14/02/2026
“If fasting loses its restraint, what happens to the tradition?”
I’m increasingly concerned that Ramadan is being viewed especially by our younger generation as a time to indulge rather than to fast, to feast rather than to practise restraint.
Fasting once carried real meaning, but like so many areas of modern life, it now competes with consumerism, commercialisation, and the constant pursuit of instant gratification. Even our most ancient traditions are not immune to this shift.
I experience this tension daily during Ramadan within my own family. While it has become easier with each passing year as they’ve grown accustomed to a simpler approach to iftar, there are still the inevitable comparisons and complaints about how others open their fast.
I ask my children the following “Are we really and truly sympathising with the poor and hungry if we still break fasts with dishes we don’t usually eat during the other 11 months?”
Resisting this cultural tide is undeniably tiring. Yet if we don’t challenge it, there is a real risk that the true purpose of Ramadan will one day be reduced to a nostalgic “once upon a time, our ancestors used to…” conversation, rather than a self development and restrained practice.
̇ftar
