Ramadan in Belgium: Why Young People Are Embracing It More Strongly

Once again this year, the winter season offers short, cool days that make fasting physically easier. For Michaël Privot, an Islamologist and founder of the Muslim Council of Belgium, this favorable timing encourages younger people to take part. However, many schools report that children as young as 8 are taking up this religious practice, often driven by a desire to prove their endurance or by a form of competition with their classmates, sometimes forcing parents to intervene so that they eat, La Dernière Heure explains.

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Beyond religious practice, fasting has become a particularly visible symbol of community loyalty. Unlike prayer, which can remain private, Ramadan is a public act. “If you do not pray, nobody will know. But if you do not fast, it will be visible,” Michaël Privot explains. This social dimension creates pressure in which belonging to the group sometimes takes precedence over the precepts themselves, leading to reminders and reprimands within neighborhoods.

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For Mustapha Chairi, president of the Collective for Inclusion and Against Islamophobia in Belgium (CIIB), this intensification of religious practice among teenagers also reflects a need to reconnect with spirituality in a difficult social climate. Faced with a feeling of constant stigmatization, religion becomes a source of hope and a sanctuary. This is reflected in stricter adherence to religious codes, such as wearing traditional clothing when going to the mosque, marking a break with everyday habits.

Despite this fervor, experts remind us that, for a child’s physical well-being, fasting should not begin before the age of 15. The debate has also entered Belgium’s public sphere, where lighting up certain streets for the occasion has sparked mixed reactions. Between self-affirmation and the search for guidance, Ramadan 2026 confirms its role as a cultural pivot for a generation seeking recognition and meaning.