ISLAMABAD: As the sun dipped toward the horizon in Islamabad earlier this week, Syed Muhammad Umar Shah’s modest apartment building quietly transformed. 

Pots simmered, oil crackled and trays of dates and fritters were lined up with care. Inside, Shah, his wife and their children moved with practiced rhythm — not preparing a private family meal but dinner for more than 100 strangers gathered downstairs to break their Ramadan fast.

Shah, a 45-year-old salaried employee, has been running this daily iftar for nearly a decade. He calls those who arrive each evening “Guests of Allah.”

In Ramadan, the Islamic holy month marked by fasting from dawn to sunset, hunger is meant to foster empathy. Across Pakistan, communal meal spreads known as dastarkhwans are laid out nightly to feed laborers, passersby and the poor. Many are organized through mosques, charities or neighborhood committees.

The Shah family’s initiative operates differently. It runs from their own kitchen, funded largely through personal savings and a small circle of relatives and friends. There are no banners, no institutional sponsorship and no public donation boxes.

“We started from home. Whatever food we cooked at home, we simply began cooking a little extra and started giving it to those people,” Shah said. “Our effort is always to cook properly, food that we ourselves eat at home. The quality must be clean and good.”

The family’s commitment endured through one of Pakistan’s most punishing economic periods in decades. Inflation peaked at 38 percent in May 2023, according to official data, driven by energy price adjustments, currency depreciation and fiscal reforms tied to a $7 billion International Monetary Fund stabilization program. Food prices surged, pushing millions closer to the poverty line.

Even middle-income households felt the strain.

“As inflation keeps rising, it is becoming difficult for us too because I am a salaried employee,” Shah explained. “In the past, we offered a lot of variety… but now, since inflation is rising and salaries are not increasing proportionally, we serve within our means.”

Where the menu once featured dishes such as nihari and chapli kebabs, it has since been simplified. Today, the iftar spread includes pakoras, samosas, jalebis, bread, curry, dates and sharbat. The family rotates meals every two weeks to avoid repetition and ensure variety.

“People should step forward, especially in this inflation, when it is becoming difficult for many to afford food,” Shah said. “They should see how they can help others.”

“HEARTFELT PRAYERS“

The work begins long before sunset. Preparation starts at sehri, the pre-dawn meal before fasting commences, and continues through the day.

“Our work begins from sehri time because many items must be prepared,” said Mrs. Omer Shah, who managed the kitchen logistics. 

“For example, pakoras and samosas need preparation. For samosas, we knead the dough, roll it, and prepare them in advance. We boil potatoes, chop onions, all this work begins at sehri time.”

Years of constant cooking has taken a toll. She previously required surgery on her hand to remove a lump developed from repetitive strain. Still, she continues overseeing the operation.

Muhammad Bhutta, a cook who had learned under her guidance, helps manage the scale.

“Baji [Mrs. Omer] taught me the work,” Bhutta said as he dipped jalebis into hot oil. “I cook food, bread and curry. We prepare jalebis, pakoras, samosas, dates, sharbat.”

Each evening, as the call to prayer marks sunset, plates are distributed outside. Laborers, sanitation workers and passersby sat shoulder to shoulder.

In a capital often defined by politics and bureaucracy, the daily gathering beneath Shah’s building offers a quieter portrait of Ramadan, one built not on institutional charity, but on family labor, personal sacrifice and the belief that generosity should mirror what one serves at one’s own table.

Unlike many Ramadan initiatives, the family chooses not to collect zakat, the obligatory Islamic alms that must be distributed to specific eligible categories under religious guidelines. Accepting zakat would have required screening recipients, something Shah did not want to do.

“We have not placed any donation box outside, nor do we collect funds publicly,” Shah said.

And the goal, he insisted, went beyond feeding hunger:

“When food is unique, good, not repetitive, and served with love and kindness and when you speak gently to people, heartfelt prayers naturally come out.”