Ramadan begins this week for Muslims around the globe. This is the month when Muslims fast from dawn until dusk as a way to appreciate all that they are given while remembering those who are less fortunate. It is also a month of goals and challenges especially as the hot summer months draw near. It is the time when one dwells in acts towards seeking mercy, forgiveness and redemption from eternal damnation.
But in the days and weeks leading to this month, there seems to have been a flurry of activities in Saudi Arabia that are not particularly related to the period when it is a time of spiritual and physical purification in the Muslim community — a time of patience and self-discipline.
It was during Ramadan that the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Self-purification through fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is a month of introspection, a month of mercy, patience and self-discipline. This is when one’s actions should intensify with generosity towards others, especially the less fortunate. And it is especially a time to refrain from any act of unkindness, dishonesty or ill will.
Instead, what has been evident are the heavily advertised television serials of all kinds on TV or in magazines and newspapers, that are bound to ensnare the viewers away from their activities of faith and keep them up all night. While watching TV is not always a bad thing, the fervent call to grab viewers has been raised several notches, and while some of the offerings are of historical and religious nature, most are not. Commercialism and advertising revenues seem to have taken hold of their corporate sponsors, often in contradiction to the spirituality of the month.
Hotels and restaurants also have jumped on the bandwagon. A month dedicated to fasting seems anything but that when confronted with the various advertised specialities on offer at the different eateries. The purpose of fasting is to remind Muslims, as they go about hungry and thirsty, about the sufferings of the poor. Fasting is also an opportunity to practice self-control and to cleanse the body and mind. And in this most-sacred month, fasting helps Muslims feel the peace that comes from spiritual devotion as well as kinship with fellow believers. However, if a Martian was to suddenly pop up here, he would not be faulted for assuming that this was a month of excesses and gluttony.
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Even food stores are progressively steering the public into this frenzy. A visit to your neighbourhood supermarket will reveal rows and rows of grocery items, tempting visitors to fill up their carts. And you would be disappointed to note what’s offered on their attractive displays. Most of it is junk, loaded with sugar and fat that would undoubtedly set you up in a comatose state following breakfast. And fear not, as customers are walking out with carts full of stuff that most likely will be half-consumed and then thrown away. One social scientist went so far as to suggest that the food wasted during this month equals to the total amount thrown away in the other 11 months of the year!
Individually, we can also be faulted as some of us are busy finalising our party plans for iftar or suhour. Guest lists are being drawn. While the efforts to bring ourselves closer to one another are admirable, such get-togethers are often overshadowed by the seduction of what glitters on the breakfast or suhour menu.
Commercialism by itself is not a crime. But when it begins to eclipse the true meaning of Ramadan, then we should sit up and take note. For it is only for one month of the year that Ramadan rolls in.
Let us instead focus, during this month, on doing what is right and what is necessary. Let us do something for the less-fortunate. And above all, let us correct our misguided ways of the past.
Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. You can follow him on Twitter: @talmaeena.
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