With a seemingly endless amount of beauty and fitness trends, as well as food content, TikTok is the gift that keeps on giving. This Ramadan is no exception given the breadth of iftar and suhoor ideas on the platform.
Professional and self-taught chefs have been swapping cookbooks for engaging TikTok accounts as they connect with Gen Zs, who spend an average of 12.4 hours a week on the platform, according to research by Measure Protocol, a data aggregating firm, released last year.
Here are a few accounts on TikTok you can check out for recipe ideas.
Abir El Saghir (@abir.sag)
The Lebanese food creator is known for her videos in which she dons a traditional outfit while preparing a dish to music associated with the featured country.
Her cooking videos are a visual treat, produced to a level that is choreographed and rhythmic. She cooks regional dishes, from Iraqi dolma (vegetables stuffed with meat and rice), to rose osmalieh (baked vermicelli pastry with cream) topped with Arabic candy floss.
El Saghir is one of the most popular regional cooks on TikTok, with more than 21.6 million followers.
The blog's name is a play on the Arab creator's Moroccan and Libyan heritage. Larbah started blogging when she was a first-year student at the University of California, Berkeley where she pursued nutrition and dietetics.
In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, she quit her job and worked full-time on her TikTok account, where she now has 4.4 million followers. She often posts cooking videos, and her style of cooking is heavily influenced by North African cuisine.
This Ramadan, she started a recipe series where she shares a dish for every day of the holy month, from chicken and cheese rolls to hummus with lamb.
Yasmine Daura (@thechefmine)
Daura, who lives in London, started a Ramadan recipe series for her more than 240,000 followers. Her passion is developing “approachable and aesthetically pleasing” recipes, as well as sharing food and kitchen hacks.
The dishes in her Ramadan series include lamb arayes, peri peri chicken and shakshuka.
Eman Ibrahiim (@eman.ibrahiim)
Ibrahiim posts recipes in Arabic, but her videos can easily be followed even by non-Arabic speakers. Aside from TikTok, where she has more than seven million followers, the chef also has a YouTube account for longer videos.
Her international dishes include everything from baked cannelloni pasta and chicken fajitas to sweet katayef dumplings. Other creative desserts feature chocolates such as Kinder and Ferrero Rocher as key ingredients.
Ahmad Alzahabi (@thegoldenbalance)
The Syrian-American cook, who lives in Michigan, produces instructional videos for dishes such as maqluba and Korean-style short ribs.
Alzahabi is also known for being vocal about his Muslim identity and he uses the platform to shed light on his religion and important cultural practices, including fasting during Ramadan. He has 6.2 million followers.
Zaynah (@zaynahsbakes)
The food creator from London posts videos of her “desi-fied cooking”, heavily influenced by her South Asian heritage.
She has a Ramadan recipe series, which features dishes such as crispy aloo pakoras, paneer butter masala and chicken tikka sliders, which she shares with her 272,000 followers.
Kitchen by Noonzay (@amnaarman90)
The food creator, who also has a Ramadan special segment, has a growing community of more than 150,000 followers. She shares videos that show her preparing easy-to-cook dishes such as beef samosa, chicken fried rice and masala fries.
Majida Sofi (@mywanderinghome)
The food content creator loves hosting dinners and having people around.
“The satisfaction you get from feeding others and seeing the joy it brings to their face when eating good food is unmatched,” Sofi, 24, tells The National.
Her TikTok page has close to 87,000 followers. She is a self-taught cook who posts videos of dishes she's either eaten and taken inspiration from or those she has "thrown together" with whatever she can find at home, turning them into family staples.
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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UAE's role in anti-extremism recognised
General John Allen, President of the Brookings Institution research group, commended the role the UAE has played in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
He told a Globsec debate of the UAE’s "hugely outsized" role in the fight against Isis.
"It’s trite these days to say that any country punches above its weight, but in every possible way the Emirates did, both militarily, and very importantly, the UAE was extraordinarily helpful on getting to the issue of violent extremism," he said.
He also noted the impact that Hedayah, among others in the UAE, has played in addressing violent extremism.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
