When Can Muslims Begin to Eat Again

A Palestinian woman makes Tas Kadaif (small pancakes in thick syrup) for iftar dinner at her habitation during Ramadan in Gaza City, Gaza, on April 27, 2020.

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Ramadan: ix questions nigh the Muslim holy calendar month yous were besides embarrassed to ask

What is Ramadan? How does fasting work? Your questions, answered.

By Updated Apr 8, 2021, 8:07am EDT

Ramadan is the Muslim holy month, and even amongst a pandemic, nigh of the world'south i.6 billion Muslims will observe it in some form.

Which means there's a good chance you — or a friend, a coworker, a neighbor, your kid'south instructor — will be celebrating, fasting, and doing all sorts of other activities that are unique to the holy month.

But what is Ramadan, exactly? What's the deal with fasting? And is at that place anything special you should do or say when you're around Muslim friends and acquaintances during Ramadan?

Don't worry, we've got y'all covered: Here are the most bones answers to the virtually basic questions about Ramadan.

1) What is Ramadan actually about?

Ramadan is the most sacred month of the year for Muslims — the Prophet Mohammed reportedly said, "When the calendar month of Ramadan starts, the gates of sky are opened and the gates of hell are closed and the devils are chained."

Muslims believe it was during this month that God revealed the first verses of the Quran, Islam's sacred text, to Mohammed, on a night known as "The Dark of Ability" (or Laylat al-Qadr in Standard arabic).

During the entire month of Ramadan, Muslims fast every day from dawn to sunset. Information technology is meant to be a time of spiritual subject field — of deep contemplation of one's relationship with God, extra prayer, increased clemency and generosity, and intense study of the Quran.

Simply if that makes it audio super serious and boring, information technology'south actually not. It'southward a time of celebration and joy, to be spent with loved ones. At the end of Ramadan there's a big iii-day celebration called Eid al-Fitr, or the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast.

Information technology's kind of like the Muslim version of Christmas, in the sense that it's a religious holiday where anybody comes together for large meals with family and friends, exchanges presents, and mostly has a lovely time.

Of class, the Covid-19 pandemic has fabricated many of the more than social aspects of Ramadan a lot harder to do safely, given restrictions on travel and the need to maintain social distancing and avoid big, indoor gatherings. But Muslim community leaders are aware of this, and have put out detailed guidance on how to accept a happy and fulfilling Ramadan while making certain everyone stays safe.

Workers disinfect the Blue Mosque before its reopening on the last day of Eid al-Fitr in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 26, 2020, amid the Covid-nineteen pandemic.

Yasin Akgul/AFP via Getty Images

2) How does fasting work?

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars — or duties — of Islam, along with the testimony of faith, prayer, charitable giving, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca. All Muslims are required to have function every twelvemonth, though there are special dispensations for those who are ill, pregnant or nursing, menstruating, or traveling, and for immature children and the elderly.

The practice of fasting serves several spiritual and social purposes: to remind yous of your human frailty and your dependence on God for sustenance, to prove you what it feels like to be hungry and thirsty so y'all feel compassion for (and a duty to help) the poor and needy, and to reduce the distractions in life so you tin more clearly focus on your human relationship with God.

During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating whatever food, drinking any liquids, smoking cigarettes, and engaging in any sexual activity, from dawn to dusk. That includes taking medication (even if yous swallow a pill dry, without drinking any water). Chewing gum is also prohibited (though I didn't find that ane out until nearly halfway through my kickoff Ramadan subsequently converting — oops).

Doing any of those things "invalidates" your fast for the day, and you just start over the next day. To make up for days you didn't fast, you can either fast afterwards in the year (either all at once or a twenty-four hour period here and there) or provide a repast to a needy person for each day you missed.

Muslims are also supposed to endeavor to curb negative thoughts and emotions like jealousy and anger, and even lesser things similar swearing, complaining, and gossiping, during the month. Some people may also choose to give up or limit activities like listening to music and watching telly, often in favor of listening to recitations of the Quran.

three) What is a typical day like during Ramadan?

