Ramadan

From Mecca and Damascus to Cairo, travellers across the centuries recorded the rhythms of Ramadan, documenting lantern-lit mosques, night prayers, learning circles, and the generosity of shared iftars

The holy month comes to the Saudi capital, threading itself through its rhythms and leaving its mark.

The iftar table, if it still exists, no longer represents joy, but anxiety and scarcity

Food consumption shifts markedly during Ramadan, reflecting both spiritual traditions and social customs centred on generosity and hospitality. While the holy month is rooted in abstinence, evening…

Conflict, drought, tariffs, and inflation are making it harder to feed people in the Arab world. Yet if the wars in Ukraine and Sudan end with investment in agriculture, the clouds may brighten.

Mosques are rubble and families have been torn apart. Those who survived mourn those who did not. Amidst the trauma, celebrating seems strange. Yet in a sprinkling of lanterns, there is resistance.

The joy normally associated with this holy Muslim month has disappeared from people's faces. Al Majalla speaks to displaced Palestinians who barely have enough food to feed their families.