The observance of Ramadan in the Kingdom has been replaced by a flip-flop culture over the years with modifications in the Iftar, Suhoor and activities contributing to positive as well as negative changes in people's daily lives. Paying charity In the past, a key factor of Ramadan was fund collection within mosques through unregistered local organizations or charities. This practice has since been banned by the Saudi government, and now all organizations need to be registered, approved by the government and regularized, with the option to pay directly through the bank. “Now all charity is done through aukawf, through the Ministry of Religious Affairs,” said Mohammed Siddique Al-Ansari, Imam of a mosque in Riyadh. “Charity is not allowed to be collected anywhere else, or by any individual or organization.” All charitable organizations have their own bank account numbers and are easily distinguishable as INSAN bank accounts in the Kingdom to ensure that money for charity is not diverted into “wrong hands” or exploited for non-charitable purposes, he added. He did, however, advise people to return to the roots of charity-giving and consider needy relatives and friends before giving the money to a bank. “That way it will remain sadaqa and silla instead of just sadaqa,” he said. Eating out People now increasingly opt to have Iftar in restaurants as a mode of resorting to comfort and convenience instead of preparing food at home. Some even prefer catering services and sign a month's contract with them for the duration of Ramadan. “Women in particular, who are exhausted with demanding housemaids or are working, prefer to have Iftars in restaurants to avoid the usual toil of cooking,” said Masood Ahmad Puri, Manager of La Sani Restaurant in Jeddah. “Everyone gets the monthly booking done prior to Ramadan; Saudis as well as expats bring their relatives and guests for Iftar parties, and now people invite their guests for Suhoor too.” He added that the past two years, especially, have seen an increase in eating out during Ramadan. Unity Ramadan in the past was characterized by a sense of unity amongst people with Iftar and Suhoor becoming social affairs where entire families would come together to eat and pray. Now, however, both occasions have largely become private affairs with members of one family often eating at different times and alone, despite living together. “The special aroma of food and qahwa were a fragrance of togetherness that could be experienced 20 to 25 years back in every neighborhood,” reminisced Baqi Eskander, a 70-year-old Saudi pilgrim guide in Makkah. “Saudis lived together and participated in feasts together, contributing any food they had, but now my eyes long to see those days again. “Families have split and people have become engaged in solely earning money. Before, they used to support each other, and now each person is just restricted to his own needs.” Mad scramble for goods Anyone who has gone grocery shopping in the past couple of days will testify that it has constituted nothing short of a mad scramble to buy goods. Supermarkets in major cities are teeming with customers who are in a rush to stock up on things like sacks of rice and bottles of cooking oil as if nothing will be left to buy later. “From the time a few days are left to Ramadan - before the new moon is even sighted - people start rushing here and there, rushing to buy things,” remarked Abdul Qadir, a 70-year-old Syrian man in Riyadh. “Supermarkets have commercialized Ramadan through their promotions, and customers buy a lot more because of those. It seems like a month of feasts has been ushered in instead of fasting. In the past, people devoted more time to worship and ate what they got.” It's time to relax? Another disturbing phenomenon is the greater inclination in most people to eat lots of food, watch lots of TV, stay awake all night and do all their chores after sunset. A false perception dominates that Ramadan is a month of lethargy and relaxation. “People stuff themselves with heavy, oily food and even decorate their tables with fancy trimmings, which isn't the true spirit of Ramadan and didn't even exist a few decades back,” said Tamer Hussain, a 67-year-old Egyptian in Jeddah. Living conditions during past Ramadans were such that most people worked normal eight-hour (or more) days but standard working hours have now been reduced to six in almost all offices. “Years back, thirst and hunger never slowed people down; they still exhibited the same energy while going to work,” said Mahmoud Abbas, a 62-year-old Pakistani living in Madina. “We used to get up for Fajr prayers and then set off to work, but the new generation blames Ramadan for the lack of work and postponement of tasks.” These days, the post-Tarawih prayers' period constitutes of jam-packed roads as people flock to malls and other recreational centers. It is a much better alternative to watching TV at home, but 26-year-old Syed Nabeel Hassan remembers his childhood in the Kingdom with nostalgia, when there were no satellite channels, Internet and hardly a computer in every home. “We used to watch two local channels, which were the best in Ramadan because they used to air special variety shows,” he reminisced. “After Tarawih prayers, we used to go out and play football, volleyball, board games and table football with our friends. But now young people have been introduced to other activities like watching satellite channels, surfing the Internet.” “Ramadan has lost its true spirit; people even start shopping for Eid from the 15th day of Ramadan onward, even though all Eid shopping was always done in the last few days of Ramadan. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be wrong to start calling Ramadan a month of fashion in the future,” he concluded.
