Each year, some of your Muslim students will fast during Ramadan. A few small adjustments make a real difference to how they experience school that month. This guide covers what to expect and what helps.
Which students fast
In Islam, religious obligations begin at puberty [1]. Younger children are not required to fast, but many families let them practise with part-days or weekends, as the early Muslims did with their children [2]. So you may have a nine-year-old who fasts proudly on some days and not others. Both are normal.
A fasting student eats nothing and drinks nothing, including water, from dawn until sunset. Many get up before dawn to eat, and some stay up for night prayers, so tiredness is common.
Simple adjustments
- PE and sport: offer lower-intensity options, especially in hot weather, and let students sit out without having to explain.
- Lunchtime: give fasting students somewhere to go other than the canteen, such as the library or a classroom. Some like to stay with friends; let them choose.
- Exams and tests: if you can, avoid scheduling major assessments late in the day.
- Don't single anyone out. Ask privately, and don't ask a non-fasting student why they are eating.
- Prayer: Muslims pray five times a day, and one prayer may fall in school hours. It takes about five to ten minutes in a quiet, clean space. On Fridays, older boys may ask to attend the midday congregational prayer (Jumu'ah).
- Eid: families often learn the date of Eid al-Fitr the evening before, so expect absence notes at short notice.
Talk to parents
A short message to families at the start of Ramadan, asking how their child is fasting and what would help, prevents most problems. Some students would love to explain Ramadan to the class; others would rather not. Let them decide.
Want to read the Qur'an itself?
Thirty short passages, ten minutes a day.