Every year as the month of Ramadan approaches, imams in mosques motivate people with khutbas on blessings of fasting. The khutbas are more or less the same around the world as they repeat statements of Prophet Muhammad quoted in Hadith. In these khutbas the imams ignore the fact that Prophet Muhammad was speaking to a small number of people in a pre-industrial society in Medina. There are more than a billion Muslims now spread over different time zones and conditions. A lot of people are swayed by the zealous exhortations in the mosques and take part in day long fasts for the month of Ramadan not knowing how it will affect them, and many suffer damage physically and spiritually.
The rules of sharia say that people who are ill, are elderly, or menstruating or pregnant are exempt, but this is usually not mentioned or only briefly; the speeches focus on exhorting people to fast. Many are swept up in the excitement of Ramadan and fast even if they are weak or not in good health. I personally know of people who were diabetic but fasted and died during Ramadan. In many families, children as young as seven are cajoled into fasting; how wide-spread this practice is and how it affects their growth has not been investigated.
If a pregnant woman fasts, her unborn child is likely to suffer as a result. Statistics on Muslim children1 in Michigan whose mothers fasted during pregnancy show that they have higher incidence of visual, hearing and learning disabilities. The adverse effects are very likely to be greater in societies where nutrition and healthcare are not as good as in America. This obviously is an important topic that needs to be researched in Muslim societies.
Because of lack of economic development in many societies, there are large numbers of people who are perpetually malnourished and weak. They should be told not to fast. But this distinction is never made in Ramadan khutbas and weak, malnourished people also believe that it is their religious duty to fast.
People who suffer from psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks and schizophrenia should also be exempted from month long fasting unless their therapist is confident that it will not lead to a worsening of the patient’s condition.
In previous centuries work that required mental focus was not common. But in modern times many professions require intense concentration for long hours. This includes people who work with machines and those in computer-based professions. Loss of mental acuity because of hunger, thirst or sleep deprivation can cause errors and loss of productivity. Allowing such losses to occur without informing your employer is dishonesty. An honest way would be to inform your employer that you intend to fast and come to an agreement about how any deficiency in your work is to be compensated for. It can be by someone else backing you at work, or you taking time off for the days you fast, or some other arrangement.
It is a common observation that work slows does dramatically in Muslim majority countries in Ramadan. In government offices most workers consider it appropriate to come in several hours late, and then soon afterwards they go for zuhr prayer. Because of staying up late at night for taraveeh prayer and then getting up early for suhoor, there was not enough sleep and everybody is lethargic and irritable. Moreover, everyone, officers as well as workers think that this is how it should be because their spiritual efforts are more important than work. In this way there is a significant loss of productivity for a whole month.
Unfortunately, there are no data on how observation of Ramadan affects the economies of Muslim countries. Based on common observation we can expect it to be a significant loss every year. It is important that Muslim governments commission such studies, so they have estimates of the economic losses to the country.
Loss of efficiency in Ramadan is a serious problem also in countries where Muslims are minorities. It is the responsibility of imams and other religious teachers in such Muslim communities to teach that fasting is only for those whose work efficiency is not affected by it. People should be told that if their work suffers because of fasting, their supervisor has the right to criticize, or take action against them. It would be incorrect and self-defeating to say that such action is because of anti-Muslim bias.
There were no clocks in the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), so the dawn to dusk fast is described in aya (2:187) by saying: “eat and drink until a white thread and a black thread at dawn become clear to you, then complete the fast until nightfall”. Medina is at the latitude of 24 degrees so the longest day in the summer is for 14 hours. But now many Muslims live at high latitudes where summer days are much longer. The ulema, consistent with their fundamentalist outlook, have ruled that the fast begins from when you can distinguish a white thread and a black thread, and it ends at sunset. As a result, for Muslims in Glasgow, Scotland the fast in June begins before 2 AM and ends after 10 PM. An hour after iftar people go for taraveeh prayers which last for more than an hour. A couple of hours later it is time for the suhoor meal. How subscribing to such a regimen for a whole month affects people’s stress levels, their health, safety while driving, performance at work, and other aspects of life is never discussed.
It is astonishing that people do not see the contradiction that in pursuit of ‘spiritual rewards’ they are being dishonest. If your work performance suffers because of fasting, then you are creating a loss for your employer. Employment for wages is a contract to deliver a certain of amount of work of good quality and it is immoral to not fulfill this obligation for personal religious reasons.
One of the original aims of fasting was to learn to control appetite but this has largely been forgotten as Ramadan has become a ritual, a social celebration in which people entertain each other with large varieties of foods in iftar gatherings. In many Muslim cultures Ramadan is observed as “fasting during the day and feasting during the night”. While social get-togethers with over-indulgence in food are pleasant events, we all know that sustained overeating is unhealthy and contrary to the purpose of fasting.
A recent survey2 of Ramadan food habits in Egypt showed that 83% of Egyptian families increase their food purchases in Ramadan by between 50 to 100 percent. The study observed that during this month, Egyptians spend 66 % more on meat and poultry, 63% more on sweets, and they host 23% more banquets and dinner parties. Not only do people spend more, they also waste more. About 60 percent of the prepared food is thrown away in Ramadan.
In an article published in Kuwait’s Al Qabas newspaper in 2016, it was reported that food consumption increased by 40 per cent in that country during Ramadan. If such surveys are done in other Muslim societies, similar patterns of over-indulgence and waste are likely to be discovered.
The original purpose of Ramadan was to guide people to more conscious living by exercising restraint of appetite, gaining power over sleep, learning to be patient and engaging in self-reflection. Until teachings about Ramadan are re-oriented to help people develop these traits, it will continue to be a month of economic and spiritual loss for Muslim people.
- S.D. Levitt and S. J. Dubner, SuperFreakonomics , pages 57-58, HarperCollins Publishers (2011)
- Proceedings of the International Scientific Agriculture Symposium, Agrosym, 2015, Sarajevo, Bosnia, ISBN 978-99976-632-2-1. DOI: 10.7251/AGSY15051298E.)