The Non-Muslim Guide to Fasting During Ramadan
Many people are curious about Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. If you want to join nearly a billion devout Muslims in the fast, for whatever reason, read how to do it correctly and safely.
MOBRUK RAMADAN (مبروك على رمادا )to all my Muslim family and friends. My heart is with you as you celebrate this glorious month!
Could you do it? Or rather, could you do without any food or water for 14–17 hours per day for an entire month? Or even a week?
Across the globe, from approximately March 10 to April 9, 2024, close to one billion people will not be ingesting any food or drinking liquids from an hour before sunrise until sunset. These folks aren’t part the world’s chronically hungry, nor members of some weird diet cult. They are Muslim. One billion Muslims will fast during the month of Ramadan because they believe that Allah has willed it so. In verses 183–191 in the chapter Al Bakara of the Qur’an, Allah avows that devout believers must fast from “the break of dawn” until sundown during Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar:
“[Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] — then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] — a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor…