When it is time to break fast, hundreds flock to Humadi's charity villa

Hundreds of residents from nearby areas patiently wait in a long queue outside the main gate of Abdul Aziz Al Humadi's villa in Mansoura area every afternoon to collect a bowl full of freshly prepared harees, biryani and daal during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Humadi's household has been known to welcome anyone who needs food for iftar irrespective of any class, race or religion.

"Ramadan is the month of goodness and piety. And feeding people is an act of goodness my family has been practicing since the 70s," Humadi explained to Qatar Tribune.

For over 40 years, first his father and now Abdul Aziz Al Humadi himself has been feeding people on every Ramadan without missing a single year.

"People look forward to this house every year for free meals during Ramadan. Therefore, I take it up as my responsibility to continue this charity which my father had started and hope my children will continue with it too," he says.

Cooking starts in the morning and it usually takes around eight hours to complete, before it is ready for distribution. The exercise is in such a large-scale, explains Humadi, that 12 goats are slaughtered every day for meat while 13 boxes of chicken and seven bags of rice are consumed to cook harees, mutton pulao and chicken biryani.

And these are all distributed among 800 to 1,000 people who come to collect it everyday, he adds.

Beneficiaries are mainly from the Indian subcontinent belonging to the low-income group. People start pouring in from as early as 1pm and leave their utensils outside the gate to form a queue so as to receive food on a first-come, first-served basis.

Food is usually ready by 4pm when the distribution starts and people collect their share and return to their homes to have iftar meal.

Humadi's house is popular among the low-income people who speak very highly of the benevolent family.

Sultan Zia, a municipality worker from Pakistan, said he has known this household for almost 13 years and "is so grateful for the gracious gesture that many poor people like me are able to have a decent iftar during the month of Ramadan".

Shy of publicity, Humadi was very modest while describing his acts of charity. His villa is also known for feeding birds all around the year. Birds without fear descend every morning to the front of the villa well fed by the house's caretakers.

Courtesy: Qatar-tribune.com