, Dubai Police will once again place the iconic cannon on Fort Island at Madinat Jumeirah.

Tourists and visitors can witness the time honored Islamic cannon ritual every day throughout the Holy Month before Maghrib (sunset) prayers.

Before the age of clocks and smartphones, this was how residents were informed about iftar time and Dubai is continuing with the practice even in the age of modern technology.

Some historians believe the custom dates back as far as 10th century Egypt, when one of the Fatimid caliphs ordered a cannon to be placed on Cairo's Muqatam Hill so all Muslims would hear the signal to break their fasts.

The cannons have now become one of the local symbols of Ramadan, and tour companies are adding them to their tourist routes.

Under the responsibility of Dubai Police’s General Department of Protective Security and Emergency, each cannon is assigned four officers and is placed in six different locations across Dubai.

The cannons used by Dubai Police were built in 1945, and have a sound range of 170 decibels which can be heard from 10km away.

Major-General Abdulla Ali Al Gaithi, head of the General Department of Protective Security and Emergency, explains: It has been tradition since the 1960s to use cannons to announce Iftar every day during Ramadan.

We fire around 200 cartridges across Dubai during Ramadan and Eid from the six cannons. Each cannon is fired twice in a row to announce Ramadan, once every day to announce Iftar and twice in a row to announce Eid and again twice in the morning of Eid, after Eid prayers.”

Andy Cuthbert, General Manager of Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, Madinat Jumeirah -Conference & Events and Jumeirah Hospitality, said: We are pleased to host a very special ritual related to the Holy Month of Ramadan at Madinat Jumeirah.

This is the time of the year where friends and families come together on a daily basis to celebrate and we are excited to be part of the experience, both for our visitors who are celebrating Ramadan as well as tourists who wish to see the heartwarming traditions of the Holy month in Dubai.


Tourism Observer

INDIA: Eid Joy Turns To Sorrow In Chandrapur

Seven-year-old Sharmin Akhter was looking frequently at the path stretching before her house at Latabar village in Chandrapur union of the district, waiting to see her father come with her Eid gifts.

Then the air of festivity changed into mourning as her grandmother Aklima Begum and neighbours began wailing on receiving the news of death of 16 people, of the union, in a road accident early yesterday. Two of the victims were Aklima's two sons including Sharmin's father Saddam Islam.

Sharmin might not have realised what she had lost, but she burst into tears watching elders mourn and cry.

My father told me he had bought new clothes for me. He told me I would wear the new clothes during Eid, said Sharmin, only daughter of Saddam, at her home in Latabar village.

Thirty-five people, mostly low-income people and day labourers, from three villages Batrish Hazari, Latabar and Balapara of the union in Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat met one of the worst road accidents in recent times as they were going home on a cement-laden truck.

The truck skidded off the Dhaka-Rangpur highway at Pirganj of Rangpur around 4:30am, leaving 11 people dead on the spot and 13 others injured, said Rezaul Karim, officer-in-charge of Pirganj Police Station. Later, five others succumbed to injuries.

All the victims used to work in Gazipur.

Jahangir Alam, Union Parishad chairman of Chandrapur, said death of so many people from the same union took away the joy of celebrating Eid.

Those, who were lucky, who escaped death, told me the accident took place because the driver was driving with sleepy eyes.

The truck driver, Nazim Uddin, who also hails from the same union, managed to flee after the accident.

Meanwhile, at her home, Aklima, 46, was passing out, as she learnt her two sons Saddam, 28, and Alamgir Hossain, 25, would never return to her.

Our sons told me they were coming home and they would bring clothes as Eid gifts. Now, forget clothes, my sons are no more,Aklima cried out. Her daughters-in-law Sharifa Begum and Khadiza Begum survived the accident luckily.

Like Aklima, Mizanur Rahman and Mahfuza Begum of Batrish Hazari village, were grieving as their son Maznu Miah, 22, was killed in the accident.

I talked to Maznu over the phone at around 11:00pm on Friday. He told me he would have sehri with us, Mizanur said.

Maznu, who had been working at a garment factory in Dhaka since 2010, had a plan to buy a piece of land with his savings after Eid.

Now, everything is over, Mizanur said.

Of our two sons, the elder one lives separately. We were dependent on Maznu, said Maznu's mother Mahfuza Begum.

We didn't lose our son only, but also our dream, hope, shelter. We don't know how to survive without our son Maznu, she sobbed.

Rubel Islam, 28, of Batrish Hazari village, also saw his hope and dreams shattered after losing his father Kohinur Islam, 48, to the accident.

His father had wanted to return to the village, leaving his job in a garment factory, to open a grocery shop.

Today, he is no more, he said,And my mother is injured. I don't know what is in her fate as she is in a critical condition,said Rubel with tears.

Contacted, truck owner Abdul Karim of Chandrapur said the truck driver was responsible for the accident. I didn't permit him to carry passengers.