Are you Ramadan-ready?

‘Are you Ramadan-ready?’ That was the poster in Sainsbury’s advertising its delicious range of fast-breaking foods (rice was one). And the striking thing about it was… the ‘you’. That ‘you’ means the normal customer, the default Sainsbury’s shopper.

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Same with the email I got from the swanky Belgravia hair salon I used to visit:

Here, we understand that Ramadan is a time of reflection, renewal and spiritual focus – and we also know how important it is to take a moment for yourself amid the busy days of fasting and prayer. That’s why we are delighted to announce that our salon will be open late during Ramadan, offering evening appointments so you can indulge in a little luxurious self-care after Iftar [the fast-breaking meal after sundown].

Belgravia is next to Knightsbridge where wealthy Arabs are the norm, so the email wasn’t surprising – but again, the odd thing was that ‘you’: the assumption that the recipient is more likely than not to be Muslim. Naturally, if I’d got an email in April saying ‘Are you Easter-ready?’ I would have regarded it as par for the course – though, come to think of it, I’d probably have been a little surprised. Harrods is offering Iftar dining on its website: ‘Tuck into an Iftar feast, starting with Medjool dates accompanied by a refreshing hibiscus cooler.’

But then Ramadan, which starts this week, is now very much part of the calendar, much more than, say, Diwali. For the third year there will be a switch-on of the Ramadan Lights in London – previously on Oxford Street, this year in Coventry Street, where the message will be ‘Happy Ramadan’ until it changes to ‘Happy Eid’.