Ramadan, also referred to as the holy month of Ramadan, is a period of 30 days determined by the Islamic calendar where Muslims across the world fast from sunrise to sunset. The span of 30 days is different each year when basing it off of the Gregorian calendar which is what we use. It is a time where Muslims try to break bad habits and reflect on the things that they have that others may not have. Muslims will often donate more money to charity during this time as well as spread peace and forgiveness. This can be compared to the holidays where people often try to spread more joy and spend more time with family.

Ramadan is concluded with a celebration called Eid. This is when family and friends come together all day and have a big feast. This is more specifically called Eid al-Fitr. There is one other celebration in Islam called Eid al-Adha, but Eid al-Fitr is the one that is much more prominent and referred to as the “big Eid”.

To get a better idea of what Ramadan is, watch this video. It is geared toward children so it can be shown in the classroom, but it gives the basics of Ramadan in a concise way.

(3 minutes)

YouTube Videos

To get a little more in depth about Ramadan, watch this video. It gives more of a background of what it entails and why Ramadan is such a special time. It also gives more information on what will be going on in the homes of Muslim children during this time.

(4 minutes)

Now that you got a quick lesson on Ramadan, take a minute or two and reflect on these questions.

How do you think that what happens at home will affect the students at school?
How do some of these sentiments of the holy month of Ramadan compare to holidays you may celebrate?

(Optional) If you want to learn a little more about Ramadan as well as other Islamic customs, these are some links to articles as well as quick takeaways about the articles you can go through.

A Meaningful Insight Into Muslim Culture and Traditions

Gives a good overview of some of the main points of Islam and some good examples of customs and holy things that are special and geared towards Islamic states.
There is also information about art and music that is special to Islam.
Differentiates what is considered Islamic and what is considered cultural traditions specific to Islamic states.
This website also includes other articles about Islamic customs like why Muslim women wear headscarves which can be helpful if you want to learn more about that.

Customs and Prayer

This resource is geared toward people visiting Arab countries, but I still think it holds a lot of good information about customs often followed by Muslim families.
It has a nice disclaimer about these customs not being true for every country or even every family, but there are some good guidelines about interacting with Muslims from Middle East countries.
They talked a lot about personal space between people and how Middle Eastern people are more accustomed to close talking.
This article showed more male based information. Women were mentioned passively and in the sense that they should not be addressed or talked about.
It does mention some information about things that can be seen as disrespectful like pointing the soles of your feet at someone or outstretching your legs when sitting down. Also looking at your watch while talking to someone is seen as disrespectful. Taking pictures of them can be an issue so permission is essential.