According to thei Reuters story, Moroccans spend 28% more on houshold food during the month-long observance of Ramadan than they do during any other month of the year. I don’t know all the details involved in proper observance, but the story suggests fasting and self-denial are key elements.
Yessirree, I sure do appreciate a good fast. Really gotta watch that waist line though, I swelled up like a balloon during the last one.
Muslims break the fast at the end of the day, and breaking the fast generally involves a lot of food, elaborate meals that sometimes take most of the day to cook, etc…
Besides, they also hand out food to the poors.
So, nothing to be surprised about.
Anybody who’s seen any Ramadam meal could tell you that it’s not a month of self-denial. It’s certainly not “the Muslim’s Lent”, as I once heard it described :rolleyes:
In this day and age, who doesn’t know that the Ramadam fast lasts for sun-up to sundown, and that the evening (and often late into the night) is a time to meet with family and friends, sharing food, stories and song? How many cute human interest stories have to happen before people get a basic understanding of a different religion?
Granted, the story linked to is a bit vague (and dimissive), but the information is all there–dawn to dusk, lavish meals–so poking fun at the Moroccans seems a bit, well, simple-minded I suppose.
This could easily be:
Christians spend more on candy to celebrate the holiest day in the Christian calendar. (Because we all know the Risen Christ was really jonesing for a chocolate egg.)
Lesson: don’t make fun of a religious practice you don’t understand. or even one you do understand, although you stand a better chance of not looking quite so stupid in that case.
For that matter, Yom Kippur, the one mandatory (with few exceptions for health reasons) day of fasting in Judaism, lasts from sunset to sunset, so Jews can eat right before the first sunset & right after the next, tho I don’t think they have a big lavish meal on either day (I think it’s customary to end it with a light meal but I have no idea where I got that thought except for a NORTHERN EXPOSURE episode L).