Cost Of Living In Doha

salam

Are you currently in Doha ? Where are your from ? I'm a British Muslim, my husband is a Canadian Muslim, We are moving to Doha in Jan 2007, for 3 years. Have you come across any British/Canadian Muslim expats in Doha ???

Aisha...great comments

the rest of u guys really really interesting...i love this site...its soooo diverse .lili.

No on judges any one ;-)

Mark...i liked ur reply hehe ;) nice to meet ya anyway or i didnt meet ya yet :P here is Fady u can take a look at ma profile..

Hello Mr.NoName...I See That Its YOUR* choice NOT* others choice to drink alcohol or nope...and Mrs.or Ms. Aisha u said nice words , god will Judge at The end...so in another meaning we dont have to judge that guy even he wanna drink alcohol or to kill himself ;) thnx anyway

Aisha....merci kahytooo

merci khayoo ....lol i liked it...although we don't say it in lebanon, our brothers in syria does....i did enjoy the debate too its kinda benefitial.....i've noticed ur open minded .... and see you ....(it could be in real life) my honor :)

Dear brother I think It was a symbolic one mostly. And you narrated it reallly baddd :-P

But the original story is really wise and full of brilliant hints. I like the original one.It's like a good Morality play.

I'm really really surprised how , shallowly, some members here perceived it! Some actually compared the man with their own selves!

thank you safwany for the story.

Lol, Shikhah Aisha??Big sister?

really lol :D

Thank you noname for your reply.merci khayoo.

And right, I was talking in general mostly. I admire what you said "and while everybody think himself on the right path, only God will judge in the end"..I always say it in my words.

I reallly didn't have the intention to talk about all these details at first(but I don’t regret them). I just wanted to show you all that the action of publishing is what I was against. Its not my business ,It’s up to you and its your decision to publish or not at last…just giving my opinion.But things just lead to other things, (hardly related! ) and I need to clarify:-)

It just can’t happen that such a question would be posted and we all deals as we agree on what’s happening or we’re just blind .When I don’t comment on such a thing I consider myself negative. Others will assume that Its okay with me that people in my country or religion do that thing ..And it’s not.

Anyway, no problem I didn’t really spend that much time on the verses, I know the extracts I just pick from here and there.I do it fast :-)

Even in reality I do that!lol No wonder you called me Shikha! …

It’s really stupid to judge people by their religions. I DO NOT DO THAT. I don’t want you to take that impression on me. Those who really know me know how open minded I am, just like you ;-)

I enjoyed this kinda debate soooo much wallah!

See you ;-)

(In qatarliving, where else! )

:)

Dear Guys

I surely respect all your "valuable" viewpoint since i learned to do so from my early childhood. for you "shiekha" Aisha i really respect your viewpoint as well, and i know what you mean and what are you trying to do or say,i know that you spent alot of time trying to write your message and get the refrences from Holly quraan. i really appreciate your efforts and i know its for my own benefit,and i respect that, you are trying to play the role of "big sister" which is nice. i really read all of your message and i know it wasn't for me its for everybody who think of drinking, but i think my sister you missed one point, which is Freethought, and speciallity of every person, I respect all what you said and for sure i respect islam as well as christianity, but i'm a freethinker, not an atheist but a free thinker which means i think of things in my own way, you might not like it, but i do, and as much as i respect all the relegions, i find it logical for others to respect what i think or beleive in. and i was not negative in saying "I worship what i like" i just wanted to say, there are 6 billion people on this planet and every single person have his free well to worship anything he likes, in India some people worship the cow, you Dearest sister worship God of Islam, in Europe they worship god of Jesus christ, and i worship my owbn god in a different way. i might worship nothing but i'm still a good person. its up to you to worship what ever you think its right, but in islam perspective its wrong, as well as in christian perspective it is wrong as well, but God will do what ever he likes in the end. and while everybody think himself on the right path, only God will judge in the end. once again thanks a lot for your valuable advice, i saved your message on my own computer to read it again and again.

For you "dentist" i think im still in my country and i know what am talking about, you might not find alcohol in some places in lebanon, but its available for everybody and no one asks you why are you drinking, and you don't need a licence, and yes you have the free well to drink wether you are a muslim or a christian.

For you safwany, well my freind your story is really nice, and i got what you mean, but still its not a rule, im not a hard drinker, am a social one, i have been drinking for almost 5 years and i have never been drunk, even once.

for you super7 its true i drink socially, you got me.

gettinandstayyin thanks for your advice.

for all of you guys, its a pleasure for me, to be part of a site that respect all viewpoints, beleives in diversity, and have people like Aisha and safwany that criticize in a constructive manner.

may you all have a nice day :-)

Maybe the story is weird for all of you and it also could not be true, I heared this story when I was a kid and it could be just a story you tell your kids to let them afraid to do it to protect them from something unuseful with all means and YES it worked with me, I never touched the alcohol all my life even as a try.

I hope they told me another story about the smoking :((((((

Okay It’s long and you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to.But PLEASE don’t do that expression on your face whenever you see a long post ;-)

Oh by the way, the lines up there aren’t for you noname :-) YOU READ THIS:

Wanna clarify things..enjoy them :-)

1- It's the same God in both Qatar and Lebanon. So, the argument of " here in Lebanon" is out of its proper use since that I was talking about the deed itself committing by a Muslim.I was talking religiously.

