Cannon behind the iftar tradition
Beginning int he '60s, Dubai Police's efforts have kept alive ancient practice that sounds the end of the day's fast
Dubai: A loud boom signals the start of Ramadan across Dubai.
The Ramadan cannons heard in Dubai throughout Ramadan keep the tradition alive. The firing of the cannon is an old tradition that is believed to have originated in Egypt to announce iftar and the end of the day’s fast.
Since then the practice has spread to most Arab countries.
Dubai Police’s Weapons and Ammunition Department of the General Department of Services and Supplies is responsible for the Ramadan cannon firing programme, which it started to announce iftar during the 1960s.
Major Abdullah Mubarak Bin Musabah, head of the Weapons and Ammunition Department, gives Gulf News the complete picture of the working of Dubai Police’s Ramadan cannon firing programme.
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