Ramadan: a time of relaxation for Yemeni youth

Written By: Basheer Al-Selwi

Boys are more likely to spend their time watching t.v and chewing qat, whereas girls are likely to to spend their time sleeping and reading.

Most Yemeni youth can hardly wait for the advent of Ramadan because it is the month where everything is different and life takes on a special flavor, especially during the nights of Ramadan. Their lives are completely different in comparison with all the other months of the year. Yemeni youth can spend large amounts of their day in various activities that differ from one individual to another.

Watching television, sleeping, chewing qat, and eating food are the cornerstones of a youth’s ideal day—a day which they can spend in perfect enjoyment.

A survey of 13 students, between the ages of 19 and 24, at Sana’a University, revealed that they spend their entire day engaged in either watching television, sleeping, chewing qat, or eating food.

Most students justify spending their time this way by saying that they have nothing else to do and have to do these things in order to avoid getting bored and depressed at home.

“Actually, watching TV is my favorite thing to do in Ramadan because the programing for the month includes movies, competitions, and series that are really hard to resist. I watch TV from 7:30 in the evening until 2:00 in the morning. Furthermore, if I had more time, I would keep on watching until the morning,” said Shuma’a Yahay Issa, an Islamic literature student at Sana’a University.

Issa said that she doesn’t spend any time, particularly during Ramadan, chewing qat because she strongly believes in the risks of qat and its effects on the body. She added that she spends more than 9 hours sleeping every day because she has nothing to study during Ramadan.

The way youth spend their time in Ramadan differs between genders. While boys spend most of their time chewing qat and watching television, girls spend most of their time sleeping. Interviewing girls at Sana’a University emphasized that they don’t spend any time chewing qat because they aren’t addicted to qat. Moreover, they have a number of other things to complete instead of chewing qat such as reading cultural books and memorizing the holy Koran.

“In Ramadan, I watch TV for just two hours because I spend most of my time reading and memorizing the holy Koran in order to make the most of this month to worship God and be closer to him,” said Eman al-Daulamee, a student of Arabic language at Sana’a University.

Another student, Fatima, said that she sleeps more than 10 hours in Ramadan because she doesn’t have any duties to accomplish. Furthermore, she attributes her excessive sleeping to the fact that she has 4 sisters at home, and they do all the housework on her behalf. Consequently, she has no obligations that she has to attend to besides sleeping.

Male students, however, spend more of their time in qat chewing sessions, especially during Ramadan. They justify this habit under the pretext that there are no libraries or clubs that they can go to. They also claim that they chew qat during Ramadan just to kill time.

Most youths stated that they spend more than 10 hours a day watching television and chewing qat, because whenever they chew qat, they watch TV.

“In Ramadan I spend more than 9 hours a day watching TV because I love the TV programs, especially on the al-Saeeda, MBC, and Fox movie channels. Actually, in Ramadan, I am not prepared to leave any program without watching it,” said Abdullah Ali, student of French literature at Sana’a university.

Abdullah said that he thinks that everybody watches more than 7 hours of TV every day during Ramadan since all the channels air extremely interesting and incredible shows.

“Before Ramadan’s advent, I try hard to research all the program show times that are going to be aired on the different channels. Moreover, I try to organize all of my time by making a schedule that allows me to see all the series and movies up to the end of Ramadan,” Abdullah said. He added, “in Ramadan, I try to take complete advantage of this month because I’m not free in the other months of the year. Also, channels don’t show interesting programs like they do during Ramadan. Furthermore, I have to study during all the other months, Ramadan is the only opportunity I have to watch TV.”

Osama al-Serfy, a student in the French department at Sana’a University explained why he watches television. “In Ramadan, I watch around 7 hours of TV because I have no place to go, and even if you go to visit friends, you will find them together with their families, so I stay home. Furthermore, staying at home is miserable, so TV is the best means of entertainment and source of enjoyment.” Al-Serfy continued, “we are young, where can we go to spend our time in Sana’a? There are no places for reading or entertainment, or even to sit and talk with your friends. In addition, Sana’a lacks libraries movie theaters, playhouses, gardens and clubs, so TV is the last hope we can clutch to.”

Regarding sleeping, according to the students interviewed, female students spend more time sleeping than male students. The majority of female students sleep around 7 to 9 hours a day, while the majority of male students only sleep around 6 to 7 hours.

“I sleep between 6 to 7 hours daily during Ramadan because after I spend those hours sleeping I feel satisfied and get up immediately. Actually, this is also the amount that I sleep during the rest of the year,” said Basam Radman, another student in the French department at Sana’a university.

Abdo al-Hakeem Abdo Nasher, who also studies in the French department said that he spends around 7 hours sleeping during Ramadan. Furthermore, he doesn’t consider this amount enough; “I can’t sleep in Ramadan because I’m the only male in my family, and I have to provide our home with all our needs.” He considers 7 hours insufficient for him because he stays awake the rest of the day without sleeping.

Lula Absi, an English literature graduate from Sana’a university says, “I sleep around 9 hours a day during Ramadan because sleeping that long helps me to not become hungry.” According to Absi, she does not sleep this long in other months because she is a teacher and has educational obligations. “During the holy month, I want to take the opportunity to relax and recover from all the stress that I face the rest of the year.”

Latifa Ahmed, from the History department in Sana’a University said that she sleeps in Ramadan more than 8 hours a day and that even this isn’t adequate. “Fasting really makes me yearn to eat, so I evade this hunger by sleeping for long periods of time,” she explained. Latifa believes that when people sleep a lot, they are trying to avoid the effects of hunger and any stomach pain.

Both boys and girls spend about the same amount of time eating during Ramadan: approximately one hour. Mohammed al-Areeqi, a student of French literature, confirmed that the time he spends eating food doesn’t exceed an hour. “Eating doesn’t cost me much time during Ramadan because I only eat a few dates and some fruit,” al-Areeqi said. He added that if he were to eat for more than an hour, he would expose himself to stomach problems or pain, something which he doesn’t want or need.