Dubai: New Filipino and Chinese Muslims in the UAE marking their first Eid Al Adha were briefed about the Islamic festival by Dubai officials on Saturday and Sunday.

Dozens attended presentations hosted by the New Muslims Section of Dubai’s Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD).

A number of non-Muslims from the two communities also showed up to learn about Eid and Islam in their own language, a Chinese IACAD official said.

Filipino expatriates were invited on Saturday and Chinese expatriates on Sunday.

Guest speakers from the communities gave lectures and took questions from the audience.

The new converts learnt about the significance of Eid Al Adha — the Festival of Sacrifice — held towards the end of the annual Haj to Makkah.

Aisha Al Kash, the head of IACAD’s Edification and Religious Guidance Department, said in a statement: “The department wants to share Eid happiness with new Muslims and to emphasise the virtue of Eid and social solidarity between Muslims.”

The believers were invited for a get-together in Mamzar Park after the presentations. Games and religious rhymes for children were also arranged, said Xiaoping Gao, Chinese Languages Senior Guide at IACAD.

“We get people coming in everyday to accept Islam, sometimes five at a time, sometimes 20. Many are Filipinos and some are Chinese also; it’s the first time we’ve done something like this for them,” Gao said.

Similar initiatives in Arabic and English are also planned, he added, saying “even Arab Christians from Egypt or Lebanon, for example, are accepting Islam. Non-Muslims are welcome; the idea is to give people the right information about Islam because many people have got the wrong information.”

A 33-year-old Chinese Muslim, Omar Ibrahim, told the audience about his journey to Islam. His wife, son, parents, some in-laws and cousins have also become Muslim in his footsteps, Ibrahim said.

“I had too many questions in my heart, about life, death and what happens next. I started learning about Islam because I met good Muslims in the UAE,” Ibrahim, who runs a garments business, told Gulf News on the event’s sidelines on Sunday.

“I read the Quran in Chinese, studied it for six months, and told myself ‘I want to be like such Muslims.’ I called my wife in China and said ‘come here, our lives are going to change.’”