During Ramadan, Muslims wake upwardly well before dawn to eat the showtime meal of the day, which has to concluding until sunset. This means eating lots of high-poly peptide foods and drinking as much water as possible correct up until dawn, after which you can't swallow or drink anything.

At dawn, we perform the forenoon prayer. Since it'due south commonly notwithstanding pretty early, many get back to slumber for a bit earlier waking upward again to get fix for the day (I certainly do).

Muslims are not supposed to avert work or school or any other normal duties during the twenty-four hour period just because we are fasting. In many Muslim countries, however, businesses and schools may reduce their hours during the twenty-four hour period or close entirely. For the most part, though, Muslims become near their daily concern as nosotros normally would, despite not beingness able to swallow or drink anything the whole day.

When the evening call to prayer is finally made (or when the alert on your phone'southward Muslim prayer app goes off), we break the day's fast with a low-cal meal — actually more of a snack — called an iftar (literally "breakfast"), before performing the evening prayer. Many people also become to the mosque for the evening prayer, followed by a special prayer that is only recited during Ramadan.

A Muslim family gathers at the table for the iftar meal after sunset during Ramadan on May 13, 2020, in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Robin Utrecht/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Palestinians gather along the shore of Gaza City to share the iftar meal during Ramadan on May 13, 2020.

Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

This is usually followed by a larger meal a bit afterwards in the evening, which is frequently shared with family and friends in one another's homes throughout the month. And then information technology's off to bed for a few hours of slumber earlier it'due south time to wake up and start all over again.

(Notation: There are good reasons for only having a small snack to interruption your fast before performing the evening prayer and so eating a bigger meal later. Muslim prayers involve a lot of movement — angle over, prostrating on the ground, continuing up, etc. Doing all that concrete activity on a full stomach afterward not having eaten for fifteen hours is a recipe for disaster. Just trust me on this one.)

Despite the hardship of fasting for a whole month, most Muslims (myself included) actually look forrad to Ramadan and are a piddling sad when it'southward over. There'southward just something really special virtually knowing that tens of millions of your fellow Muslims around the world are experiencing the same hunger pangs, dry mouth, and dizzy spells that yous are, and that we're all in it together.

four) So practice you lose weight during Ramadan?

Some of you may be thinking, "Wow, that sounds like a great way to lose weight! I'g going to attempt it!" But in fact, Ramadan is actually notorious for often causing weight gain. That'south considering eating large meals super early in the morning and belatedly at nighttime with a long menstruation of low activity bordering on lethargy in between can wreak havoc on your metabolism.

One meta-analysis of scientific studies on the furnishings of Ramadan fasting on body weight found that "[w]8 changes during Ramadan were relatively small and mostly reversed after Ramadan, gradually returning to pre-Ramadan status. Ramadan provides an opportunity to lose weight, but structured and consistent lifestyle modifications are necessary to accomplish lasting weight loss." [Italics mine.]

So just similar with any other extreme diet plan, yous may lose a few pounds, but unless you actually make "structured and consistent lifestyle modifications," you're probably non going to run across major, lasting results.

v) Why do the dates of Ramadan change every twelvemonth?

For religious matters, Muslims follow a lunar calendar — that is, i based on the phases of the moon — whose 12 months add up to approximately 354 days. That'due south 11 days shorter than the 365 days of the standard Gregorian calendar. Therefore, the Islamic lunar calendar moves backward approximately 11 days each year in relation to the regular Gregorian agenda.

So that ways that the first day of the calendar month of Ramadan, which is the ninth calendar month of the Islamic lunar calendar, moves backward by about 11 days each year.

This has a big impact on how people experience Ramadan from yr to yr. When Ramadan falls in the winter, information technology's much easier to fast: the days are shorter, which means you don't have to fast as long, and information technology's colder out, so not existence able to drink water all day isn't as large of a deal considering you're not sweating as much.

