The Fasting Month of Ramadan

The fasting month of Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. During this time, practicing Muslims fulfill their obligation to fast for the entire month. It says in the Quran: "O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous."1 [Quran: Al-Baqarah – The Cow 2/183] The daily fasting period takes place from sunrise to sunset. During the fasting period, the believer is prohibited from eating, drinking, and intimacy with their spouse. In the Sunni Hadith literature, the promised reward that God has prepared for the believer who is particularly attentive to the night prayers during Ramadan is revealed. The Prophet Muhammad is said to have stated: "Whoever prays at night during it [in Ramadan] with sincere faith and in the hope of God's reward, all his previous sins will be forgiven." [reported by Bukhari] In addition to fasting, the prayer of relaxation (at-tarāwīḥ), which is performed by Sunnis in the mosque after the night prayer (al-ʿišāʾ), is also characteristic. In this prayer, it is customary to recite a part of the Quran daily, so that it is completed by the end of the fasting month. Shia Muslims, on the other hand, reject the practice of the voluntary Tarāwīḥ prayer. Especially towards the end of the fasting month, the faithful give the so-called purification gift of breaking the fast (zakāt al-fitr or ṣadaqat al-fiṭr) to help the poor and needy; the purification gift is considered a duty in Islamic law.

1 translation according to Hans Zirker.