ISLAMABAD: Thousands of Islamabad residents rushed to food stalls in the city’s capital to buy sumptuous snacks for iftar, the meal eaten in Ramadan evenings to break the fast, on the first day of the holy month on Tuesday.
Sweetmeat shops, bakeries and eateries emerge almost overnight in Ramadan and are frequented by hundreds of people who eagerly buy popular snacks “samosas,” “pakoras” and “jalebi.”
Muslims fast from dawn till dusk during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. They avoid eating, drinking and even smoking during the practice, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.
“This is as usual our tradition in Pakistan, our culture that in Ramadan’s blessed month, especially on the first day of fasting, people rush toward the market,” Imran Khan, an advocate, told Reuters.
“I am here for the same reason. Samosas and jalebis, people are rushing in to buy them. This is part of the tradition.”
Mehr Tayyab said she was buying samosas and rolls, which were an “integral part” of every Ramadan table spread.
“You know how high inflation is but still, once or twice a week, we must taste it also and try it,” she told Reuters.
Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country where more than ninety percent of its over 240 million people practice Islam, and most of them fast during the holy month.
With inputs from Reuters
