Celebrating Ramadan

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is one of the most sacred times for Muslims. During this month, Muslims observe a strict daily fast from dawn until sunset. They are not allowed to eat or drink, not even water, during these daylight hours.

In 2024, the first day of fasting starts at sundown on Sunday, 10 March and will end at sundown on Tuesday, 9 April, which is 30 days.

Fasting times this year are between 4.30am and 6:10pm at the beginning of Ramadan, with the fasting times getting longer (especially as the clocks go forward later in the month).

During Ramadan many Muslims go to the mosque and spend several hours praying. In addition to the five daily prayers that are part of the core of Islam, Muslims recite a special prayer called the Tarawih prayer (night prayer). The last ten nights of Ramadan are especially important and many Muslims will increase in their nightly prayers and devotion.

At the end of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, a feast that celebrates the breaking of the fast takes place. Gifts are exchanged and friends and families gather for festive meals. Special gifts are also given to the poor.

What life is like during Ramadan - Umar's story...

Ramadan is an Islamic month when we fast from sunrise till sunset. It’s the month of sacrifice, tranquility, happiness etc...

What I do in a day...

I wake up an hour early before the fasting time begins to start; the fast depending on the timetable we get from the mosque. I eat something like porridge or something that will fulfil me for the day.

After the time starts to fast we go to the mosque for our prayer called Fajr. I go to pray then I come back home and sleep before I need to get up again for school. 

During the full day we don’t eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset. People who are fasting can be tired from PE or being out when it’s hot outside.

After school we go home and we say our prayers that we have missed during school time, then we rest for a little while and go to the mosque to pray Qur’an and pray our prayers as a congregation.

We break our fast at the mosque when the call to prayer is been given out loud. Our parents start preparing couple hours before we break our fast. After breaking our fast at mosque we then go home and eat together. 

My favourite food in Ramadan is Samosas, kebabs and many other things. After eating we sit for a bit then go for our last prayers for the day.  

During Ramadan we pray something called 'Taraweeh' which is for an hour so we are at mosque untill it has been finished. After that, I go home and just do the same thing every day.  During the month, we pray as much Qur’an as we can, many people pray the full Qur'an.

Umar (Year 10)