2- It is up to you to do it or not. Now this is right.

3- You said “Allah or God or whatever". Allah=God , my dear.I have a bible at home and The word God is translated as Allah..All bibles are. I mean the Only one God that everyone believes in God knows , regardless the fact that some worship partners beside him (polytheism).You know I’m not talking about the other gods, with small G.

4-The "everybody worship Allah or God or What ever in his own way" thing, I didn't understand it.Are you worshipping him by drinking Alcohol? It sounds so by your statement. I’m sure I missed your point .But what I know is that as Muslims we all pray at the same five times to the same direction and fast at the same month ..ect. Haveing extra special things between one and one's God is a great thing, but it’s something else. There are certain things in common, “Not drinking� is one of them.

5-"no one get punished instead of another" Now that’s right, Almighty Allah said:

Say: "Shall I seek a lord other than Allah, while He is the Lord of all things? No person earns any (sin) except against himself (only), and no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. Then unto your Lord is your return, so He will tell you that wherein you have been differing."

( سورة الأنعام , Al-Anaam, Chapter #6, Verse #164)

But, my brother, Almighty Allah said too:

By degrees shall We teach thee to declare (the Message), so thou shalt not forget, Except as Allah wills: For He knoweth what is manifest and what is hidden. And We will make it easy for thee (to follow) the simple (Path). Therefore give admonition in case the admonition profits (the hearer).The admonition will be received by those who fear ((Allah)) But it will be avoided by those most unfortunate ones.

( سورة الأعلى , Al-Ala, Chapter #87, Verses 5-11)

So, It's just a kinda reminding from your little sister :-p

Gyuyys, honestly, I don’t like it when you comment on something in Islam out of ignorance. You show the man how to get the forbidden drinks , well that’s up to you but please do not get involved in a religious conversation about a religion you don’t believe in,in stead of even knowing it!

Guyys, Maybe you don't see it the way we Muslims do It's not like we have something against the person himself. In Islam that’s very normal thing to happen .I don't know if you happened to read Qatar Girl's blog here, She posted a blog about waking up early and she was online late that night, so, The members Safwany, Qatari and dentist asked her to leave the site and go to sleep to be able to get up to the fajer prayer (The “dawn� prayer) , (because she had to get up for school too that day)though she didn't ask for this or show any interest in praying.She was more than happy receiving the advices and didn't say well "its not your business I worship my God as I like".

We Muslims do that all the time, reminding each other of things we may haven’t paid much attention to it. And we get rewarded for that action even if the other person doesn’t response as we wished. Upon the intention Allah rewards us or punishes us, not the result because the result is Allah's business not us.

Back to the thing , “Everyone worship Allah in hes own way� well, maybe with “a purple mascara on ,wearing an orange socks eating a liver of a widow ant at the 32nd night of a lunar month� will be a good tradition, liturgy …everyone on her\his own way! And no “lol� here just for my dear super7.

*By the way, I got the translations of the verses meanings from different translators. If they sound different in style now you know why.

I hope you , noname, have a look on them in Quran.

If you didn’t like what I said I hope you just like my intention.

Once again, welcome to Qatar :-)

Scottish are brits as are northern Irish and the welsh. What they are not is English. So when you guys were saying England and English I just wanted to sort that out.

Well long live Indian drivers with liquor licenses I suppose....

No.... apparently its only against the law to sell to Qataris.

Respect

GIASI

Even if you fill in Muslim? I thought it was against the law to sell alcohol to muslims?

Noname.

Just for information. You dont have to lie on your liquor license application. Even if you put "muslim" for religion your application is still accepted, as long as you pay the 1000 riyals deposit thats all they care about.

Other info. You can buy alcohol in doha airport duty free but you cannot bring it into the country.

If you do get a license, dont publicise the fact. Otherwise, people who drink but dont have a license will try and get you to buy alcohol for them. Make no mistake, if you get caught its serious.

Yup.. its true about the British. If only drinking was an Olympic event. Brits drink like someone is going to take it away from them. But to be honest, i say brits but its really the Irish and scots who deserve the most credit.

Scottish guy crossing the road with a bottle of whiskey in his pocket. Halfway across he gets hit by a car, thrown in the air and falls into a crumpled heap on the ground. Drifting in and out of consciousness he feels a warm trickling feeling running down his leg and thinks "i hope thats blood".

Respect

GIASI

I'm British.

That's true, you english are the worst drinkers I've ever seen. You get out of control when you drink, women as much as men behave embarrasingly...

I love drinking, hate getting drunk

Then again, Safwany's story was weird...!

Thats just because in England you get so plastered by 10 Pm you can't even walk anymore let alone kill your maid ;)

Safwany

I am British and we have quite a famous and long standing drinking culture. I regularly drink and enjoy it a great deal. I have however never ever hit a woman and nor have I murdered my maid or anyone else for that matter. Let's not get excited about the perils of drink. This religious man in your story was clearly a bit of a nutter anyway.

I am sure noname enjoys a drink responsibly and like he says what he does has no effect on your relationship with god so let him be.

An ancient story could be an example.

The satan showed up to a religious man and asked him to do one of three things (as an options) or he would hurt him badly, the man asked what are those three things, the satan said:

1- Beat your wife, the man said no I never beated her.

2- Then kill your maid, the man said no I can't do that it is a big sin.

3- Ok then you have to drink this bottle of wine, the man thinking for a while and saying to himself it is a sin but this wont hurt anyone and he start drinking ...

his wife saw him drinking wine and she got very upset and said to him how could you do that, you have to stop, but the man got drunk and don't know what he is doing and when she tried to take that bottle away from him they got in a fight and he beated her badly when the maid saw what is happening and tried to help that poor woman then the man hit the maid on her head with that bootle and she droped dead.

It is an example for the effective of the wine.

Dear Noname,

I agree with you 100% that you are free to do whatever you want...even if it's a sin...as long as you don't hurt no one...

But...on the other hand...i would also like to advise you not to be hypocrite about what you do...I mean do whatever you want but admit that it's wrong...this way MAY BE one day you will be able to fix your life style.

And oh yeah...don't say "here in Lebanon(where i live) its an ordinary thing to drink wether u are a christian or a muslim"....I have plenty of Lebanese friends here in Doha...they deny what you claim!!!!!!!!

Super7 ....I agree with you...he is free to do what he want...I am just arguing the Hypocrisy

Guys ....... Hold Your Horses

Guys...its not that bad.....it was just a question..here in Lebanon(where i live) its an ordinary thing to drink wether u are a christian or a muslim...so it was just a question to know more about the country...besides although i respect all the viewpoints..including Aisha's one....its up to me to do it or not...moreover guys everybody worship Allah or God or What ever in his own way...and no one get punished instead of another...

It is his business and his alone surely?

yeah.

I call Allah to witness that I'm against this.

saaaaddd BUT true

what a shame.

Hello Noname...

Once you have your residence permit you can get a liquor license, however you will just have to lie and say youre a christian or something to get it (ouch another sin ;) ).

Or you can have drinks in the hotel bars, plenty of locals and other arab (muslim?) expats do that.

:) i'm not sure u'll be happy if u work in the city center ..u'll get bored of it with time ..it's like school would have been great if it wasn't the place where u have to study ;)...

Or u might be very busy working that u will not find time to have fun there ...

You welcome noname,

Carrefour is like a larg food store in the city center , a very nice shopping Mall.

If you will be staying in the mall you will have great time I geuss .

I wish I could work at the city center ! :-)

thank you guys for the replies.....but it was just a question...only a simple question .....anyway i respect all the view points ;)

and am happy to receive any other comment on this issue.

and of course i would like to ask mr. safwany for his advice too. guys couple of weeks and i join u in Doha. i'll work in carrefour is it a good company?

I agree with aisha, regardless where u (noname) are, as a muslim u shouldn't involve in this habit. If u do, please don't publicize it.

Hey brother my answer to your question "is alcohol prohibited for muslims even if they were non qatari? " is a hadith..May Allah guide us to the right :-)

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:

I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: All the people of my Ummah would get pardon for their sins except those who publicize them. And (it means) that a slave may do a deed during the night and tell the people in the morning that he has done so and so, whereas Allah has concealed it. And he does a deed during the day and when it is night he tells the people, whereas Allah has concealed it.

You will need to apply for license driving test unless you have an European or American driving license.

It is a bit hard to find a studio apartment but not impossible, it could cost about 4500QR (1000 up or down) unfuirnished.

Hi everybody...

please i need to know, can i exchange my Lebanese driving licencse with a qatari one? and is alcohol prohibited for muslims even if they were non qatari? and what about housing is it hard to find a studio, am not talking about money matters am talking about ability to find accomedation quickly....

thanks for your assistance....17 days and i c u in Doha :)

Yes it is very expensive to find a suitable accomodation here.

About the food it is reasonable, as for the recreational activities there is no much of it but it is getting better day after day.

thanks a lot for your reply, but is it that expensive there? and what about the other issues like food and recreational activities?

Hi noname,

About the accomodation, with your salary it is very hard to find your own accomodation and the best way is to share it with someone else, Studio or 2BD apartment may cost about 4500-6000 with A/C only.

living in qatar

HI guy

i am a lebanese guy and i was offered a job in qatar for 6,235 riyals in month. is it a good salary, annd what about accomedation and housing and other recreational activities, is it only a desert there no clubs or cinemas, and other things to do, like where to go in holidays and things like that.

i really appreciate your help.

Try this previous posting from this website: http://www.qatarliving.com/blog/peter-rodgers/price-list-wanted-for-the-cost-of-expatriate-living-in-qatar

If that link doesn't work, just skim over previous posts and you should find what you need. If not, just let us know your specific questions and I'm sure someone could help you out! Good luck.

Usually people ask about the expats cost of living, why you are interested about the local citizen?

I work in real estate and I could help you about the cost of living for expats only cause for Qatari citizens it is vary and difficult to give a figure.

Ayman