The Ramadan Hub

Allah describes Ramaḍān as the month chosen to carry His final book: "The month of Ramaḍān is that in which the Qur'ān was revealed — a guidance for people and clear proofs of guidance and the criterion." (Sūrah al-Baqarah, Q 2:185). Fasting it is the fourth of the five pillars named by the Prophet ﷺ: the testimony of faith, the prayer, zakāt, the fast of Ramaḍān, and the pilgrimage (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 8, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 16).

The reward is immense. The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever fasts Ramaḍān out of faith and hope of reward, his past sins are forgiven (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 38, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 760). It is a month of the Qur'ān, of charity, of restraint of the tongue and temper, and of drawing near to Allah by night and by day.

Because the Islamic year follows the moon, Ramaḍān begins with the sighting of the new crescent and moves roughly eleven days earlier each solar year. See the Islamic calendar for how the months turn, and prayer times for your local dawn (Fajr) and sunset (Maghrib), which mark the start and end of each day's fast.

The fast (ṣawm) means abstaining from food, drink, and marital intimacy from the break of dawn until sunset, seeking the pleasure of Allah. It is obligatory upon every Muslim who is adult, sane, and able: "O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become mindful of Allah." (Sūrah al-Baqarah, Q 2:183).

What breaks the fast

• Deliberately eating or drinking during the fasting hours.
• Marital intimacy during the daytime fast.
• Deliberately inducing vomiting.
• The arrival of menstrual or post-natal bleeding, at which point the fast is broken and made up later.

Eating or drinking forgetfully does not break the fast — the Prophet ﷺ taught that one who forgets should simply complete the fast, for Allah has fed him. The schools of law differ over the finer details (such as certain kinds of injections or unintentional swallowing), so follow the guidance of a trusted local scholar where a case is unclear.

Who is excused

The Qur'ān itself makes the fast merciful and flexible. "Whoever among you is ill or on a journey — then an equal number of other days." (Sūrah al-Baqarah, Q 2:184). Those excused from fasting on a given day include:

• The sick — where fasting would harm them or delay recovery.
• The traveller — on a genuine journey.
• Women who are menstruating or in post-natal bleeding — they do not fast, and make up the missed days later.
• The pregnant or nursing mother — where she fears for herself or her child.
• The frail elderly and the chronically ill who have no realistic hope of being able to fast.

Making up (qaḍāʾ) and fidyah

Most of those excused simply make up (qaḍāʾ) the missed days after Ramaḍān, before the next one arrives. For the person who is permanently unable to fast — the very old or the incurably ill — many scholars hold that in place of each day they give fidyah: feeding a needy person, in keeping with the verse "and upon those who are able [only with hardship] is a ransom: the feeding of a poor person" (Sūrah al-Baqarah, Q 2:184). The rulings for the pregnant and nursing mother (whether qaḍāʾ, fidyah, or both) are a well-known point of difference between the schools — this is exactly the kind of question to put to a qualified scholar for your situation.

Each fasting day is bookended by two blessed meals: suhoor, taken before dawn, and iftār, the breaking of the fast at sunset.

Suhoor — the pre-dawn meal

Eating suhoor is a Sunnah, even if only a sip of water. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Take suhoor, for in suhoor there is blessing" (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1923). It is recommended to delay it until close to dawn, stopping when Fajr enters. Your local prayer times give the Fajr time that ends suhoor and opens the fast.

Iftār — breaking the fast

The Sunnah is to hasten the iftār — to break the fast promptly once the sun has set, without delay. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The people will remain upon good as long as they hasten the breaking of the fast" (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1957). It is reported that he ﷺ would break his fast with fresh dates, or otherwise dried dates, or else a drink of water, and then pray Maghrib. The moments just before iftār, while still fasting, are a treasured time for supplication.

At the moment of breaking the fast, this well-known supplication is recited:

Another well-known iftār wording — practised widely, though its chain is discussed by scholars — is Allāhumma innī laka ṣumtu wa ʿalā rizqika afṭart ("O Allah, for You I fasted, and with Your provision I break my fast"). Find these and more, with audio, in the fasting duʿās section of our duʿā library.

The final third of Ramaḍān is its summit. Within it lies Laylat al-Qadr — the Night of Decree — of which Allah says it is "better than a thousand months" (Sūrah al-Qadr, Q 97:3): worship on that single night outweighs a lifetime of some eighty-three years.

Its exact date is hidden. The Prophet ﷺ instructed the believers to seek it in the odd nights of the last ten (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2017) — that is, the eves of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, and 29th. When the last ten nights entered, he ﷺ would intensify his worship, spend the night in prayer, and wake his family (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2024).

ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Prophet ﷺ what to say if she found Laylat al-Qadr, and he taught her this supplication:

Iʿtikāf — spiritual retreat

Many devote these nights to iʿtikāf: a retreat within the mosque, withdrawing from the world to worship, recite Qur'ān, and make duʿā. The Prophet ﷺ observed iʿtikāf in the last ten days of Ramaḍān every year (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2025). Even those who cannot commit to full iʿtikāf are encouraged to give these nights extra prayer, charity, and remembrance.

Ramaḍān nights are marked by Tarāwīḥ — the voluntary night prayer, prayed after the ʿIshāʾ prayer and usually in congregation at the mosque. It is one of the beloved features of the month; the Prophet ﷺ said that whoever stands (in prayer) in Ramaḍān out of faith and hope of reward, his past sins are forgiven (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 37, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 759).

Congregations differ over the number of rakʿah, and this is a long-standing and accepted difference. It is reported that the Prophet's own night prayer did not exceed eleven rakʿah (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1147), while the practice of praying twenty rakʿah became widespread from the time of the Caliph ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) and is followed in mosques around the world today. Both are established, and neither congregation should be criticised — what matters is the quality and sincerity of the standing, not merely the count.

Ramaḍān closes with an act of giving. Zakāt al-Fiṭr (also called Ṣadaqat al-Fiṭr) is an obligatory charity due on every Muslim — including the young and the dependent, paid on their behalf by the head of the household. Its purpose is to purify the fasting person and to make sure the poor, too, can share in the joy of Eid.

The Prophet ﷺ made it obligatory as one ṣāʿ (a measure of roughly four handfuls) of a staple food — such as dates, barley, or the like — per person (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1503, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 984). Today many pay its equivalent value so that it can be distributed easily to those in need.

Crucially, it must be given before the Eid prayer for it to count as Zakāt al-Fiṭr; given after, it becomes ordinary charity. Arrange it a day or two early so it reaches the needy in time. Learn more about the wider obligation on our Zakāt guide, and about the celebration that follows on our Eid guide.