Fasting and Ramadan

Ramadan (Glossary) is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, and Muslims everywhere hold it above the rest of the year. It is the month the Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Fasting through it is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, which means every able Muslim is expected to do it.

Muslims fast each day from dawn (Fajr) to sunset (Maghrib): no food, no drink, no sexual intercourse while the sun is up. The eating is the visible part. The rest of the month is about worship, generosity, and being around other Muslims more than you usually are.

Many Muslims call Ramadan the best month of their year. The whole community turns out for the nightly prayers (Taraweeh), families and friends gather for iftar (the meal that breaks the fast), and you can feel the difference in the air. Mosques fill up, people give more, and everyone is working on the same thing at once.

Your first Ramadan will probably feel exciting and slightly alarming. Can you really go all day without water? What do you eat? How does any of this work around a job or a class schedule? Those are normal questions, and millions of people get through the month every year, including plenty who were standing exactly where you are. Take one day at a time. Allah rewards the sincere effort, not the performance.

The fast (sawm (Glossary)) begins at Fajr (dawn) and ends at Maghrib (sunset). The details:

What breaks the fast: - Eating or drinking anything intentionally - Sexual intercourse during fasting hours - Kissing or touching that leads to ejaculation. In the Hanafi school this breaks the fast and the day is made up later - Intentional vomiting

What does NOT break the fast: - Accidentally eating or drinking. If you genuinely forgot you were fasting, your fast still counts, so finish the day - Swallowing saliva - A kiss or a hug between spouses that goes no further. The Prophet (peace be upon him) kissed and embraced his wives while fasting, and he had more control of his desire than anyone (Sahih al-Bukhari 1927). The Hanafi school allows it only when you are not afraid it will lead further - Brushing your teeth (though many Muslims prefer a miswak, or brush carefully without swallowing toothpaste) - Taking a shower or swimming, as long as you do not swallow water - Injections into the skin, muscle or vein that are not food, according to the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (see Medicines and medical tests below) - Tasting food without swallowing, for cooking purposes, though keep it to a minimum

The intention (niyyah): Make the intention to fast before Fajr each day. It happens in your heart and needs no set wording. Deciding "I am fasting tomorrow for the sake of Allah" is enough.

If you break your fast accidentally: If you genuinely forgot and ate or drank, stop as soon as you remember and carry on fasting. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that Allah fed you and gave you drink, so your fast is still valid (Sahih al-Bukhari 1933).

If you break your fast intentionally without a valid reason: Make up that day after Ramadan (this is called qada). Some ways of breaking a fast on purpose also carry a heavier expiation (kaffarah), and the schools differ on which. The Hanafi school includes deliberate eating, drinking and intercourse, and the Shafi'i school includes only intercourse. The FAQ on breaking a fast on purpose explains more, and a scholar can tell you what you owe. If you broke it for a valid reason like illness or travel, you make it up later and nothing more is owed.

Fasting hours depend on where you are and what time of year it is. In Toronto, for example, a Ramadan fast runs from about 11 hours in winter to over 16 hours in summer. That swing is normal. Muslims everywhere fast the daylight they have. Further north, summer fasts can run 18 hours or more, and the FAQ on long fasting days explains the options.

Islam is merciful and practical about this. Fasting is obligatory for every sane, adult Muslim, and there are clear exemptions for anyone it would harm.

Temporary exemptions (you make up missed days after Ramadan). The Quran says whoever is ill or on a journey should "fast an equal number of days after Ramadan" (2:184, translation of meaning).

• Illness: If fasting would worsen your condition or slow your recovery, you are exempt. That covers mental health conditions as well as physical ones.
• Eating disorders: an eating disorder is an illness, so the illness exemption applies. The British Dietetic Association notes that fasting can make restriction look normal, hide a relapse, or lead to bingeing at iftar. Talk to your treatment team before you decide anything about Ramadan, and ask a scholar privately about your own case. You can still take part through prayer, Quran, dua and giving. Canada's National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) runs a free helpline at 1-866-633-4220.
• Traveling: If you are on the road a significant distance from home, you may break your fast and make up the days later. The Quran says it plainly: "Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship" (2:185).
• Menstruation and postpartum bleeding: Women do not fast during these times and make up the days afterward.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding: If a woman fears for her own health or her baby's, she may break her fast. She makes up the days later. Scholars differ on whether she also feeds a needy person for each day, so ask about your own case.

Lasting exemptions (you feed a needy person for each day instead, called fidyah). The Quran says those who can only fast with extreme difficulty may make up for it "by feeding a needy person for every day not fasted" (2:184, translation of meaning). Charities set a cash amount each year: Islamic Relief Canada lists CAD 15 per missed fast for 2026. Fidyah is for an inability that is expected to last, where you cannot fast now and are not expected to be able to make the days up later. If you might be able to make the days up later, you make them up instead of paying.

• Long-term illness: when your doctor does not expect fasting to become safe for you. Having a condition, or taking medicine every day, does not put you here on its own.
• Old age: If fasting is genuinely too hard on an elderly person.

