Young people in Saudi Arabia are trying to return Ramadan to its more traditional roots, reports the Washington Post:
The trend has partly been inspired by Ahmad al-Shugairi, a popular young preacher who for the past couple of years has been speaking out against the excesses of Ramadan. Several Facebook groups are also telling people to abstain from watching TV during the month, and at least half a dozen newspaper articles have criticized the lack of Ramadan spirit in the kingdom and the proliferation of soap operas made especially for the month.
…Some young Saudis viewed a more puritanical interpretation of Islam as “cool,” said Ali Ghazzawi, 22, a clinical pharmacology student. But after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, which were carried out mainly by Saudis, many gained a more moderate and spiritual understanding of the faith, and “now preachers in jeans, like Shugairi, are Muslim cool,” Ghazzawi said.
Read the full article here.