Ramadan's observance is widespread in the Middle East, often involving non-Muslims in the region's celebrations. In Christian-majority countries, participation has been less common, but this trend is starting to shift
It might seem a strange thing for a practicing Muslim to say, but Kholoud Khardoum, a 53-year-old living in Iraq, is clear. "Not all of Ramadan is necessarily about religion," the Baghdad-based writer said. "It's also about the atmosphere and the tradition of people coming together."
Iraq is a Muslim-majority country, but in areas where different religious communities live together, you'll often find non-Muslims participating in celebrations around the month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan, she explained. In particular, "iftar", the sunset meal where friends and family come together to break the daily fast, can be a community occasion.
"Sometimes Christian people will make dessert and send it to their Muslim neighbours," Khardoum said. "Sometimes Muslims send food. Or they all fast together. It's nice to share these things," she said.
There are similar stories elsewhere in the Middle East. "One of my oldest and closest friends is a Muslim, so we share some customs," Egyptian woman Um Amir, a 50-year-old Christian living in Assiut, a city south of Cairo, said. "For example, I'll fast during the day in Ramadan, then break my fast with her family."
"I'm Christian, but since I was young, I've had so many Muslim friends, and I've never put a big emphasis on different religions," said Lebanese woman Rita, 34, who is also fasting in Beirut.
During Ramadan, restaurants in the Middle East frequently only open shortly before sunset to continue serving food until the early morning (image: Bilal Jawich/Xinhua News Agency/picture alliance)
More Ramadan in the West?
Given that all three women live in Muslim-majority countries, their experiences won't come as a surprise to those based there. After all, it's just as hard for non-Muslims to ignore Ramadan as it is for Muslims to avoid Christmas in Europe or North America.
However, Ramadan is also gradually becoming a more high-profile holiday in Christian-majority countries. Last year, London became the first large European city to decorate a significant thoroughfare with Ramadan lights.
Frankfurt am Main followed London's example this year, becoming the first big German city to set up Ramadan lighting.
This week, more than 1,000 people came together for an "open iftar" in the Austrian state of Carinthia, where all community members are invited to break the Ramadan fast and eat together – even if they're not Muslim and haven't fasted.
Organisers say the event attracts more people every year. As one attendee told the regional newspaper Kleine Zeitung, "I didn't necessarily expect to see so many non-Muslims here."
Ramadan: Muslim holy month in pictures
Focus on the 5 pillars of Islam: it is Ramadan for millions of Muslims around the world. For a month, they abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk. Fasting is intended to focus the mind and bring worshippers closer to God. Here in Hyderabad, the fourth largest city in India, young students learn more about the five pillars of Islam (image: NOAH SEELAM/AFP)
Watching for the crescent moon: the start of Ramadan can vary from country to country because it begins with the sighting of the crescent moon in the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Different countries see the crescent moon at different times, depending on where on the globe they are located. In Indonesia, teams observe the sky with binoculars to determine when to announce the start of the holy month there (image: REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan)
Ramadan in a war zone: this year, Ramadan is overshadowed by the conflict in Gaza. It had been hoped that a ceasefire could be negotiated before the holiday began, but attempts to come to an agreement have faltered, leaving locals in Gaza – like these children in Deir Al-Balah – trapped in a worsening humanitarian situation (image: Omar Qattaa / Anadolu)
Light amid the rubble: over a million people are seeking shelter from the Israeli military campaign in Rafah, in Gaza. The United Nations has said there is a danger of starvation and, citing the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, reported that 25 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration there, mostly children. Religious authorities have said people in Gaza do not need to fast if they feel weak (image: SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)
Breaking the fast after sunset: there are around 1.9 billion Muslims worldwide, most of them in India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh. After fasting ends during Ramadan, families, friends and neighbours gather for "iftar", a meal after sunset. In Delhi, India, long tables are set up on the streets so people can eat together (image: REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis)
Washing of the soul: a group of Indonesian women in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta, follow the local tradition of washing themselves in the Cisadane River before Ramadan. Water is meant to cleanse their souls before they start fasting. Almost 90% of the population in Indonesia is Muslim and Ramadan is celebrated with colourful torchlight parades and elaborate meals after sunset (image: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Paying for Ramadan can be difficult: in Turkey, food prices have risen. According to official figures, inflation was over 70% in February. This is why some families are worried they won't be able to afford to provide the traditionally lavish "iftar" meals (image: REUTERS/Murad Sezer)
A time of tranquillity: the imposing Massalikul Jinaan mosque in Dakar, Senegal, is one of the largest in West Africa. This year in Senegal, Ramadan falls in the middle of the campaign for the postponed presidential election. The tranquillity that can be found in this house of prayer is a welcome change for some (image: JOHN WESSELS/AFP)
Prayers in Times Square: dozens of Muslims gathered in New York's Times Square at the start of Ramadan there on 10 March. Together, they prayed the "tarawih", an extra-long prayer held during Ramadan.
