Sanctions-era deprivation made Ramadi residents more religiously devout.

Evidence

Her family in Ramadi was not exceptionally religious, but one of the consequences of the deprivations that accompanied the sanctions was that the city became more staunchly devout. At first her aunts and uncles were pleased with Lina’s transformation, which was not done with half measures. Every time she heard the adhan, the call for prayer, she would wait exactly five minutes and then begin her prostrations. But they started looking at her askance when she donned the entire regalia of a religious woman, hijab on her head, flowing jilbab covering her body, and even black gloves and thick socks. Lina would also be one of the few women to attend salat al Isha, the night prayer at the local mosque, and during Ramadan she would stay for taraweeh, the long, supplementary prayers performed through half the night. She had all the required patience for prayer and devotion, and she felt content, as if she had finally found some sort of guidance. But deep down she knew that it wasn’t really a direction for her life. She wasn’t studying and still hadn’t finished high school. She wasn’t really going anywhere. But at least she felt so much closer to God, absorbed by His presence, as if her own ego were disappearing. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 629

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s general interest in how material deprivation reshapes religious practice, paralleling economic-decline religious intensification patterns.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: how precisely did sanctions-era poverty translate into stricter religiosity at the family level across Iraqi cities?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 629