Calendars reflect time periods and moments of cultural/historical importance. The Islamic calendar has lunar months of 29 or 30 days whose starting dates are still individually identified today by sightings of the moon phases. For
example, scholars in Pakistan gathered observations on Sunday September 24th but the vast majority did not see the crescent following the new moon, so the month of Ramzan was legally established (here) as starting on Monday September 25th - when the crescent was observed by the majority. You can see how it would be difficult for global entities to operate on this calendar and thus most people use the more standardized Gregorian calendar.Ramadan is the nineth of the twelve months of the Islamic calendar. Ramazan the month is closely associated with a number of observations for Muslims. The most popularly known practice associated with the month is fasting, but there is much more to the month if you check out these religious practices.
The fasting that does occur is not a total abstinence of food or drink. No one could do that for a month! It is rather a limitation of these activities to the evening - between dusk (maghrib prayer) and dawn (fajr prayer), which works out to be about 6:00pm yesterday to 4:36am today. This year I tried to believe that I had until around 5:56am (sunrise to average people) to consume but I'm now getting up at 3:50am (or not at all) to eat and drink before the cut-off.It is rough to miss these times. While you have the morning and evening to consume, it is known for people to miss these timings - whether by sleeping in late or being too exhausted to remain awake for the evening. I already met a person this year going over 24 hours without food or drink, i.e. missing evening and morning meals. This is uncommon though I have to do it once last year. What is more common is simply waking up late and missing the morning meal.
Luckily, the athan (azan in Pakistan) is a call that rings out over loudspeakers from every mosque to announce these timings. This marks the beginning and end of fasting for practical purposes. The athan always calls out five times a day for the five daily Islamic prayers, but it is cranked up to higher volume levels for fajr and magrib (first and fourth) prayers. This will help people wake up for prayer, but it is unfortunately too late to eat/drink at this point. More usefully, it marks the end of fasting - which apparently should be broken at this time (and with others) rather than whenever you feel like breaking your fast [which I have done in the past].
The roads of Islamabad tend to be a bit more crazy before dusk, but are nearly empty
at the time of the athan. At the latter time, people are home with family and friends or out at the numerous special dinner offers at restaurants and hotels. This "break fast" meal is iftar, and here it tends to be a large rather than a small affair. Many people gather together for seemingly banquets (upper economic class) or simply squat in a circle on the street around an assortment of food (lower economic class). Dates are a traditional food with which to break one's fast.Beyond the fasting and consuming, there is much more to Ramadan. I am much less qualified to speak on the religious practices of the month, rather than the cultural aspects I observe on the surface. Prayer, Qur'an recitation, character (integrity), and more are matters not seen by a superficial look at the practices of the month. This is the "holiest" month of the Islamic calendar for more than fasting. Maybe it is a time to reflect upon one's practices and habits as well as one's relationship to Allah. Look for the best behaviors in Muslims despite the challenge of their fasting; it is what they'd expect you to do.
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