The Ramadan Camp located in the center of Al-Khobar is transformed every year into a hub of Dawah activities with foreign workers from several countries attending lectures and listening to messages about Islam from Islamic preachers. Hundreds of expatriate workers visit the Ramadan Camp daily for Iftar and after breaking their fast, stay on to listen to lectures about Islam delivered by Islamic teachers from their respective communities. The Ramadan Camp has been bringing the blessings of Dawah to the local expatriate communities in the Eastern Province since the first day of the holy month. One of the most active parts of the Al-Khobar Ramadan Camp is the Philippine section where 12 Filipino Islamic lecturers convey the message of Islam to Filipinos, according to Ustadz Bajunaid Andi, who recently organized the First Qu'ran Memorization Competition for Filipino youth, which was sponsored by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in cooperation with local companies and which was held at the Ramadan Camp. “Since the start of Ramadan, the Philippine section of the camp has been busy and has been attracting members of the Filipino community,” Ustadz Andi said. Lectures at the Philippine section of the camp are conducted daily, lasting for several hours. According to Ustadz Andi, lectures at the Ramadan Camp center on comparative religion, the tenets of Islam, Islam and other religions, introduction to Islam, and other topics exploring Islam. He said attendees are able to interact with one another and discuss freely with their lecturers about Islam. He said a large segment of the Filipino community in the Eastern Province has been attending Iftar and lectures at the camp since the beginning of the holy month. A number of the attendees have since embraced Islam, according to Ustadz Andi. “When the First Qu'ran Memorization Competition kicked off on August 11, there were already about 200 Filipinos who had embraced Islam at the Ramadan Camp,” he said. It is expected that by the end of the holy month of Ramadan, the number of Filipinos who have Islam at the Al-Khobar Ramadan Camp will have reached 300. Other expatriate groups are also experiencing the same encounter with Islam. The Al-Khobar Ramadan Camp was built three years ago, and has since become a center of Islamic activities, sports competitions and community events. __
