Consumerism in Ramadan

Also published in Daily Trust

Muslims often look forward to the month of Ramadan not only for spiritual rejuvenation but to also break away from the usual routine of life in their individual lifestyles. In addition to the phenomenal increase of the acts of charity and generosity in Muslim societies during Ramadan, the dramatic rise in food consumerism among them is also one of the easily noticeable trends during the month.

Though during Ramadan people understandably develop high appetite for a wide variety of foods for obvious reasons, the way both rich and poor develop unnecessary insatiability for lavishness particularly in the provision of Iftar meals is simply disproportionate. This situation is particularly phenomenal in the rich Arab countries where, during Ramadan in particular, people go on shopping sprees for not only food provisions but for many other things also e.g. expensive household items, vehicles etc.

Besides, though people in these rich counties are repeatedly advised against extravagance in other things also not only in food provision during Iftar, the level of compliance is still not satisfactory, apparently due to the sheer dominance of their cultural attitude that makes it hard for them to do away with the bad habit of extravagance. By the way, knowing that there are millions of hunger-stricken people elsewhere who hardly afford basic Iftar meals, it is particularly unfortunate to see the sheer amount and quality of fresh food leftovers disposed of in the dustbin after every Iftar in these countries.

This situation is not only common in individuals’ homes but even at the several public Iftar tents, mosques and other centres also where the needy are served free Iftar meals every day. Though   in some cities in Saudi Arabia for instance, some charitable organizations have devised ways of collecting and preserving the leftovers before they are disposed of, to package and distribute it to the needy.

While this culture of extravagance in such rich societies could be rather understandable, though certainly not justifiable anyway, due to their cultural peculiarities and, of course, the abundant wealth they enjoy as well as the fact that they effortlessly afford the same quality of food all the time, one can’t understand the apparently uncompromising insistence of many poor people in many poor countries and communities on having and maintaining interrupted provision of some relatively costly foodstuffs during Ramadan, which they obviously can’t afford to sustain afterwards.

I specifically refer to the situation in Nigeria in this regard, where the persistence of this social phenomenon originated from the pervasiveness of the culture of materialism, which ironically continues to grow, on one hand, despite the prevalence of excruciating poverty that equally continues to get worse, on the other. It is due to this materialistic social attitude that individuals are effectively classified and treated according to the amount and financial value of what they possess, appear to possess or even pretend to possess for that matter even if they don’t actually possess that much, in total disregard of moral values.

Consequently, the average individual in the country developed unnecessary obsession with how much others think he is worth, which put him under tremendous social pressure to attain, or at least pretend to attain, a certain level of lifestyle or simply face alienation or even stigma, for that matter.

This situation predictably resulted in self-inflicted, chronic and unnecessary sense of anxiety among the people in their struggle to meet such inconsiderate expectations, which are also constantly going up amid dwindling opportunities. Moreover, it also gave rise to the phenomenon of the seemingly uncontrollable obsession with unaffordable material possessions among the people, as they frantically struggle to acquire as much as possible, or at least pretend to have as much as possible.

Anyway while food consumerism during Ramadan elsewhere doesn’t inhibit the rich and also many poor people from adequately providing the needy with the same quality of Iftar meals they have in their own homes, most of the rich in Nigeria simply share out garau-garau i.e. poorly prepared meals with
poor quality and inadequate ingredients. In fact, many rich people in Nigeria aren’t generous enough to provide even their own housemaids, household guards and other domestic servants with the same quality of Iftar meal they and their immediate family members have. 

In a nutshell, contrary to what obtains elsewhere, the phenomenal food consumerism during the month of Ramadan in Nigeria is largely intended to quell the accumulated appetite for better-quality meals instead of sharing it with the needy. After all, in most cases, the Iftar meal parcels distributed by charitable organizations in many Muslim communities in the country are much better quality than what most of the rich individuals prepare and share out. This is even though no matter how little an individual sincerely shares out to the needy in pursuit of reward from Allah the Almighty; Allah will certainly reward him accordingly. Yet, during the month of Ramadan in particular, those who can afford to provide the needy with better-quality Iftar meals are particularly expected to do so to earn much bigger reward from Allah the Almighty.

In the meantime, however, people should keep in mind that, Ramadan fasting does not provide any excuse to insist on having what they can’t afford, especially if this insistence involves maula begging, fraudulent activities and other forms of self-degrading hustling. After all, during the month of Ramadan, Muslim individuals are particularly expected to be contented with what they have and exercise maximum restraint in all their activities.