Ramadan: the rules, the exemptions

Sawm (fasting) in the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars. From dawn until sunset, Muslims abstain from food, drink (including water), smoking and sexual relations. Just as importantly, they are expected to abstain from anger, gossip, lying and quarrelling — a fast of the tongue and temper as well as the stomach. The Qur'an states that fasting was prescribed for Muslims as it was for those before them, so that they may become mindful of God (Surah 2:183).

Who is exempt?

• Children before puberty (though many practise with short fasts).
• The ill, and those with conditions such as diabetes for whom fasting is dangerous.
• The very old and frail.
• Travellers on a long journey.
• Women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or menstruating.

Compensation. Those with a temporary reason — a traveller, someone ill for a week, a menstruating woman — make up the missed days later (qada). Those who cannot ever fast — the permanently ill, the very frail — instead pay fidyah: feeding a person in need for each day missed.

Why exemptions matter theologically: they show that God does not intend hardship. Fasting is a discipline, not self-harm; and the compensation is feeding the poor — so even a Muslim who cannot fast still performs the social purpose of the fast.

Missed days

A day in Ramadan

• Suhur — the meal eaten before dawn, often in the dark and half-asleep. Families choose slow-release foods and drink plenty of water. Its importance is practical (it makes the day bearable) but also spiritual: the Prophet (pbuh) encouraged it, and rising in the small hours to eat is itself an act of obedience that begins the day with intention (niyyah).
• Iftar — the meal that breaks the fast at sunset, traditionally begun with dates and water, following the Prophet's practice, then the Maghrib prayer, then a proper meal. Its physical importance is obvious; its spiritual and social importance is greater. Iftar is eaten together — with family, at the mosque, in community halls, with neighbours invited, and food sent to those with none. The moment of the first sip of water after eighteen hours is described by many Muslims as the most grateful moment of the year.

The spiritual benefits of fasting

• Taqwa — God-consciousness. Nobody can see you break a fast; you refrain because God sees. Fasting therefore trains sincerity.
• Self-discipline — mastering the appetites, which makes resisting other temptations easier.
• Empathy — you feel, briefly, the hunger of the poor. This is designed to produce generosity, not just sympathy.
• Focus on God — more Qur'an is read in Ramadan than in any other month; many Muslims complete the whole book.
• The ummah — Muslims worldwide fast the same month, break the fast at the same moment locally, and pray together at night. Personal discipline becomes a shared identity.

The point of the hunger

The last ten nights

Night prayer. Through Ramadan many Sunni Muslims pray taraweeh, long voluntary night prayers at the mosque, often working through the whole Qur'an across the month. Many Shi'a Muslims do not pray taraweeh in congregation, offering extra individual night prayers instead — a genuine difference of practice within the same fast.

I'tikaf — spiritual retreat in the mosque during the last ten days. The Muslim stays in the mosque, sleeping there, praying, reciting the Qur'an and withdrawing from work, news, shopping and social life. Its meaning: for ten days, nothing but God. It is voluntary, and in many communities a few members undertake it on behalf of all.

Laylat al-Qadr — the Night of Power, when Muslims believe the revelation of the Qur'an began. It falls on one of the odd nights of the last ten; many Muslims particularly seek it on the 27th night, and many Shi'a Muslims mark the 19th, 21st and 23rd. Surah 97 (Al-Qadr) teaches that this night is better than a thousand months, and that the angels descend with God's decree until dawn.

How it is observed and why it matters: Muslims stay awake in prayer, recite the Qur'an, make du'a, and seek forgiveness. Its meaning is enormous: worship on this single night is believed to outweigh a lifetime of ordinary devotion. Because the exact night is hidden, Muslims are encouraged to worship intensely across all ten — a beautiful piece of religious psychology.

Sadaqah in Ramadan. Voluntary giving is dramatically increased: Muslims believe the reward for good deeds is multiplied in this month, iftar meals are provided free at mosques, and charities raise a large share of their annual income in these thirty days. Empathy from the fast turns straight into money and food for the poor.

The Night of Power

Ramadan, Fitr or Adha?

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'Id al-Fitr: the end of Ramadan

When the new moon of Shawwal is sighted, the fast is over and 'Id al-Fitr — the festival of the breaking of the fast — begins.

