The Main Rules of Ramadan: Everything You Need to Know

Before planting, the soil must be prepared.

Before Ramadan, the heart must be prepared… and one’s obligations clarified.

In a garden, nothing grows if the ground is not worked. Weeds must be removed, the soil turned, and water given with care.

In the same way, Ramadan does not begin with the sighting of the moon, but days earlier — in the heart and in awareness of one’s duties. One prepares to slow down, to take care of important matters in advance so as not to be burdened during the sacred month, mindful of one’s responsibilities.

Fasting is not merely a spiritual emotion; it is an act of worship governed by the Sharī‘ah. And every act of worship requires preparation.

1. Review Your Obligations (Qaḍā’, Kaffārah, Fidyah)

Before the month begins, it is necessary to ask yourself:

• Do I have missed fasts to make up?

• Do I have any expiations (kaffārah) that I have not yet fulfilled?

• Do I owe fidyah due to a permanent inability to fast?

Making up missed days (qaḍā’) is obligatory for those who broke their fast for a valid reason (such as illness, menstruation, or travel). Delaying them without a valid excuse until the next Ramadan is a matter of scholarly discussion, but prudence dictates not postponing them.

To prepare means to bring clarity.

2. Understand Your Legal Responsibility

Not everyone is obligated to fast in the same way. It is necessary to consider:

• Health condition

• Planned travel

• Pregnancy or breastfeeding

• Chronic illness

The Sharī‘ah does not impose unbearable hardship. A foundational legal principle states that excessive hardship brings about facilitation. However, that facilitation must be understood through knowledge, not assumption.

To prepare means to seek knowledge.

3. Set the Intention (Niyyah)

The fast is valid only with intention.

The legal schools differ on whether intention must be renewed every night or whether one intention at the beginning of the month suffices for the entire Ramadan. What they all agree on, however, is that fasting is a conscious act, not an automatic one. If you fast with your heart, you fast in every sense.

The niyyah is not a formula to be recited, but an inner resolve.

To prepare means to align the heart.

4. Free the Heart Before the Body

Fasting is not only abstaining from food, but also abstaining from resentment, injustice, and heedlessness.

Before Ramadan, it is recommended to:

• Make sincere tawbah (repentance)

• Repair broken relationships

• Restore rights owed to others

• Reduce unnecessary distractions

Soil filled with stones does not allow seeds to take root; likewise, a heart filled with distractions does not allow fasting to transform it.

5. Set Realistic Goals

Many enter Ramadan with emotional enthusiasm but without structure.

It is helpful to ask yourself:

• How much Qur’an can I realistically read?

• Which consistent acts of worship can I maintain?

• Which negative habits do I want to correct?

Consistency, even if small, is more beloved than what is intense but short-lived.

Ramadan Begins Now

The verse that makes fasting obligatory (Al-Baqarah 2:183) does not mention hunger as the ultimate goal, but taqwā — a vigilant consciousness of Allah.

Taqwā does not suddenly appear with the new moon; it is cultivated beforehand. And like every garden, the heart requires advance care.

Ramadan is not merely a month that arrives — it is soil that must be prepared anew each year. The better the soil is prepared, the more fruits and flowers it will yield.