It’s the seventh day of Ramadan, and I’ve just seen a cartoon of Abu Mahjoob that was a reminder for me to write this. I do remember last Ramadan when I only had the “iftar” at home with the family for maximum 7 times out of 29. Yes, the other 22days I was invited to it at my friends’ or relatives’ places, and each time of those I could see a massive amount of food that is enough for 100 not only 20 or 25.
Reconsidering the issue a couple of months ago when the people were already talking about the “iftar” and who they are going to invite and so, I just thought about it once again. Do I miss any sort of food? Are any of my friends or relatives missing the meat or chicken? Knowing them very well, they have nothing to do in Ramadan more than eating so definitely they have nothing to miss about food.But on a different note; there is an infinite number of people all over the world who are really looking for 1% of what we eat in Ramadan, and especially when we start inviting people to “iftar”.
Do you know what happens usually? The woman at home will be very afraid either because she thinks that what’s she cooking is not enough at all for the number of the invitees or because her husband or son were very serious when they told her that you have to show how much we are “rich or generous”, so she will always start to increase and increase the quantity until she feels satisfied with what she’s doing. But unfortunately what happens exactly is:
The people will start eating, and what they eat is not more than 20% of what’s available! Next day the host’s family members will eat some of the rest and on the third day the food will either go to the freezer to be thrown at the end (that’s how people convince themselves that they don’t throw food) or it gets thrown directly.
Thinking of this very deeply, I have taken the decision that this Ramadan and any upcoming one, I might be the first Arab who breaks the rule. I’m not accepting any invitation and not inviting anyone to the “iftar”. I’d rather invest what I’m paying to do a charity “iftar” for the needy people instead. Taking into consideration that what we pay for one of those massive “iftars” is enough to feed 75-100 needy children who are really missing the meat or the chicken.
Stop convincing yourself that it’s all about the gathering or having the people around, as it can be done easily sometime at night to have your friends or relatives as your guests. Showing them that you are “generous” with some snacks and sweets.