Sohni Dharti organises its ‘biggest’ Seerat-un-Nabi conference

The second Seerat-un-Nabi conference organised by Sohni Dharti this year was entirely a children’s show.More than seventy children participated in different competitions in the programme that was also conducted by children. They gathered huge applause and appreciation from the packed audience at the Al Wahba Ball Room.Keeping up with its tradition of engaging children in literary activities allowing them to showcase their extracurricular abilities, Sohni Dharti Qatar organised a grand Seerat-un-Nabi conference recently that was attended by more than 200 people, mostly members of the Pakistani expatriate community.“I congratulate you on becoming a part of this auspicious occasion and witness these beautiful performances organised by the Al Khor community children today,” Rana Anwar Ali, chairman of Sohni Dharti told the audience in his opening speech.“I think it is the best programme ever organised by Sohni Dharti, because it is a programme that is celebrating Seerat-un-Nabi (the personality of Prophet Muhammad PBUH) and there cannot be an event more esteemed and fortunate than this,” said Ali.The participating children competed in different elocution contests in Urdu (Pakistan’s national language). The conference also featured a competition for recitation of the Holy Qur’an where the best recitation was awarded with trophies.In the Qirat competition, Huzaifa Amjad secured the first position while Jannat Sajid and Rao Abdul Mannan placed second and third, respectively. In Naat (poems in the praise of the prophet PBUH), Anfal Anwar won the first prize. Reda Ahmad won the second and Abdul Rafay won the third prize.Areeha Mariyam won the first prize in the speech competition, while Romaisa Ali placed second and Ali Abid was third.“I am proud to see the passion of these children. This is our aim. It is to give opportunities to children to learn more about Seerat-un-Nabi and then let them hone their extra-curricular skills at such levels,” said Ali.He added that Sohni Dharti would continue to hold such programmes in the future as well and will try to get more children involved. “We are hoping that in future there will be even more participation. We had more than 30 participants for the Qirat competition this year which is a big number. It shows children’s interest in it,” said Ali.He appreciated the efforts by the children, who organised the entire event by themselves, with assistance from adults.The event opened with a catchy performance by the children, who performed a prayer in the form of skit. One of the children also presented a skit where he performed his dream of travelling to Makkah and Madinah.Sohni Dharti, a forum of Pakistani expatriate community living in Al Khor, comprising people working for Qatargas and RasGas, celebrates more than one such event every year. Earlier this year, they celebrated a similar event during Ramadan – the Faizan-e-Ramadan programme – where children participated in good numbers. The children from Sohni Dharti community had put together a show related to different themes on Ramadan. The programme also included an Islamic quiz, Naat recitation and elocution contests.On the side-lines, the members of Pakistani expatriate community living in Al Khor are also organising a four-month-long season of Twenty20 cricket that started in October. Sohni Dharti’s flagship cricket tournament, Pakistan Cricket League, which is formatted like the Pakistan Super League T20, has matches every Saturday.Six teams are participating in the tournament. Five teams in the tournament are named after the five PSL franchises representing the five capital cities of Pakistan, with an addition of Gilgit Elevators. The semi-finals and the final will be held in January.Sohni Dharti has been organising multiple events for the Pakistani community in Doha. Formed in 2012, the main objectives of Sohni Dharti are to promote cultural, social and sports activities for Pakistanis residents of Al Khor community.Its membership is open to the people of Pakistani origin residing in Al Khor, and to Qatargas and RasGas employees living in Doha.