Muslims all over the world wait eagerly for Ramadan, as it is a time of increased inner peace and well-being.
Fasting in the month of Ramadan is obligatory upon every Muslim, male or female, who is adult (i.e., has reached puberty) and sane and who is not sick or on a journey.
Sickness could be a temporary sickness from which a person expects to be cured soon. Such a person is allowed not to fast during the days of his/her sickness, but he/she must fast later after Ramadan to complete the missed days.
Those who are sick with incurable illness and expect no better health are also allowed not to fast but they must pay the fidyah, which is giving a day’s meals for each fast missed to a needy person. One can also give instead the money for meals to a needy person.
Women in their menses and post-natal bleeding are not allowed to fast, but they must make up later after Ramadan. If pregnant women and mothers who are nursing babies find it difficult to fast, they can also postpone their fasting to a later time when they are in a better condition.
A journey according to the Shariah is any journey that takes you away from your city of residence, a minimum of 92 kilometers. The journey must be for a good cause. It is a sin to travel in Ramadan in order to avoid fasting. A Muslim should try to change his/her plans during Ramadan to be able to fast and should not travel unless it is necessary. The traveler who misses the fasts of Ramadan must make up those missed days later as soon as possible after Ramadan.
Fasting according to the Sunnah
1) Take suhoor (pre-dawn meal). It is Sunnah and there is a great reward and blessing in taking suhoor. The best time for suhoor is the last half hour before dawn or the time for Fajr prayer.
2) Take iftar (breakfast) immediately after sunset. Shariah considers sunset when the disk of the sun goes below the horizon and disappears completely.
3) During the fast, abstain from all false talks and deeds. Do not quarrel, have disputes, indulge in arguments, use bad words, or do anything that is forbidden. You should try to discipline yourself morally and ethically, besides gaining physical training and discipline. You should also not make a show of your fasting by talking too much about it, or by showing dry lips and a hungry stomach, or by showing a bad temper. The fasting person must be a pleasant person with good spirits and good cheer.
4) During the fast, do acts of charity and goodness to others and increase your worship and reading of the Qur’an. Every Muslim should try to read the whole Qur’an at least once during the month of Ramadan.