Diabetes. Having diabetes does not by itself make you exempt for life. Diabetes Canada says many people whose diabetes is well controlled can fast with medical advice. It also says some people must not fast, for example people with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes, a severe low blood sugar in the last three months, a recent episode of diabetic ketoacidosis, kidney dialysis, or diabetes treated with insulin during pregnancy. It advises that people with well-controlled type 1 diabetes should not fast either.

Diabetes Canada advises seeing your diabetes team one to three months before Ramadan. Together you can agree a written plan for your doses, your meals and checking your blood sugar. The plan should say when to break the fast. Diabetes Canada lists a low blood sugar reading, high blood sugar with symptoms, and, in type 2 diabetes, vomiting, diarrhea or feeling faint when you stand up. In type 1 diabetes it gives blood ketones above 0.6 mmol/L. Breaking the fast at that point is exactly what the illness exemption is for. Keep something with you to treat a low, as your diabetes team advises.

If your doctor tells you not to fast this Ramadan, those days count as illness, and you make them up later when you are able. Fidyah is for someone who is not expected to be able to fast or make the days up. Which one fits you is a question for a scholar, with your doctor's advice in hand. This is general information, not medical advice.

Not yet obligated:

• Children: Fasting is not required before puberty, though many families let children practice with partial fasts.
• New Muslims: There is no separate exemption for new Muslims. The usual exemptions for illness and hardship apply to you as to anyone, so if your first Ramadan feels like a lot, talk to a teacher about your situation. If you became Muslim partway through Ramadan, you do not owe the fasts from before your Shahada. The Shafi'i school, as a SeekersGuidance answer explains, treats making up the day you converted as recommended (sunnah), not required. Other schools have their own details about that day, so ask a teacher, and start fasting from the next dawn if you are able.

The principle under all of this: Islam does not ask you to harm yourself. If fasting is a genuine health risk, you are supposed to break your fast, and any scholar will tell you so. Talk to your doctor if you have concerns about it.

Many people take medicine every day. Please do not skip an inhaler, insulin or any other needed dose to protect your fast. If you need a medicine during the day, you are covered by the illness exemption, and the Quran says Allah wants ease for you, not hardship (2:185).

Before Ramadan, list your medicines and ask your doctor or pharmacist whether any doses can move to suhoor and iftar. Do not change or stop a medicine on your own. If a dose cannot move, take it and follow the illness rule: make the day up later, or ask a scholar about fidyah if the need will last.

In 1997 the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, a body of jurists from many Muslim countries, listed these as not breaking the fast:

• Eye drops and ear drops
• Nasal drops or spray, if nothing is swallowed
• Tablets placed under the tongue, if nothing is swallowed
• Injections into the skin, muscle or vein, except feeding fluids
• Oxygen, dental work and mouthwash, if nothing is swallowed
• Creams, ointments and skin patches

The same resolution left some questions for further study, including asthma inhalers, blood samples, cupping (hijama) and kidney dialysis. It also says a doctor should suggest moving treatment outside fasting hours only when the delay does no harm. Its list of injections that leave the fast intact does not include feeding given through a drip.

Asthma inhalers are a clear example of a difference. Egypt's Dar al-Ifta says using an inhaler does not break the fast. A Shafi'i answer from SeekersGuidance says it does, and that you may still use it when you need it and make the day up later. Either way, use your inhaler when you need it.

Blood tests are another. A Hanafi guide from SeekersGuidance lists drawing blood for a test among the things that do not break the fast. The Fiqh Academy did not settle the question, and the Hanbali school holds that cupping (hijama), which also draws blood, breaks the fast. If you can, book routine blood work outside fasting hours, and ask your teacher which view to follow.

Nasal sprays differ too. The Shafi'i answer says eye drops do not break the fast, but a nasal spray that reaches the sinus cavity does, while the Fiqh Academy's list allows a nasal spray if nothing is swallowed. Ask a teacher of your school about sprays and ear drops.

This is general information, not medical advice or a ruling for your case. Take the religious question to a qualified teacher and the medical one to your doctor or pharmacist.

Two meals bookend the daily fast: suhoor (the pre-dawn meal) and iftar (the meal at sunset to break the fast).

Suhoor is eaten before Fajr (dawn), and it is strongly recommended. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Take suhoor, for indeed there is blessing in it" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1923). What helps:

• Eat slow-releasing foods that hold you through the day: oatmeal, whole grain bread, eggs, yogurt, fruit like bananas, and nuts.
• Hydrate well. Drink plenty of water. Skip very salty or sugary foods, which will make you thirstier later.
• Keep it simple. Suhoor does not need to be a feast. A moderate, balanced meal is what you want.
• Set an alarm about 30-45 minutes before Fajr so you can eat without rushing and still pray Fajr on time.

Iftar is the meal that breaks the fast at sunset. The Sunnah (practice of the Prophet) is to break it with dates or water (Sunan Abi Dawud 2356, graded hasan sahih by al-Albani). Dates also give you quick natural sugar after a long day. Then you pray Maghrib, and then you eat properly.

