Ramadan and fasting
๐ In short
Ramadan is a month Muslims love dearly. They fast from dawn to sunset, not eating or drinking. Families gather to break the fast, mosques fill with worshippers, and people read more Qur'an and help the poor more.
ุดูููุฑู ุฑูู
ูุถูุงูู ุงูููุฐูู ุฃููุฒููู ููููู ุงููููุฑูุขูู ููุฏูู ูููููููุงุณู๐คฉ Did you know?
- Ramadan is month number 9 in the Hijri calendar.
- Ramadan lasts 29 or 30 days, depending on the sighting of the new moon.
- The Night of Decree is better than 1000 months, as Surat al-Qadr says.
- Because the Hijri year is lunar, Ramadan comes about 11 days earlier each year than the year before.
๐ Find out more
๐ A fasting person's day
A fasting person wakes before dawn to eat suhur, then goes without food and drink all day. At the call to the Maghrib prayer they break the fast with a few dates or some water, then pray.
๐ Why do we fast?
We fast to obey God, learning patience and self-control, and feeling for the poor who have no food. A fasting person also keeps their tongue from lies and unkind words.
๐ก Children and fasting
Fasting is required of grown-ups, while children practice little by little: half a day, then a whole day, when they're able. People who are ill or traveling don't fast, and make up the days later.
๐ฏ The nights of Ramadan
On the nights of Ramadan, Muslims pray the tarawih prayer. In the last ten nights comes the Night of Decree (Laylat al-Qadr), better than a thousand months. At the end of the month, Muslims give zakat al-fitr to the poor before Eid.
๐ Key words
- Suhur
- The meal we eat before dawn
- Iftar
- The meal we eat at sunset after fasting
- Crescent moon
- The thin moon at the start of the month, which tells us when Ramadan begins and ends
๐ฑ Put it into practice today
Next Ramadan, help your mom prepare a plate of dates for iftar, and put a coin in a โRamadan money boxโ every day to give to someone in need before Eid.
๐งฉ Test yourself
1 From when to when do we fast?
2 What do we call the meal we eat before dawn?
3 Which night is better than a thousand months?
๐ Read next
- ๐ The five pillars of Islam
- โจ The six pillars of faith
- ๐ง Wudu and purity
- ๐ง Prayer
- ๐คฒ Zakat and charity
- ๐ Hajj and Umrah
- ๐ Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha
- ๐ Friday
- ๐คฒ Du'a
- ๐ Hijri months
- ๐ The Qur'an
- ๐ The Prophet Muhammad ๏ทบ
- ๐ The mosque, the house of God
- ๐ฌ Honesty
- ๐ค Trustworthiness
- ๐จโ๐ฉโ๐ง Kindness to parents
- ๐ Mercy and kindness to animals
- ๐งผ Cleanliness is part of faith
- ๐๏ธ Being good to neighbors
- ๐ฝ๏ธ Table manners
- ๐ Greetings and smiles
- โต The story of Noah (Nuh)
- ๐ฅ The story of Abraham (Ibrahim)
- โญ The story of Joseph (Yusuf)
- ๐ The story of Moses (Musa)
- ๐ The story of Jonah (Yunus)
- ๐ฑ Patience