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What does Ramadan mean to you? For many Arabs around the world, it’s a holy month dedicated to spiritual cleansing, spending time with families, worship, and, for some, additional time for television drama. Indeed, Ramadan has long been the ideal season for television across the Arab world, as series compete for prime slots and viewers’ attention. Perhaps, the peak time these shows compete for is when families gather after Iftar to watch special drama series.
Traditionally, these shows focused on themes of family, love, and historical or religious narratives. However, in recent years, it seems like there’s a noticeable increase in violent and action-packed series. From crime thrillers and police dramas, like this year’s Taht Sabe’ Ard (2025), a show which tackles counterfeiting, and a title that can be loosely translated to “Six Feet Under,” to intense psychological explorations of serial killers, such as Qabeel (2019), these shows have captivated audiences while sparking debates about their social, as well as political implications.
Why has violence become so prominent in Ramadan dramas? Is it merely a response to audience demand, or are there deeper causes that transcend competitiveness and reflect our haunting realities as Arabs?
Before we dig any deeper, it’s important to acknowledge that this is not a recent observation. Media outlets have picked up the increase of violent scenes in Ramadan series and debated its implication for nearly a decade. In 2016, a report by the National Council for Women in Egypt noted that many series have been increasingly focusing on “different forms of violence perpetrated against women- including verbal abuse, physical abuse or even both- as well as moral assaults and punitive behaviour from a woman’s family, husband, or society.” Additionally, audiences have criticized these shows, bringing to question the values of “entertainment” and “social representation” that such scenes have to offer.
But this is not always the case. While some Ramadan seasons have seen a decline in violence in previous years, a recent debate has resurfaced once again this season following outrage from audiences over scenes which feature violence, drugs, alcohol or sexual implications, calling to boycott platforms, like Shahid, that stream such shows.
The debates surrounding violence can be traced back as early as this episode of Al-Etjah Al-Muakis (The Opposite Direction), featuring Syrian TV director, Youssef Rizk, whose works are notorious for using as much screen time as possible to glamourise violence in his shows. Some audiences opposed Rizk’s approach, however, his popularity was undeniable, bringing to question the significance of audience demands, and whether directors and production companies are just simply responding to their preferences.
The topic of violence in Ramadan, the debates surrounding the subject, and the opinions of audiences can undoubtedly stir controversy and create divisions. Some people argue that as long as violence continues to be such a normalised aspect of our lives, especially in regions where the impact of war is part of people’s daily routine, the act of portraying, as well as watching violent scenes is simply a reflection of society, and that we can’t “hide behind our fingers.”
Others argue that the violence depicted in these scenes, and its frequency, can influence viewers who are subjected to said violent scenes, especially children who may not be restricted by their families when they watch these shows in spite of viewer discretion or age ratings.
Furthermore, a crucial argument is the one that dissociates the holy month of Ramadan, and its religious, cultural and social implications, from these violent shows, emphasizing the importance of spirituality and refraining from hateful acts. However, reading between the lines of such perspectives can provide insight to both audience preferences, as well as storytelling trends, as both can equally influence one another.
In other words: if violence is truly, as some people claim it to be, just a cheap tactic that production houses, TV channels and streaming platforms alike follow in their scenes and trailers, used purely for its promotional and entertainment value, wouldn’t such overuse of violence lead to a negative impact on the story and the plot? If so, wouldn’t that eventually steer audiences away? By keeping the controversy of the subject, is it perhaps an alibi for directors and producers to keep producing violence in search of more fame? Could it be that “audience preferences” are as violently manufactured as these scenes are?
Ultimately, whether it’s an artificial attempt by companies to create hype, stir controversy or raise the excitement levels surrounding their products, or whether it is truly a phenomena inseparable from our realities, violence isn’t going away anytime soon, neither in life nor in fiction.
But maybe we can get a break in Ramadan?
Words: Kareem Nofal
