Smokers grapple with Ramadan ban, and do some soul-sear

Not being able to light up at will puts many in some tough spots, but one doctor says Ramadan is the perfect time to kick the habit.

Making a change: refraining from smoking in public during Ramadan often requires a lot of willpower.

DUBAI // Going without cigarettes during Ramadan is harder than giving up food or water, according to Shabir, a 43-year-old taxi driver from Pakistan. He and other smokers are calling it quits from dawn to dusk during the holy month.

While the ban on smoking in public places will deter nicotine addicts from lighting up during the day, most said they plan to resume the habit as soon as the sun goes down. According to Dr Omer al Saleh, a fiqeh studies professor at Sharjah College of Sharia and Islamic Studies, "The Sharia forbids anything that can be detrimental and orders its avoidance. There can be no doubt that smoking is considered part of that."

"It's hard, but what can you do?" said Prabhat Thapa, 25, from Nepal, a pack of Marlboros tucked into his chest pocket at midday. "We have to respect the religion of this country." Mr Thapa smokes a pack a day, but said he will not try to sneak in a single cigarette before the end of the fasting period. Marvin Ore, 26, from the Philippines, said he would stop taking his usual cigarette after lunch to avoid trouble. "I'm afraid my boss will catch me," he said. "It's only one month."

Some smokers will not have to change their habits at all. Smoking is permitted throughout the Al Quoz warehouse office where Natalie Antliff, an 18-year-old from Britain, works as an interior designer. She smokes 20 cigarettes a day. "It's all western people," she explained. During the weekends, she said, "I'll stick to where I'm safe to light up and probably spend more time at home." Amir Hussain, a 39-year-old retail manager from Britain, said his office provides a room for smokers year-round - partly to prevent employees from littering the entranceway, where they used to smoke, with cigarette butts.

George, 34, from Lebanon, said he will go through his usual two packs a day in a cafe near his workplace that allows it. He may smoke even more during Ramadan, he said - as many as three or four packs a day - because he can no longer take his usual coffee breaks. Lighting up is permitted as soon as the daily fast ends, of course. Many people prepare by buying their nicotine right before sunset, said Kalyan Paul, the store manager at Smoker's Centre in the Mall of the Emirates.

Instead of popping in throughout the day as they do most of the year, he said, customers tend to arrive in a rush in the late afternoon. They stock up on Cuban cigars, Marlboro cigarettes and grape-flavored shisha tobacco. The water pipe is popular during Ramadan as a social activity for the iftar gatherings. "It's lighter [than cigarettes]," said Aziza Zaylachi, a 23-year-old flight attendant from Morocco, who left the shop around 4pm with mint-flavored shisha tobacco in hand for later that night.

The water pipe can prove an obstacle for smokers who are trying to use the month to quit. Omar, a 32-year-old Emirati working in real estate, has tried giving up his half-pack-a-day habit before. He said during Ramadan this year he plans to try quitting again. But he will smoke shisha for several hours each night with his friends. "And shisha is 10 times worse than cigarettes," he said. "If a person breaks his fast by smoking, he cannot benefit from his fasting," said Dr al Saleh.

"It is your willpower and strength that enables you to not only reduce smoking, but also quit completely." His advice? "Use the month of fasting to strengthen your willpower to get rid of this bad habit, which both Muslims and non-Muslims avoid." [e-mail]