There are many reasons to quit smoking – physical, social, financial and more – but when it comes to deciding when to pull the plug on the habit, smokers often say there is never a perfect time. However, health experts believe Ramadan is as good a time as any and cite myriad reasons.
“Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, personal growth and strengthening well-being,” says Dr Grace Fabrizia Graziani, a family medicine specialist at Aster Royal Clinic. “It can also be a powerful opportunity to break free from smoking.”
Dr Harkirat Singh Wilkhoo, a specialist in homeopathy and lifestyle medicine at RAK Hospital, adds: “Fasting and abstaining from smoking for an average 13 hours a day is a good resistance for the mind and body. Ramadan is about self-control and discipline, which makes it a perfect chance to stop smoking for good.”
With the addition of a little willpower, the experts believe those wishing to quit smoking can utilise the new habits and routines that are a part of this time of year and emerge from Ramadan well on their way to a smoke-free life.
How Ramadan can help
The built-in break that comes with fasting “disrupts your smoking routine and reduces your body’s dependence on nicotine, giving you a head start”, notes Dr Graziani.
“There’s also inner strength. Ramadan emphasises self-discipline, which can translate to resisting cigarette cravings. Quitters can also rely on community support with many mosques offering programmes aimed explicitly at quitting smoking during this time. This sense of shared goals can be a huge motivator.”
When fasting hours come to an end, Dr Graziani says it is important to prepare for the cravings. He recommends waiting 30 minutes after breaking fast before thinking about smoking.
Engage in activities you enjoy, such as spending time with family, reading a Quran chapter, or volunteer work
Dr Grace Fabrizia Graziani,
family medicine specialist, Aster Royal Clinic
Cravings are often strongest after eating but, according to Dr Wilkhoo, they will fade away if you persevere. For those quitting gradually, he advises trying to extend the length of time between eating and smoking each day. When the fasting day ends, he suggests reaching for water instead of cigarettes, vapes or shisha, as hydrating can help combat the urge to smoke.
“Eating food that fights nicotine cravings, such as ginger, basil and cayenne pepper, as well as drinking chilled water, helps to divert the mind,” says Dr Wilkhoo. “Hobbies such as painting, reading, singing, gardening and pet care allow for mental diversion and will keep you busy. Supportive friends also play a strong role in keeping smoking at bay.”
Dr Graziani adds. “Engage in activities you enjoy, such as spending time with family, reading a Quran chapter, or volunteer work.”
The experts at Go Smoke Free also recommend sucking on cinnamon sticks instead of cigarettes and drinking herbal tea.
Understanding your habits
“I admit I tried to give up smoking last Ramadan, but found that I couldn’t make it stick,” says IT specialist Daniel El-Khoury, 44. “It was more of a last-minute decision, which I don’t think helped. Obviously, I had the physical cravings, but I also found I was more affected by the social cravings, such as when everyone was having shisha or smoking after iftar, and I wanted to join in.”
He adds: “I’m going to try again this year, but the difference is I feel a lot more prepared this time around.”
Experts say understanding why an individual smokes can help them quit and take the necessary steps to anticipate and counter the triggers that lead to lighting up. “Take time to reflect on why you smoke,” says Dr Graziani. “Is it for social connection, stress relief, or boredom? Identifying your triggers can help you develop healthier coping mechanisms.”
Relaxation techniques such as yoga, deep breathing or meditation can increase your ability to stay calm
Dr Neha Solanki,
pulmonologist, Cleveland Clinic
Cravings, emotionally, physically and psychologically, can influence how easy someone may find it to quit, says Cleveland Clinic pulmonologist Dr Neha Solanki.
In heavy smokers, the cravings can start as soon as half an hour after their last cigarette, she says. The effects of nicotine withdrawal can include insomnia, irritability, an increase in appetite and headaches, Dr Solanki notes. Quitters may also experience anxiety.
“A lot of people smoke to help calm anxiety and deal with stress,” adds Dr Solanki. “Relaxation techniques such as yoga, deep breathing or meditation can boost your parasympathetic response. This helps diminish your anxiety, increases your level of focus and your ability to stay calm.”
Do nicotine patches break your fast?
The Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department has decreed that wearing nicotine patches while fasting is permitted, noting that “they are not nutritious and the substances in it are absorbed through the skin and blood and not through an opening in the body”.
