Fasting September 2, 2008 - October 1, 2008  Save as Bookmark  Send this Page to Friend. Ramadan Home   Ramadan Wallpapers   About Ramadan   Fasting   Meaning of Ramadan   Ramadan Greetings   Ramadan In History   Ramadan Recipes   Fasting in Ramadan is obligatory on those who can do it. Sick people and some travelers in certain conditions are exempted from the fast but must make it up as they are able. Those who can fast, but with great difficulty, may substitute feeding one poor person for each day of break-ing the fast. The daily period of fasting starts at the breaking of dawn and ends at the setting of the sun. In between that is, during the daylight hours Muslims totally abstain from food & drink. The usual practice is to have a pre-fast meal (suhoor) before dawn and a post-fast meal (iftar) after sunset.     The Islamic lunar calendar, being 11 to 12 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, migrates throughout the seasons. Thus, if Ramadan begins on January 20 one year, next year it will begin on January 9. In this way, the length of the day, and thus the fasting period, varies in length from place to place over the years. Every Muslim, no matter where he or she lives, will see an average Ramadan day of the approximately 13.5 hours.