Practical tips for iftar:

• Start light. Your stomach has contracted over the day. Begin with dates, water, and maybe soup, and save the main meal for after Maghrib.
• Avoid overeating. The temptation is real, and it defeats the point of the fast while making you feel unwell.
• Community iftars are one of the best parts of Ramadan. Many mosques put on free iftar meals, and neighbors and friends invite each other over. If you are new, this is the easiest room in the year to meet people in.
• Meal prep makes Ramadan much easier. Cooking in advance means less work when you are tired and hungry.

Fasting is training in discipline and gratitude, and it is not meant to wreck you. Look after your body while you work on your soul.

Going without food and drink is the visible part. What Ramadan is actually for is changing you. The Quran says: "O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may attain taqwa (God-consciousness)" (2:183).

Taqwa, meaning awareness of Allah and of the fact that He is present, is the goal. Fasting trains self-control, teaches you to hold off on what you want, and keeps you conscious that Allah sees what you do. When you pass on food that nobody would ever know you ate, that is the training working.

Ramadan is also a time of increased worship. Many Muslims:

• Read the entire Quran during the month, at roughly one juz (section) per day
• Pray Taraweeh, the special nightly prayers held at the mosque, where the Quran is recited from start to finish across the month
• Make extra du'a (supplication)
• Give generously in charity. Ramadan is when Muslims give the most, and many pay their annual zakat (obligatory charity) then
• Seek Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Power, which falls on one of the last ten odd nights of Ramadan. The Quran calls it "better than a thousand months" (97:3), and many Muslims spend all ten nights in extra worship

Ramadan also teaches empathy. Being hungry on purpose tells you something about what millions of people live with every day. Most people find they keep giving more once the month is over.

Do not try to do all of this in your first Ramadan. Fast, and pick one or two extras. You can add more next year, and the year after that. Sincerity counts for more than volume.

After 29 or 30 days of fasting, Ramadan closes with one of the two major Islamic celebrations: Eid al-Fitr (the Festival of Breaking the Fast). It is a day of joy, gratitude, and community.

Eid begins with a special congregational prayer, usually in the morning at mosques, community centers, or open spaces. The prayer includes a sermon (khutbah), and afterward come the greetings, the hugs, and the well-wishes. Muslims greet each other with "Eid Mubarak!" (Blessed Eid!).

Some of the traditions of Eid al-Fitr:

• Zakat al-Fitr: before the Eid prayer, every Muslim (or the head of household, on behalf of each family member) gives a small charity called Zakat al-Fitr. It means nobody in the community spends Eid without food and dignity. Yaqeen Institute's beginner guide puts it at about three kilograms of a staple food per person. Your masjid will usually tell you the local cash amount.
• New or best clothes: many Muslims wear their best or newest clothes for Eid. This is a celebration, and dressing up is part of it.
• Eating before the prayer: unlike the month you just finished, you eat something first, often dates, before heading to the Eid prayer, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) did (Sahih al-Bukhari 953). The contrast is deliberate.
• Visiting family and friends: Eid is social. People visit relatives, share meals, and give gifts, especially to children.
• Sweets and special foods: every culture has its own Eid treats. Middle Eastern ma'amoul (date-filled cookies), South Asian sheer khurma (vermicelli pudding), Turkish baklava.

Eid can matter enormously to a new Muslim. If you have no Muslim family to spend it with, say so at your mosque, because plenty of families would be glad to have you at their table. Community Eid events usually mean food, activities, and a room full of people in a good mood.

It is also normal to get emotional on Eid. You fasted your first Ramadan, which is a real thing to have done. Your discipline is stronger and you are closer to Allah than you were a month ago. That is worth celebrating.

Eid also shows you how Islam balances discipline against joy. After a month of devotion, Allah gives His servants a day to celebrate, eat well, and be grateful. Worship, then celebration.

Outside Ramadan you can fast voluntarily for extra reward. These are the days the Prophet (peace be upon him) fasted or encouraged:

• Mondays and Thursdays. He said deeds are presented to Allah on those days, and he loved to be fasting when his were presented (Jami at-Tirmidhi 747, graded hasan).
• The three white days, the 13th, 14th and 15th of each lunar month. Fasting three days each month is like fasting a lifetime (Sunan an-Nasa'i 2420, graded sahih, and Jami at-Tirmidhi 761, graded hasan).
• Six days in Shawwal, the month after Ramadan. Fasting Ramadan and then six days of Shawwal is like fasting perpetually (Sahih Muslim 1164).
• The Day of Arafah and the day of Ashura. The Dhul Hijjah and Muharram seasonal guides explain these.

Do not fast on the two Eid days. Fasting on them is not allowed.

Make-up days from Ramadan are an obligation, and voluntary fasts are extra. The schools differ on whether you can fast the six days of Shawwal before your make-up days, and on whether one fast can count for both, so ask a teacher.

Start small. One voluntary fast a month is a good habit, and it is better than a burst of fasting that wears you out. Lunar dates begin at sunset and depend on the moon, so check them with your masjid.