Experts also say those wishing to stop should take into account their personal traits and personality type. For instance, while some might find it beneficial to quit overnight, others prefer to stop gradually.
There are plenty of nicotine replacement medications, patches and gum available through doctors or at the pharmacy, although chewing nicotine gum would not be permitted during fasting hours.
“For some people, cold turkey is the only way to go,” says Dr Solanki. “But for others, this method is just too difficult. It’s hard to break the ritual of smoking.”
Setting a “quit date” – such as the midway through Ramadan – can help those who wish to stop gradually.
Dr Solanki adds: “Often, people will start with nicotine replacement therapy. For example, nicotine patches replace the nicotine from cigarettes and help treat the urge. Over time, we slowly taper down the amount of nicotine in the patches you get.”
Studies have shown that whether someone stops gradually or immediately, the end health results are the same.
“Ramadan can be a turning point in your journey to a smoke-free life,” says Dr Graziani. “By using these tips, seeking professional support from your doctor, and working on the underlying reasons why you smoke, you can achieve lasting change.”
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
More on animal trafficking
The specs
Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power 204hp Torque 360Nm
Price, base / as tested Dh174,500
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
Jordan cabinet changes
In
- Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
- Dr Bassam Samir Al Talhouni, Minister of Justice
- Majd Mohamed Shoueikeh, State Minister of Development of Foundation Performance
- Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
- Falah Abdalla Al Ammoush, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Basma Moussa Ishakat, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Ghazi Monawar Al Zein, Minister of Health
- Ibrahim Sobhi Alshahahede, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment
- Dr Mohamed Suleiman Aburamman, Minister of Culture and Minister of Youth
Out
- Dr Adel Issa Al Tawissi, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research
- Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Mahmud Yassin Al Sheyab, Minister of Health
- Yahya Moussa Kasbi, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Nayef Hamidi Al Fayez, Minister of Environment
- Majd Mohamed Shoueika, Minister of Public Sector Development
- Khalid Moussa Al Huneifat, Minister of Agriculture
- Dr Awad Abu Jarad Al Mushakiba, Minister of Justice
- Mounir Moussa Ouwais, Minister of Water and Agriculture
- Dr Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education
- Mokarram Mustafa Al Kaysi, Minister of Youth
- Basma Mohamed Al Nousour, Minister of Culture
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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9.
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Saudi Arabia
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10.
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South Korea
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rob%20Marshall%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHalle%20Bailey%2C%20Jonah%20Hauer-King%2C%20Melissa%20McCarthy%2C%20Javier%20Bardem%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
if you go
The flights
Emirates offer flights to Buenos Aires from Dubai, via Rio De Janeiro from around Dh6,300. emirates.com
Seeing the games
Tangol sell experiences across South America and generally have good access to tickets for most of the big teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Independiente. Prices from Dh550 and include pick up and drop off from your hotel in the city. tangol.com
Staying there
Tangol will pick up tourists from any hotel in Buenos Aires, but after the intensity of the game, the Faena makes for tranquil, upmarket accommodation. Doubles from Dh1,110. faena.com
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Specs
Engine: 2-litre
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 255hp
Torque: 273Nm
Price: Dh240,000
Star%20Wars%3A%20Ahsoka%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Various%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rosario%20Dawson%2C%20Natasha%20Liu%20Bordizzo%2C%20Lars%20Mikkelsen%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2019 Lincoln MKC
Price, base / as tested: Dh169,995 / Dh192,045
Engine: Turbocharged, 2.0-litre, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 253hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 389Nm @ 2,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.7L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: CVT auto
Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
On sale: now
Price: from Dh195,000
WITHIN%20SAND
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The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
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Age
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$250 a month
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$500 a month
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$1,000 a month
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25
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$640,829
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$1,281,657
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$2,563,315
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35
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$303,219
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$606,439
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$1,212,877
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45
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$131,596
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$263,191
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$526,382
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55
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$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Dubai Creek Open in numbers
- The Dubai Creek Open is the 10th tournament on this year's Mena Tour
- It is the first of five events before the season-concluding Mena Tour Championship
- This week's field comprises 120 players, 21 of which are amateurs
- 15 previous Mena Tour winners are competing at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
