How the Grinch ruined Ramadan

In Tunisia, they even have a name for it: Hchichet Romdhan, loosely translating as "going Ramadan cold-turkey".

Last week, A Tunisian website posted a picture of a half-naked man involved in a road rage incident, possibly caused by a dose of the Ramadan blues.

Anyone who has spent time around a fasting population will surely have noticed the phenomenon of "Ramadan rage" among some Muslims.

On roads, irritable drivers deprived of food and nicotine are known to drive erratically, causing accidents or exploding into expletives and even violence at the first sign of a honk.

Shortly before iftaar time, it is not rare to see top speeds rivalling Formula One on the streets of Arab cities, such as Beirut, as starving drivers, delayed for one reason or another, rush to run one last errand or reach home in time for the sunset call to prayer.

A spike in crime rates brought on by the same factors - symptoms of dehydration and low blood sugar, short temper, and nictoine deprivation - has also been reported - including in the UK.

Many Muslims believe we should not rush to blame Ramadan. The problem, they say, is that it is sometimes hard to reconcile the physically taxing fast with the breath-taking pace of modern life, not to mention the effect of bad habits such as smoking and unhealthy modern diets on fasters. 

Ultimately, observing the fast is a personal, spiritual act.  Abstaining from anger and impatience are just as important as abstaining from food, drink, and tobacco - if not more so.

On Facebook, Fouzia Younis-Suleman asks fasters to fight the Ramadan rage with three Rs - Resistance, Reflection and Resilience.

For those fasters who lack this kind of control or cannot cope with long fasting hours in the summer, perhaps the best course of action is to quit. 

Making an otherwise spiritual experience unpleasant for yourself - and for those around you - defies the whole purpose of fasting.