According to President of Madrasa Islamia Darool Qur´an, Kathmandu, Maulana Mohammad Sanaullah Jamali, Muslims, who observe the fasting during Ramadan, abstain from food and drink from dawn till dusk. [break]
They break the fast in the evening. The meal taken to break the fasting is called Iftar. Similarly, the food eaten before the dusk is known as Sehri.
Jamali said that besides the usual five prayers each day, Muslims offer additional prayer at night during Ramadan, which is called Taraweeh.
Ramadan is believed to be the holy month of the Muslims for the revelation of Allah (God) to human beings, the month in which the first verses of the holy Quran were revealed to the last prophet in Islam, Muhammad.
According to Jamali, it is mandatory for Muslims to observe fasting when they reach puberty, so long as they are healthy, sane and have no disabilities or illnesses.
However, the elderly, chronically ill, and mentally ill are excused from fasting. Those who fall in the first two categories, however, are expected to feed the poor two times a day to make up for the missed fasting.
Also, menstruating women, women nurturing their newborns and pregnant women, if they believe that fasting would be harmful to them or to their unborn babies, are excused from observing the fast, but they should also feed the poor twice a day.
Muslims, who have annual savings equivalent to the value of seven tolas (11.664 grams) of gold or of 52.5 tola silver, must give 2.5 percent of the savings in alms to the poor.
At the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, Muslims observe Eid-ul-Fitr.
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