Conversely, when Ramadan falls in the summertime, fasting can exist brutal. In many Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa, summer temperatures can attain levels usually reserved for the deepest bowels of hell.

And in some Northern European countries such every bit Iceland, Kingdom of norway, and Sweden (where, aye, there are Muslims), fasting tin can last an average of xx hours or more in the summer. (And in a few places above the Arctic Circle, the sun never actually sets in the summer. In these cases, Muslim religious government accept decreed that Muslims can either fast along with the closest Muslim country or fast along with Mecca, Saudi Arabia.)

6) Okay, but why is there always confusion every year nigh exactly what day Ramadan starts on?

There's a reason "Ramadan kickoff appointment" is one of the virtually-searched phrases every single yr. That'due south considering Muslims around the world do non know when exactly Ramadan is actually supposed to start. If y'all Google it, you lot'll see at that place's a little disclaimer under Google'south answer that says "Dates may vary":

That also has to do with the moon — as well equally disagreements about science, history, and tradition, plus a bit of geopolitical rivalry.

The beginning of each new month in the Islamic calendar starts on the new moon. Which means the month of Ramadan starts on the new moon. Simple enough, right?

Incorrect.

If it's been a while since your high school astronomy form, here's a reminder of what the phases of the moon wait like:

The phases of the moon.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Back in Mohammed's twenty-four hour period, in sixth-century Arabia, astronomical calculations weren't equally precise every bit they are today, so people went by what they could come across with the naked eye.

Since the new moon isn't actually super visible in the night sky (as you can come across above), Muslims traditionally waited to first fasting until the small sliver of crescent moon became visible. There's fifty-fifty a saying attributed to the Prophet Mohammed almost waiting to start the fast until you lot run into the crescent. (Some people retrieve this is why the star and crescent is the symbol of Islam, merely the crescent was used equally a symbol long before Islam.)

This method was a bit messy, though, since things like clouds or only the difficulty of spotting the moon in some locations often led to different groups starting their fast on separate days, even inside the same country. Each community, village, or even mosque within the village might send its own guy out to look for the crescent, with rival groups arguing over whether the other guy actually saw information technology.

Today, however, we accept precise scientific calculations that tell u.s.a. exactly when the new moon begins, and we don't need to wait until someone spots a tiny crescent in the sky. (In fact, co-ordinate to the Oxford Dictionary of Islam, "The need to decide the precise advent of the hilal [crescent moon] was one of the inducements for Muslim scholars to study astronomy.")

And then, trouble solved! Except that some Muslim scholars believe we should still await until the slight crescent moon is visible in the nighttime sky because that's what Mohammed said to do and that's the way we've always done information technology.

Others debate that Islam has a strong tradition of reason, knowledge, and scientific discipline, and that if Mohammed were effectually today, he'd choose the more precise scientific calculations over sending the guy at the mosque with the best eyesight exterior to squint at the night sky.

To make things even more fun, some fence that the whole world should only follow the official moon-sighting decrees of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and the location of its holiest sites.

But non anybody thinks that'southward such a swell idea — especially rival countries similar Pakistan and Iran, which balk at the thought of treating Saudi Arabia equally the ultimate authority on anything having to practise with Islam.

All this means that each yr, Muslims around the globe become to experience the delightful lunacy of "moon-sighting fighting." It'south such a familiar characteristic of Ramadan that there are memes near information technology:

7) Are there differences between how Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims discover Ramadan?

For the most part, no. Both Sunni and Shia Muslims fast during Ramadan. Only there are some minor differences — for case, Sunnis suspension their daily fast at sunset, when the lord's day is no longer visible on the horizon (but in that location's however lite in the sky), whereas Shia wait until the redness of the setting sun has completely vanished and the sky is totally dark.

