Rasid - 6 / 8 / 2009 - 7:41 pm

Children in traditional costumes gather around an old woman to collect their candies.

Saudi Shia Celebrated Imam Al-Mahdi day of remembrance on Thursday night  with a wide spread festivals.

Fireworks lit up the sky in Qatif. Artificial and decorated gates were set up on the roads with booths on the sides for distribution candies and light snacks.

Typical decorated gates

Gates were decorated with signboards carrying blessing sayings and neon lights.

Houses lit up colored lights on the front gates and side walls. Shops hanged signboards of best wishes.

Early hours of Thursday night, mosques and Hussainya in Qatif and Al-Hasa started adoration programs and religious recitation describing the moments of Imam Al-Mahdi birth.

Despite of the heat and humidity, children wearing traditions costumes roam around the streets with their bags singing traditional songs as they move from one house to other where they get their share of light snacks and candy.

Several Saudi Shia families who live in cities far from Qatif and Al-Hasa, celebrated the joyful event in small gatherings in houses basements or farms.

Of late, there calls to utilize this event with more adoration programs instead of traditional folklore.

These calls were a result of increasing trends of misconduct by youngsters roaming around with their motorbikes and cars carelessly.

Police cars were spread around major crossings to control traffic and prevent traffic jams.

Several families celebrated the event in the holy cities of Madinah, West of Saudi Arabia, Krabala, Iraq, Mashhad, Iran or Saydah Zaynab, Syria.

Usually, the public and official media ignore this major event in all sorts of media despite of the fact that more than 15 percent of the total population are Shia. Extremist Wahhabi doctrine which is the official state religious school of though, consider these festival as sorts of infidelity.

It should be noted here that security forces storm into one of the biggest Shia festival in Al-Hasa in a village called Bani Maan and ordered the custodians of the festival to take a part all sorts of celebration fixtures.

Bookmark with: