Abu Dhabi Police have issued 39 fines for illegal social gatherings since the beginning of Ramadan.
These were given for breaching Covid-19 rules which ban gatherings of more than 10 people, a police official said on Sunday.
Fines can reach Dh10,000 ($2,722) for organisers and Dh5,000 for each participant.
Police urged the public to follow coronavirus rules.
"Some Ramadan traditions and social norms have become very dangerous during the current pandemic,” a police official said.
“They contradict precautionary measures and regulations to curb the spread of Covid-19.”
Examples include “big family gatherings and iftar banquets that are held for a large number of relatives and friends”, said the official.
Police urge the public to report any breaches by calling 8002626; sending a text message to 2828; or by emailing the police's security service aman@adpolice.gov.ae.
Reports can also be made on the public prosecution smartphone app.
Typical Ramadan traditions – such as tents at hotels and communal iftars – are not allowed this year, to curb the spread of Covid-19 as the vaccine programme continues its rollout.
The UAE has one of the world's fastest vaccination drives, with 10 million doses administered in just a few months.
Ramadan in the UAE - in pictures
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
