By Faridah Banke Niniola

Religious devotion is often misunderstood when viewed from outside the faith that practices it. What feels like clear obedience to one religion can look unnecessary or inconsistent to another. But the problem is usually not the practice itself, ìt is the lens through which it is judged. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn until sunset. The fast begins with a pre-dawn meal (suhoor) and ends at sunset (iftar). That pre-dawn meal is often what raises eyebrows. “How is it fasting if they eat at 5 a.m and break at 7 p.m in the evening?”
That question comes from comparing Ramadan to other models of fasting that do not include a pre-dawn meal. In Islam, suhoor is not an exception to the fast, it is part of it. It is prescribed, it is intentional. Waking at 4 or 5 a.m. is not comfort. It is obedience to a specific command within a particular faith or religion.
Fasting is not one size fits all. Different religions define it differently. The presence of a pre-dawn meal in Islam does not weaken the fast, it defines its structure.
Religious practices cannot be judged fairly when removed from their foundations. Measuring one tradition by the structure of another assumes that a single standard must apply to all faith. It ignores the rules that each faith practices.

Lent, for example, is structured differently. Many Christians observe sacrifice in other forms such as abstaining from food in their own way, habits, or comforts over a set period. Dfferent structures do not mean lesser seriousness.
In both seasons, believers are choosing restraint, they are watching their words more carefully, they are giving more generously, they are trying to quiet their desires so they can become more aware of God. The discipline may look different, but the intention carries weight in both traditions.
Religious devotion is not a competition. It is not about who appears stricter. It is not about whose fast looks harder from the outside. It is about sincerity and obedience within the boundaries of one’s faith.
You may not share another person’s beliefs, but reducing their discipline to mockery simply because it is structured differently misses the point entirely.
Ramadan and Lent follow different paths. Their foundations are not the same.
But the sole purpose of both is to draw closer to God. Religious devotion deserves understanding before evaluation. So before judging another person’s practice, pause long enough to ask what gives it meaning. Every faith has its logic. Every discipline has its reason.

Faridah Niniola writes from Lagos.