The State National Day Celebrations Committee in Darb Al Saai celebrates the heritage of the Badia in Qatar through many events, the most important of which is the Ezbah event, which means the House of “Hair”, which contains the sniper’s equipment that he needs in hunting, so you can find everything related to camels, and camel riding tools, their names and installations. Al-Izbah also reflects the ancient hair house used to receive male guests. In this space, activities are also presented to teach children how to tighten the female camels in the correct way for men and women.
Al-Izbah is also adjacent to the “Al-Maqtar”, which is one of the most prominent activities of Darb Al Saai, which is held annually. It is a group of hair houses that simulate the life of the desert in Qatar in the past, with their host, generosity, sheep, camels and falcons. The bird, the activity of the little sniper, the handicraft exhibition, the desert drawings, in addition to teaching the children “Sanaa” the council, and other activities associated with this event.
Mr. Abd Al-Rahman Ahmed al-Badi al-Maadheed, the head of the Al-Maqtar and Al-Izbah event, explains that Al-Maqtar is a realistic embodiment of the neutrality of the desert in Qatar in the past, and refers to the houses of hair overlapping in a straight line, and when a person comes from a remote area, he sees the houses as if they are interspersed and close to each other, pointing out that the houses of hair in the past used to gather people of different categories to talk, confer, and pass on news. The next one was to mention that it is “Maqtar” because it is consecutive and adjacent houses next to each other…
Al-Maadeed added that Al-Maqtar includes a number of activities, including counting poems and poetry puzzles, which consist of reciting a verse of poetry, and asking the participants to understand the content of this verse. There is also a competition in memorizing a verse of poetry that is recited for the first time, and it consists of difficult terms, and it may be from pre-Islamic poetry or poetry in the early days of Islam, or from eloquent or Nabati Arab poetry, indicating that the aim of these activities is to remind people that the people of the desert in the past were they enjoy the acumen to protect themselves from the danger surrounding them in the desert, so the people of the desert relied on introducing their children to many things that inspire them with insight and intelligence, such as storytelling, even knowing the impact of the tribe’s camels from others, and following the conditions of the desert and what is in it. All this makes individuals in a state of readiness to always facing risks.
Mr. Abd Al-Rahman Al-Maadeed explained memorizing the verses of poetry makes a person always astute, to know the content of the conversations of the men around him, and thus is considered a revitalization of memory and mind, pointing out that Almaqtar and its activities such as camel riding, which comes within the activities of Almaqtar and Al-Izbah, we notice a great turnout from Darb Al Saai fans, especially the World Cup fans in Qatar, as well as families and children here in Qatar.
He added that the many activities presented by Al-Maqtar and Al-Izbah seek to connect the new generations with the lives of parents and grandparents, given that these mounts were a means of transportation and travel in the past, and at the same time the new generation learns about the suffering of parents and grandparents in the past in order to build the present of this country for the new generations, and that despite the suffering were preserving their religion, customs, traditions, and love for their country.
Abdul Rahman Ahmed Al-Badi Al-Maadeed added that conditions may not always be favorable for families to take their children to ride mounts most of the time for reasons related to the nature of life at present, considering the activities of Darb Al Saai, especially “Al-Maqtir” event, as providing everyone with this important opportunity, indicating that one of the most important activities of Almaqtar is falcons and hunting, which aims to introduce visitors to falcons, their types, sniping and hunting tools, how to prepare Arabic coffee and other cultural activities.
Various traditional activities and events will begin at 3:00 pm and will continue until 11:00 pm. The audience will be invited to the falcons in the traditional way, using waving, as well as transporting the bird on the hand to visitors from different countries of the world, especially the fans of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. This event was well received by the masses. It introduces them to the types of falcons such as AL-Hurr (Free), Peregrine Falcon, Shreyas, and others, as well as all the types that are used in hunting, as this is part of the Qatari heritage handed down from our fathers and grandfathers, and it is passed on to the younger generation who get to know the falcons as well, in addition to other important activities provided by the estate called “the hut” (Koukhah). During it, how to catch migratory birds is explained, as it is a traditional tool that is used to hunt falcons, it was in the past and still is, using the shreyas bird, which is a type of small falcon, not a small chick, and it is used by cottages because it has the ability to ruffle it over a long period and the feathers are similar to feathers, so the migratory bird when the falcon sees the shreyas with feathers, he feels that he has prey with him, so the migratory bird tries to pounce on him, so the falconer pulls the shreyas to the ground and throws a kind of net at them to catch the migratory bird.