The Arabic term for a Ramadan television serial is musalsal.
Musalsal literally suggests something chained, linked, or continuous, fitting a serialized drama released in successive episodes. The plural is musalsalat, while English-language writing often uses musalsal as a general label for an Arab television serial or soap opera. These programs are especially associated with Ramadan viewing across much of the Arab world.
Many Ramadan serials are structured to run for about 30 episodes, roughly one for each night of the month. Families may watch after iftar, when television schedules become a major part of evening social life. Stories range from family melodramas and romance to historical epics, crime plots, and political or social drama.
Musalsalat are not the same as a maqama, a classical form of Arabic rhymed prose, or a qasida, a form of Arabic poetry. Hakawati refers to a traditional storyteller, an older narrative counterpart whose tales were once part of evening gatherings. The modern serial blends that storytelling role with broadcast television.