Shia as well gloat an additional holiday within the calendar month of Ramadan that Sunnis do non. For three days — the 19th, 20th, and 21st days of Ramadan — Shia commemorate the martyrdom of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-police of the Prophet Mohammed who was both the revered fourth caliph of Sunni Islam and the kickoff "legitimate" imam (leader) of Shia Islam.

Ali was assassinated in the fierce civil wars that erupted post-obit the expiry of Mohammed over who should pb the Muslim community in his stead. On the 19th day of the month of Ramadan, while Ali was worshipping at a mosque in Kufa, Republic of iraq, an assassin from a group of rebels who opposed his leadership fatally struck him with a poisoned sword. Ali died 2 days later on.

Ali is a hugely important figure in Shia Islam. His tomb in nearby Najaf, Iraq, is the 3rd-holiest site in Shia Islam, and millions of Shia brand a pilgrimage there every yr. Although Sunnis revere Ali equally 1 of the 4 "rightly guided" caliphs who ruled later on Mohammed'southward death, they practice not commemorate his decease or make a pilgrimage to his tomb.

The tomb of Imam Ali in Najaf, Republic of iraq.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

8) What tin can I do to be respectful of my Muslim friends during Ramadan?

In some Muslim countries, information technology is a crime to eat and drink in public during the day in the month of Ramadan, even if you're not Muslim.

Of class, this is not the case in the The states, where nosotros savor liberty of (and freedom from) religion. And most American Muslims, myself included, don't await the non-Muslims effectually us to radically change their beliefs to accommodate our religious fast during Ramadan.

I've had friends and coworkers who have chosen to fast along with me out of solidarity (or merely because it seems "fun"), and that was sweetness of them, but it's non something I ever expect people to do. (Plus, they usually last about three days before they decide solidarity is overrated and being thirsty for 15 hours is not remotely "fun.")

All that said, in that location are things you lot can do, and not do, to make things a little easier for friends or colleagues who happen to be fasting for Ramadan. If yous share an office with someone fasting, maybe eat your succulent, juicy cheeseburger in the part break room rather than at your desk-bound, where your poor, suffering Muslim coworkers will have to smell it and salivate (if they even have enough wet left in their bodies to salivate at that point).

Endeavour to recollect non to offer them a bite or a sip of what y'all're eating, because it's sometimes hard for us to remember that we're fasting and piece of cake to absentmindedly accept and eat that Lay's potato scrap you only offered united states of america. Only if you lot practice, it'due south okay. Nosotros're not going to get mad or be offended (unless you're doing information technology on purpose, in which case, what is wrong with you?).

If you're having a dinner party and you desire to invite your Muslim friends, try to schedule it after sunset and then they can eat. Muslims don't beverage alcohol or eat pork, simply nosotros usually don't listen beingness effectually it. (Contrary to popular belief, we are not scared of or allergic to pork; we simply don't swallow information technology. It's not similar we're vampires and pork is garlic.) But do permit us know if in that location's alcohol or pork in something so nosotros don't accidentally consume it.

If y'all want to wish your Muslim friends or acquaintances a happy Ramadan or happy Eid al-Fitr, y'all're welcome to only say, "Happy Ramadan!" or "Happy Eid!" That's non offensive or anything. Merely if y'all want to testify them you lot made an effort to learn more nearly their religion, the standard greetings are "Ramadan/Eid kareem" (which means "have a generous Ramadan/Eid") or "Ramadan/Eid mubarak" (which means "have a blessed Ramadan/Eid").

Fifty-fifty something as simple as learning one of those expressions and saying information technology with a smile to your Muslim friends will become a long mode toward making them feel comfortable and welcome.

ix) So if you lot're not supposed to get angry or complain or gossip during Ramadan, how come up terror attacks by groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda sometimes spike during Ramadan?

Because terrorists are assholes.

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Source: https://www.vox.com/2017/5/25/11851766/what-is-ramadan-muslim-islam-about

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