when can you eat on ramadan

You can eat during Ramadan from sunset until dawn, and you don’t eat or drink at all during daylight hours while you’re fasting.

When you can eat on Ramadan

• You start fasting at true dawn (Fajr time), so you must stop eating and drinking just before the Fajr prayer.

• You can eat and drink from sunset (Maghrib time) until the next dawn; this night period is when all normal eating is allowed.

• The pre-dawn meal is called Suhoor ; it’s eaten in the last part of the night and ideally finished a few minutes before Fajr.

• The meal at sunset is called Iftar ; you break your fast as soon as the sun sets, usually with dates and water, then have your main meal.

Who doesn’t have to fast (and can eat in the day)

Islamic teachings make exceptions, so some people may eat during the day in Ramadan and either make up the fast later or be exempt altogether:

• Travelers on a qualifying journey
• People who are ill (temporary sickness)
• Those with chronic illness who can’t fast safely
• Pregnant or breastfeeding women if fasting harms them or the baby
• Menstruating, postpartum, or postnatal-bleeding women (they make up those days later)
• Very elderly or frail people who cannot fast

Details of who exactly is exempt and how to make up days can vary by school of thought, so a local imam or trusted scholar is usually consulted.

Mini timeline example

For a typical day in Ramadan (times just as an illustration):

• Around 4:45 am – Last bites of Suhoor, stop eating before Fajr at 5:00 am
• 5:00 am to 7:15 pm – No food or drink (fasting period)
• 7:15 pm – Sun sets, Adhan for Maghrib; you break your fast with Iftar and may eat and drink freely until Fajr next morning

So the core rule: no eating or drinking between dawn and sunset if you are fasting, and complete freedom to eat from sunset to dawn within the normal halal guidelines.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.