A brief introduction to Ramadan

Muslims spend Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, fasting. They abstain from eating and drinking and intimacy with the opposite sex until iftar time (sunset), when a meal is served to break the day's fast. As Ramadan is a time to purify the soul, Muslims refocus attention on God and retire from various daily enjoyments throughout the month.

The month of Ramadan is considered the most venerated, blessed and spiritually beneficial month of the Islamic year. During this month prayers, fasting, charity and self-accountability are particularly emphasized and all obligatory religious observances are further encouraged at this time, as this month was called by the Prophet "the month of my people [ummah]."

The name Ramadan is derived from the Arabic word "ramida" or "ar-ramad," which means intense scorching heat and dryness of the ground. Muslims are advised to spend this month revising their lives in light of Islamic teachings. They are recommended to forgive those who have wronged or hurt them, improve ties with family and friends, refrain from bad deeds and repent for their wrongdoings. In this way, Muslims purify their souls, lives, thoughts and feelings.

Ramadan brings special emotional excitement and religious zeal to Muslims, who are supposed to change both their physical and emotional conditions during the 30-day-long fasting period. Therefore fasting is not merely a physical act, it is a spiritual commitment as well.

A typical day in Ramadan begins by waking up at an early hour for suhur, a pre-dawn meal. Fasting, which starts with the break of dawn, continues until sunset. Though fasting is mandatory from adolescence onward, young children are generally willing to observe the fast with their elders. They look forward to the excitement of the holy month and break their fasts with special meals they share with their beloved families. Adults also appreciate the opportunity to double their rewards from God and seek forgiveness for their previous sins. Ramadan brings with it an atmosphere of peace, fraternity and tolerance, which enables Muslims to lead better lives in terms of spirituality and moral values.

During Ramadan, every part of the body must refrain from bad deeds. The tongue must avoid gossiping, the eyes must refrain from looking at forbidden things, the hands must not touch or take anything that does not belong to them, the ears must avoid listening to idle conversations or obscene words and the feet must refrain from going to sinful places. In this way, all parts of the body observe fasting.

Pregnant women, the elderly, the ill, travelers -- provided that they make up the prescribed period of fasting later on -- and children who have not reached the age of puberty are all exempt from fasting.

A Ramadan glossary

Pre-dawn meal (suhur): A small meal eaten before dawn during Ramadan; the final meal before the day's fast begins.

Fasting (sawm): As practiced in Islam, this means a complete fast: no food or drink at all during the daylight hours. Married Muslims refrain from physical intimacy as well, and all those fasting are to steer away from anger, bad language and bad deeds. The fasting person's complete attention is to be directed toward worship and devotion to God.

Iftar: A meal served at the end of the day during Ramadan, to break the day's fast. Literally, "breakfast."

Terawih: Voluntary evening prayers performed during Ramadan.

Sadaqa: Charitable giving, or the money given in charity. There is also a particular type of sadaqa peculiar to this month called al-fitr, which is an amount given in charity to the poor at the end of the month to ensure that everyone has enough to eat during Eid al-Fitr, the religious festival celebrated at the end of the month, and to ensure that all Muslims share the joy of the festivity. This amount is traditionally paid in food goods (rice, barley, flour, dates, etc.), but it is possible to make this donation in cash also.

Zakat: Almsgiving; one of the five "pillars" of Islam. Muslims who have wealth remaining over the year must donate at least one-40th of it to those in need. While it can be paid anytime during the year, many people prefer to pay it during the month of Ramadan.

Many religions stipulate fasting in different ways

Fasting, which Muslims around the world perform during the month of Ramadan, is a practice also observed by the followers of other faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Jainism, though in different ways. Fasting was a form of worship practiced well before Islam, although in a form different from what is now practiced by Muslims. It is written in the second chapter of the Holy Quran, titled al-Baqarah, that fasting was prescribed to Muslims as it had been prescribed to nations before them: “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may learn self-restraint (183).”

Fasting for Jews means completely abstaining from food and drink, including water. Taking medication or even brushing teeth are forbidden on the major fast days of Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av, which last from sundown one day until nightfall the next, but are permitted on minor fast days, which last from dawn to nightfall.

Fasting has been observed in many different forms in Christianity throughout history. Today, there are different types of fasting in Christianity. For Catholics, eucharistic fasting involves refraining from eating solid foods for certain hours before Communion. This type of fasting used to mean refraining from solid foods starting at 12 a.m. on the communion day, whereas it has been changed over time to not eating anything for one hour and not drinking alcohol for three hours before Communion. Lenten fasting, on the other hand, covers a period of 40 days in the Catholic Church. For Roman Catholics, it generally involves eating one meal during the day and making do with less food in the morning and evening, while some avoid all food and drink only water.

Hindus fast on certain days of the year and on festivals to purify their souls. Hindus have special days they spend in prayer and worship and reading holy texts, on which they do not eat. Fasting in Hinduism can involve abstaining from food or eating only certain foods.

Jainism has many types of fasting, ranging from a complete abstinence from food and water that ends in death to limiting the size of meals or refraining from eating certain foods.