The features Cambridge wants you to describe:

• Zakat al-fitr is paid before the 'Id prayer — a small payment for every member of the household, given so that the poor can also celebrate. Notice the order: charity comes first, then the party.
• Special 'Id prayers in congregation, often held in a large hall, park or sports ground because no mosque is big enough, followed by a khutbah.
• Greetings — "Id Mubarak" (blessed 'Id) — exchanged, along with embraces, cards and messages.
• New clothes are worn; homes are decorated; special food is prepared and eaten with friends and family — in South Asian communities it is often called the "sweet 'Id" for its sweet dishes.
• Presents and charity — children receive gifts and money; many families visit graves and remember the dead, and reconcile with people they have quarrelled with.

Religious reasons (origins, purpose, symbolism): it is a thanksgiving — gratitude to God for the strength to complete the fast — not simply a party at the end of a hard month. Social significance: it draws the whole community together, includes the poor by design, strengthens family bonds, and makes Muslim identity visible in public. Muslims who cannot get the day off work, or who live far from family, often find 'Id lonely — a real issue in minority communities.

Charity before celebration

'Id al-Adha: the feast of sacrifice

'Id al-Adha falls on the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah, at the end of the Hajj. Pilgrims at Mina and Muslims across the world celebrate it on the same day — so the festival binds those who are on pilgrimage to those who are not.

The testing of Ibrahim (AS). Muslims believe God commanded Ibrahim to sacrifice his son — understood in Islamic tradition to be Isma'il. Both father and son submitted, and as Ibrahim prepared to obey, God stopped him and provided a ram to sacrifice instead. The test was never about the killing; it was about obedience and trust — whether Ibrahim would put God above the thing he loved most.

How it is observed. Muslims wash and dress in their best clothes, attend the 'Id prayers and khutbah, exchange greetings, and visit family. An animal is sacrificed (qurbani) — traditionally the meat is divided into three: one part for the family, one for friends and neighbours, one for the poor. In Britain the sacrifice must be carried out in a licensed slaughterhouse, and most Muslims pay a charity to perform it and distribute the meat overseas.

The importance of sacrifice in Muslim life. Cambridge asks about this directly. The animal is a symbol: what a Muslim is really asked to sacrifice is selfishness, wealth, comfort and their own will. Every pillar involves sacrifice — of time (salah), of money (zakah), of food (sawm), of effort (hajj). 'Id al-Adha turns that principle into a festival. Social significance: it is a large-scale, organised transfer of good food to the poor, and a moment of unity with the pilgrims at Makkah.

The qurbani meat

Match the term to its meaning

Tap a term on the left, then its meaning on the right.

Changes to festivals and fasts

Cambridge explicitly asks how these observances are changing — and how Muslims with different beliefs feel about the changes. Give examples, then give both sides.

What has changed

• The sacrifice has moved. Most Muslims in Britain now donate to a charity that performs the qurbani abroad, rather than being present at it. The animal is out of sight.
• Technology. Moon-sighting can be calculated and announced online; 'Id greetings are sent by video call and social media; Qur'an recitation and taraweeh are streamed; charity is given by app in seconds.
• Commercialisation. Supermarket 'Id aisles, 'Id gift culture, elaborate parties and expensive clothes.
• Scale and setting. Huge 'Id prayers in parks and arenas; work and school do not stop, so festivals are squeezed into evenings and weekends.
• Long fasts. In high-latitude summers the fast can exceed eighteen hours, and some scholars have discussed following the timings of Makkah or the nearest moderate city — which other scholars reject.

How Muslims feel — both ways

• Supportive: the purpose is preserved and even improved. Charity-run qurbani feeds far more poor people, far away, than a back-garden sacrifice ever could. Streaming includes the housebound and the disabled. Apps make giving easier, so more is given.
• Concerned: the experience is being lost. If you never see the sacrifice, do you learn what sacrifice costs? If 'Id becomes shopping, has it become Christmas? Some argue that convenience erodes the discipline that gives these observances their point, and that practice should follow the sunnah, not fashion.

Two Muslims, two views

I4 Festivals and fasts — the big ideas

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