Fasting and breaking the fast
Ramadan iftar, Lent, Ekadashi: the rules of the fast and how it ends.
Fasting customs are the rules of what is given up, for how long and how the fast is ended: Ramadan from dawn to dusk, Lent and its Fridays, Ekadashi, Yom Kippur, Buddhist observance days. These pages describe the practice as those who keep it would, and say nothing about health.
Rules of the fast
Each tradition has its own: who is expected to fast and who is excused, what counts as breaking it, when it begins and ends. Children, the sick, travellers and pregnant women are often treated with specific exceptions.
Breaking the fast
The meal that ends a fast usually has its own ritual: a prayer, a first sip or date, a gathering of the family or neighbours, a shared table at the mosque or the temple. It is one of the most social moments of the year in many communities.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Fasting and breaking the fast (meal). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇹🇷 TurkeyRamadan in Turkey
A holy month of fasting, prayer, and community meals, observed across Turkey with unique local customs.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 Kolkata, India and 5 moreNavaratriनवरात्रि (Navarātri)
A nine-night Hindu festival honoring the goddess Durga and her nine forms through prayer, fasting, and dance.Festival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 Vrindavan, India and 2 moreGovardhan Puja
A Hindu festival of piled vegetarian foods and sculpted earth, honouring KrishnaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaParyushana
An annual Jain holy period of intense fasting, reflection, and asking for forgivenessSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreAsh WednesdayDies Cinerum
A solemn Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, and the placing of ashesSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 1 moreFasikaፋሲካ
The celebration of Easter and the end of Lent across Ethiopia and EritreaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 GreeceMagiritsaΜαγειρίτσα
A Greek lamb offal soup eaten after the midnight Easter service to break the fastTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 5 moreSuhurسحور
The pre-dawn meal Muslims eat before a day of fasting in RamadanTable custom · Breakfast
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreGreat LentΜεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή
The forty-day fast before Easter, kept by Eastern Christians as a season of prayerSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇷 Mashhad, Iran and 7 moreIftarإفطار
The sunset meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, eaten with family and communityTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇵🇱 PolandWigilia
Poland's meatless Christmas Eve supper, begun when the first star appearsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaNirjala Ekadashiनिर्जला एकादशी
A rigorous, waterless Hindu fast observed in early summer to honour the god Vishnu.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇳🇪 Niger and 1 moreSitta min Shawwalستة من شوال
A voluntary six-day Islamic fast observed during the month following RamadanSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇲🇻 MaldivesMaahefun
A Maldivian gathering for the last meal before the Ramadan fast beginsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇪 GeorgiaTheodore's Saturday
The first Saturday of Lent, kept with boiled wheat and visits to the gravesSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇸🇾 Syria and 1 moreThree Sundays of Commemoration
A Maronite Christian observance held on the three Sundays before Lent to remember the departed.Spiritual · Dinner
🇮🇱 IsraelEve of Passover on Shabbatערב פסח
Special Jewish calendar customs when the eve of Passover coincides with the SabbathSeasonal · Dinner
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Eve of Passover on Shabbat: בעלת הזכויות - טלי אמתי, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Navaratri: Mukerjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Govardhan Puja: Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, source
- Magiritsa: Andrew Dalby, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ash Wednesday: Oxh973, Public domain, source
- Paryushana: Aayush18, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ramadan in Turkey: Wiki leylek, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Great Lent: Stalinsunnykvj, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Iftar: Shariful Islam (Masum), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wigilia: Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Maahefun: Ibrahim Asad, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Suhur: Hussein Alazaat, CC BY 2.0, source
- Nirjala Ekadashi: Unknown author, Public domain, source