Followers of Islam will be having two meals during the month of Ramadan, one on either side of the day’s long hours of fasting. The early-morning meal is called suhoor or Sehri and the evening meal is known as iftar.
Ramadan 2022 timetables published by mosques for their worshipers show the timings of suhoor and ifar, and the five prayers of the day. For instance, Green Lane Masjid and Community Center (GLMCC) in Birmingham, which began Ramadan on the evening of April 1, the timetable for Day 7 (Friday April 8) shows the first prayer starting at 4.51am and the evening prayer at 7.54pm . So what time should worshipers stop eating before the praying starts in the morning?
READ MORE: Community iftars in Birmingham you can attend this Ramadan
Muslim scholars have addressed the issue. They point out that religious texts state that Allah says people should eat and drink until they can distinguish the white thread (break of dawn) from the black thread (night-time). So you have the right to eat and drink until you see sunrise begin. But living in cities full of ‘light pollution’ from street lamps, buildings and traffic can often make this tricky to determine.
So the muezzin – the official who gives the call to prayer known as Adhan or Athaan each day – is entrusted with setting the times for people to follow. Once that call to prayer is given, it’s time to get up from the early morning meal and go to prayer.
Some timetables have a 10 or 15 minute ‘buffer zone’ called Imsak written in before morning prayer, as a gap between eating and praying when Muslims are expected to start their fast. But this is not mandatory and is only added as helpful guidance for people to follow so they finish their meal on time.
All eating and drinking must stop by the time the early morning prayer called Fajr begins. There are other prayers through the day – these are Zuhr (early afternoon prayer), Asr (late afternoon prayer) Maghrib (sunset prayer) and Isha (night prayer). As days in the Islamic calendar actually run from sunset to sunset, Maghrib is technically the first prayer of the day.
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