New clothes for the holidays: this young Pakistani in Peshawar is trying on a traditional head covering to wear during prayer. Because of the additional socialising that occurs around Ramadan, during prayer and "iftar", many people like to buy new clothes during the month (image: AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
"There's definitely been an increase in iftars organised by state institutions, charities and churches to celebrate diversity," Esther-Miriam Wagner, director of Cambridge University's Woolf Institute, which studies relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims, confirmed.
Ramadan's higher profile is "also very much about increasing political recognition and equality for Muslims in the public space," argued Farid Hafez, a senior researcher at the Bridge Initiative, a project investigating Islamophobia based at Washington's Georgetown University.
As an example, Hafez recounts that, back in the 1990s, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright started holding "iftars" in her diplomatic department. "The U.S. embassies were basically inviting Muslims to have a kind of structural dialogue [during the event]," he explained. "Then U.S. embassies brought it to European countries. That then translated into European states also starting similar initiatives. So you had chancellors, prime ministers, ministers of integration, all getting involved."
The commercial impact of Ramadan has also seen the Muslim holy month's profile grow. Muslims spend more during Ramadan on everything from gifts and clothes to food and even cars. In the Middle East alone, Ramadan 2023 spending was worth over €55 billion. Advertising campaigns for Ramadan have changed and grown and are also likely sending a message beyond the targeted communities.
A Ramadan lighting display made up of 30,000 sustainable lights returned to London's Piccadilly Circus this year too (image: Can Nguyen/Captital Pictures/picture alliance)
Accused of cultural appropriation
Another of Woolf Institute director Wagner's theories on Ramadan's profile revolves around language and generational change. "As soon as people speak a language without an accent, there's this shift in understanding that now they actually belong," argued Wagner, who trained as a sociolinguist. "And in Britain, we are seeing native-English-speaking Muslim populations, now in their 40s and 50s, moving into positions of leadership and influence."
In France, it is similar. There researchers noted that next-generation French Muslims feel they can practice religion more openly. "Through a more visible [religious] practice, young French individuals claim their status as fully fledged members of society," Jamel El Hamri, a researcher at the Institute of Research and Study on Arab and Islamic Worlds in France, told Le Monde last week. "They feel both French and Muslim."
Of course, not everybody is pleased. Some Muslims are upset about the commercialisation of Ramadan. Conservative clerics have argued that non-Muslims shouldn't partake at all, while far-right Europeans believe the practice will lead to the end of civilization as they define it. And some social media personalities who fasted during Ramadan, treating it as a kind of online health challenge, have been called out for cultural appropriation.
But neither Hafez nor Wagner believes opinions like this outweigh the benefits of people becoming more comfortable with others' belief systems. For Muslims who grow up in a Christian-majority culture, it can be about belonging. "Incorporating the festival in the public space is, in a way, the recognition that it [Ramadan] is part and parcel of society," Hafez argued.
And for non-Muslims, it can be about celebrating and managing diversity, Wagner added. "Because when we have diverse societies, we see that diversity actually supports a thriving and vibrant, and usually more just, society," she concluded.