Change this, this Ramadan!

Change This Ramadan

When many of us think of Ramadan, we think of feasting. There are particular dishes in every culture that we never see in the year except in the month of Ramadan. The pakora, the samosa, special soups, special fried dishes that only turn up in Ramadan.

Yes, it's understandable. We're hungry. But when we think about the damage this culture does — the purpose of the month is for us to go hungry — and instead the month is turned into a feasting ritual.

The feast is supposed to be happening on Eid, not at Iftar time. The impact is mostly felt by the ladies, by the mothers, by the wives who have to slave over the stove for 6, 8, 10, 4, 3 hours a day to cook a variety of dishes. We have created around Ramadan a foodie culture.

That foodie culture has to go.

The Food Culture in the House of the Prophet ﷺ

If I take you for a moment to the food culture in the house of the Prophet ﷺ — he would wake up some days and ask Aisha, "Oh Aisha, is there any food at home?" She would say, "Nope." He would say, "I'm fasting today."

How many gentlemen in this audience can do that? The Prophet ﷺ — months would go by and nothing would be cooked in his house. The fire would never be lit. What would he live on? On dates and water.

It was narrated from Aisha that she said: "A month would pass over us in which we would not kindle a fire; it was only dates and water, unless we were brought some meat." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2567; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2972)

Simplicity Is the Way

Simplicity. Minimize. Cut it down. Live a minimal Ramadan rather than adding all of the bells and whistles to the food. Such a Ramadan becomes a month of stress and cooking and feasting, and we forget about the core — the Qur'an, the salah, and the du'a.