MAKKAH: The last 15 minutes before iftar is usually the most difficult time for people who have been fasting for up to 16 hours from dawn to dusk. During these last few moments, people become nervous and tense, and pick fights for the most trivial of reasons.
Many car accidents and traffic violations take place at this time, as people rush home for their first meal in many hours. It is therefore not uncommon at this hour to see fires in restaurants and people stuck in elevators because of people becoming irritant and negligent.
Fawaz Ali, a resident of Makkah, said he was recently waiting in a queue to buy ful (mashed beans) and tamiz (Arabic bread) when he saw a man jumping the line.
“The man selling the ful and tamiz wasn’t happy with this and asked the man to return to his place but he simply wouldn’t listen,” said Ali.
“They then started fighting. The police soon arrived and took them to the police station for questioning. We had our iftar without ful and the two men had to break their fasts at the police station,” he added.
Hatim Ahmed remembers driving in the Aziziyah district of Makkah a few years ago. He had just bought some food when a car overtook him at high speed and almost hit him.
“I just stopped and thanked Allah that I was safe. It was a very close shave. The driver of the car just continued driving and even went through a red light. He wasn’t bothered about other drivers who were honking their horns at him,” he said.
“I then began driving and after a while saw him pulled over the side. He’d hit a pedestrian and killed him,” he added.
Turki Al-Saeed said there was a fire in an apartment in his neighborhood just before iftar. He said the Civil Defense quickly put the fire out.
“A housewife suffered some minor burns. She was apparently in a hurry to finish frying sambousas before iftar and had turned the flame up on her cooker and caused the frying pan to go on fire,” said Al-Saeed.
Dr. Rajab Al-Bersali, a psychiatrist at Hira General Hospital in Makkah, said this type of behavior is typical during Ramadan. “I make it a point of never leaving my home at iftar time. Fasting should make people serene and peaceful. What happens in the last minutes before iftar cannot be considered proper,” he said.
“People eat a lot of food with large quantities of calories. They do not exercise and live sedentary lives. When they fast they become nervous and lose their temper over trivial things,” said Al-Bersali.
Lt. Col. Ali Al-Muntashiri said this year’s Ramadan has so far been largely uneventful. “There were no fires or cases of people stranded in lifts. Just a few small incidents,” he said.
Maj. Abdul Mohsen Al-Maiman, spokesman for Makkah police, said traffic violations usually increase a few minutes before iftar because people are in a hurry to reach home. “By doing so they end up committing mistakes. There is also a lot of exchange of words and fighting among motorists, especially near outlets that sell traditional Ramadan delicacies,” he said.
Al-Maiman said most people end their rifts at police stations but only after missing iftar at home.
