Today marks the beginning of what Muslims refer to as the holy month of Ramadan. And because the UAE is a Muslim country, expats like me should also respect and adhere to the different beliefs and practices Muslims observe during the whole month.

Fasting is a major part of Ramadan where Muslims don’t eat anything beginning sunrise up to sunset. Although this seems absurdly difficult for me, there’s nothing I can do but to follow. You cannot chew anything in any public place all around the country. Restaurants and fast food chains are closed during the day and only opens up in the evening. You wouldn’t believe that you could be jailed if caught eating or drinking or even chewing a gum in public during fasting time. They treat this as an insult and as an act of tempting those who are fasting.

Before sunrise, Muslims take a light morning meal called Suhoor and just after sunset they again take a meal called Iftar to break their fast. Usually a canon is fired to announce the breaking of the fast for the day.

Children (cut-off point is about 12 years old), the elderly, the insane, travellers, pregnant or nursing women, sick people, and those who are fighting in battle are not expected to fast. Instead they should feed one poor person each day during Ramadan, or, in the case of temporary conditions, make up the days by fasting at a later date. Women should not fast during menstruation but make up those days after Ramadan.

Other obligations of Muslims during Ramadan are as follows:

• Curb undesirable emotions such as anger, greed, envy, lust, and refrain from gossip.
• Keep thoughts and actions pure and use the time of fasting for spiritual contemplation.
• Be charitable and help those in need.
• Visit friends and family members.

Women who are not Muslims are advised to be respectful and polite and dress more conservatively during Ramadan – shoulders and legs should be covered. Bars are usually still open but patrons will be asked what religion they are and refused entry if they are Muslim. Live and loud music is banned, so is dancing. Any alcohol related offenses will probably be treated much more severely than outside the month of Ramadan – it is quite possible an offender is stuck in prison until the end of Ramadan. Car stereos should be turned down – loud music, especially rock or similar music, is disrespectful at least, and if police hear it, they’ll have something to say about it.

Traffic jam times change – the morning is not much different but afternoons from 1 pm – 4 pm is quite busy, and again just before Iftar as many people are trying to get to a desired location for Iftar. Every year there are numerous accidents and requests from police to drive carefully at the time. For an hour or so just after Iftar, and from 4 pm to an hour or so before Iftar, the roads are relatively traffic-free.

The only benefit I get during Ramadan is the government ruling that companies are required by law to reduce working time by 2 hours per day for all employees, not only Muslims. If employees work longer hours, they should receive overtime pay. Workers can file a complaint at the Ministry of Labour if a company is not following this rule, or not paying overtime for employees who do work longer hours. Although there’s not much of a difference for me because I work regularly from 9 am to 7 pm. Other companies are only working till 4pm, so in Ramadan they go home at 2 pm. But still, it’s better than nothing.

Matching Ramadan with a very hot weather is a team to beat. I just hope I could endure Ramadan till it ends, but surely I will miss the shortened working hours…