Children in the UAE fasting during Ramadan have embraced the opportunity to embark on a crucial spiritual journey with family and friends – and told how they have been sustained by compassion and gratitude even as hunger sets in.
Watching their parents, elder siblings, cousins and friends refrain from food and water during daylight hours during the holy month encouraged several young children to fast this year.
Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam, seen as an important step in allowing Muslims to reflect on their faith and increase piety and consideration for others.
While children are not typically expected to fast during Ramadan until they reach puberty, The National spoke to young people who were eager to complete the important rite of their religion.
While some spoke of fasting the entire day, others took to fasting over the weekends, holidays and for half-a-day on school days.
‘Appreciate our blessings’
Ameera Muhammad, 10, was determined to fast all through Ramadan this year after abstaining from food and water for a few hours at a stretch in previous years.
“It has taught me patience, gratitude and to appreciate what we have because there are so many people who are not as fortunate,” said the grade five pupil who studies at Dubai International Academy.
“I was really passionate and determined to fast from sunrise to sunset this year. When I was eight, I started fasting for five hours and when I was nine I pushed myself and did eight hours last year.”
She had to work to get her parents on board as they were not convinced she should fast through a school day.
“They were worried I may feel dizzy but I wanted to prove myself and told them not to worry,” said the Canadian national whose family moved from Toronto to the UAE when she was two years old. “I’m very excited when I get to school but there are some moments when my energy levels are low. I motivate myself by remembering how to truly feel gratitude and appreciate what we have.”
She typically sleeps early by 8pm and wakes up at 4.30am for suhoor when she prays and eats a meal that can include pancakes, yoghurt, fruit and eggs. Then she naps for few hours and wakes up at 7am for prayers and school.
When she returns, she helps pack iftar meals of biryani, dates and water to distribute to gardeners and security guards in her neighbourhood.
Pasta, pulau a fragrant rice dish, dates and water are how she usually breaks her fast, with an ice cream treat provided by her parents.
“I was inspired seeing my parents fast even when they saw us eating,” she said. “I often think of what poor people feel like when they have no food, I think of their hunger and pain. Fasting really teaches us to appreciate food and our blessings in life.”
A way of life
Nine-year-old Zoha Shariq exchanges notes with friends who are also fasting about why it’s a challenge and how it should become a way of life.
“I asked my friends if they think it’s difficult or not. They feel like me – it’s difficult but it’s a part of life. It prepares us for when we grow up,” said the Indian grade three pupil who studies at Delhi Private School Sharjah.
The youngest of three children, she decided it was time to fast as she wanted to be part of the experiences her family shared during Ramadan.
Not drinking water has been tougher than staying away from food.
“I feel spiritual and feel it’s for Islam. During school days, I fast for half a day and the full day during the weekend. “I read books, pray and think of something else and not food or drink.”
When the sun sets at 6.30pm, she looks forward to eating favourite dishes. Home-made treats from chicken patties to cinnamon rolls, cake and custard pops similar to the popular dessert luqaimat or sweet dumplings are prepared by her mother.
“I like the family time and sharing our food because I now feel how other people live without food,” she said.
Refreshed and positive
Maryam Imran, 10, said instead of experiencing exhaustion, she feels refreshed and recharged.
“I feel refreshed, clean and positive,” said the grade five pupil from Pakistan who studies at the English Language Private School Dubai. “I do sometimes feel tired but I remember that fasting in Islam is about learning about our faith. It’s about reading the Quran and staying close to Allah in thoughts and deed and not only about giving food and water.”
Her mother whips up her favourite snacks of potato pakora or chickpea-coated fried potatoes and fruit chaat for iftar. Her father makes her a red drink stirring in a fragrant Rooh Afza syrup when she breaks her fast usually a full day on Friday and the weekend and for half a school day.
Other children too told of forbearance they gained when forsaking food this month.
“I heard from my friends that it was hard because there is so much food that surrounds us,” said Mahad Anis, 9, an Indian pupil of Cambridge International School Dubai.
He fasts three to four days a week and is a friendly guide to friends who plan to fast next year.
“Fasting helps me get patience and get closer to Allah,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to have fun and my stomach hurts but that is when I try to be patient and forget about food. When my friends ask what my experience has been, I tell them we must calm down and have patience.”
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Other promotions
- Deliveroo will team up with Pineapple Express to offer customers near JLT a special treat: free banana caramel dessert with all orders on January 26
- Jones the Grocer will have their limited edition Australia Day menu available until the end of the month (January 31)
- Australian Vet in Abu Dhabi (with locations in Khalifa City A and Reem Island) will have a 15 per cent off all store items (excluding medications)
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
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
