JAFFA, Israel – A Saudi family that filmed themselves eating an extravagant Ramadan feast around a moving table has caused an uproar on social media platforms over the meaning of the holiday and the morals of luxury at a time when many in the Arab world are in need.
The month of Ramadan is meant to be a time to consider and empathize with poverty and hunger, and the excess seen in the family’s video sparked a social media firestorm between those who criticized the video’s contents, saying that it is not fitting at a time when many poor people, like Syrian refugees, are suffering from hunger, and those who argued that it was the family’s right to enjoy the meal.
Majd, a Twitter user, said, “How exactly are they applying the words of God ‘drink and eat but don’t overdo with wastefulness’ … Allah help us.”
Abed, another commentator on social media, said, “Whoever does this was once a hungry person.”
Meahwhile, Mysaa couldn’t understand what all the noise was about. “Where’s the waste and ostentation? The food is regular, like all people have and the moving table isn’t weird. … May Allah bless them and give kindness to all Muslims.”
Another user wrote, “This is proof that the moment is close when all this good will be lost, and these types are the reason why. May Allah punish them.”
Turki wrote: “May Allah punish us. They don’t see and don’t feel the hunger in Syria, Yemen, and other places. This is instead of thanking Allah for health and all he gives us. God help us.”
“I watched the video a number of times,” wrote a user called Zozo. “There’s no waste and extravagance, everything is normal, but the arrangement and coordination gave more prestige to the spectacle. May Allah bless them and may they have health.”
Ahmed also voiced his opinion, wondering, “What’s the good in photography and arrogance?”
Mahmoud chose to rebuke the video’s critics: “Forget your jealousy and envy.”
An anonymous user tweeted: “See their little brains, as if to say look at the standard of life we have and what we eat, and look how rich we are. A man does not brag over his food and doesn’t show off what entered his stomach.”