CAIRO, Egypt — Ramadan is a time of fasting and prayer, but it is also a time for overindulgence. Once the fast is broken each day, many sip tea and feast on syrupy sweets while lazing in front of the TV.
That is why the holiest month in the Muslim calendar is akin to the sweeps weeks in the United States — and why satellite and local channels spend the year producing their most compelling TV serials to fiercely compete for what are essentially captive evening viewers.
And in these turbulent times, Ramadan television programming has found a mother lode of material in the biggest issue of day: Islamic militancy.
An example is "Tash Ma Tash," a wildly popular Saudi TV series that is deploying satire to poke fun at the fundamentalists.
Staff on the show have received death threats for what some consider brazen impertinence; meanwhile, senior sheikhs issued a religious edict which deemed it was sinful to watch "Tash MaTash" after an episode skewered religious judges for working only three hours a day. Another episode was heavily criticized by clerics and others when it ridiculed the practice of requiring women to be accompanied by a male relative or a husband when dining out.
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