Ramadan is the name of the ninth month on the Islamic lunar calendar and is the official month of fasting for Muslims worldwide. For the duration of the month, Muslims will fast from sunrise to sunset each day, perform meaningful rituals that illuminate their faith, exercise humility, and engage in self-reflection.

In Islam, the fast is observed in the same fundamental manner, regardless of one’s geographical region, culture, or ethnicity.  How is the fast of Ramadan observed? What is the significance of the Ramadan fast to African American Muslims? How were African Americans first introduced to Islam and Ramadan? And how did Ramadan begin within the Islamic faith?

Like Muslims worldwide, African American Muslims and those throughout the African Diaspora will observe Ramadan because it is one of the five obligatory acts of their religion designed to foster obedience to Allah—the Arabic name for the sole Creator of the universe. These five acts are referred to as the pillars of Islam, with Ramadan serving as the fourth pillar. Muslims believe that faithfully adhering to these pillars as a way of life leads to self-liberation and freedom from mental slavery.

A typical day in Ramadan begins with the conscious intention to fast and act charitably. A light meal of one’s choosing follows roughly twenty minutes to an hour before sunrise. Then the early morning prayer begins, which is performed together with family or other Muslims in the household.  At this point, all consumption of food, drink, and even medicine ceases. All extraneous leisure activities and interests not conducive to quiet contemplation also cease.

The day’s activities still include work, if not too physically strenuous, but the primary focus is performing the five prayers, engaging in acts of charity, being cognizant of one’s family responsibilities, and perhaps most importantly, reading the Qur’an for enlightenment and wisdom. The end of the day is marked by prayers and a meal at sunset, often eaten together with other Muslims. Many predominantly Muslim societies are well adapted to the seasonal activities associated with Ramadan—people prostrate on prayer rugs in public spaces and businesses may set their hours around the fast. With mosques readily accessible, believers can also very easily make congregational prayers, if they so choose.

The end of Ramadan is punctuated by a feast referred to as the Eid-ul-Fitr, or the Feast of Breaking the Fast. All over the world, Muslims gather in their homes, mosques, parks, and community centers to offer special prayers and celebrations replete with gift giving, fine fashions, camaraderie, and a collective meal. It is a joyous occasion marked by a strong sense of purpose—serving Allah and humanity. Whatever the Eid feast may lack in revelry, when compared to other types of celebrations, it makes up for with group cohesion and the renewal of longtime friendships.

African Americans were first introduced to Islam with its practice of fasting, beginning in the late 19th century, in response to white supremacy and pervasive racial violence. They formed new religious communities that were both spiritual sanctuaries and hubs of social and political activism. Viewing Christianity as the “slave master’s religion,” some African Americans turned to Islam as a viable alternative toward achieving liberation. Thirty percent of the captured Africans brought to the colonies during the slave trade were Muslims, so early African American Muslim communities developed from knowledge of an enslaved Muslim experience. The formative years of these Muslim communities were characterized by a blending of Black nationalism, Pan Africanism, and varied interpretive traditions of Islamic thought. The social reform efforts of the Ahmadiyya Movement (est. 1889), the Moorish Science Temple (est. 1913), and the Nation of Islam (est. 1930) as forerunners, or “proto-Islamic” organizations, would help lay the foundation for the practice of the five pillars of the Islamic faith among African Americans today.

According to a recent Pew Research Center study, Islam is the fastest growing world religion. Since the end of WWII, Islam has greatly increased in its cultural influence on African American communities. The term Ramadan as well as other Arabic words, such as Muslim names—Malik, Latifah, Aliyah, Aisha, Rakim, Talib, Jamal—greetings, and a plethora of styles and mannerisms, have found their way into the vernacular and cultural life of African Americans.

Historically, the fast of Ramadan began to commemorate the revelation of the Holy Qur’an. This commemoration is tied to the life of Muhammad, who lived and worked on the Arabian Peninsula, a place with an arid desert climate, one of the hottest and driest places on earth. The term Ramadan derives from the root word “ar-ramad”, which means scorching heat, so the month became associated with the heat on the Peninsula. For thousands of years, this place was almost exclusively inhabited by nomadic tribes, who had thoroughly adapted to its harsh environment. They were expert herdsmen of sheep, horses, and camels.

Adaptation eventually gave way to a robust desert economy. At the heart of this economy, its most important city emerged—Mecca—on the southwest coast of the Red Sea. At its center is the Kaaba, that unique cubical structure which is the very focal point of the annual Muslim pilgrimage today. Over time, Mecca had degenerated, eventually becoming a core of cultural crosscurrents and a veritable hot bed of frivolity and degenerate behavior. It was into this unlikely milieu that Muhammad, an orphaned child of noble birth, was born and would become the prophet of Islam.

It is around a somewhat mystical event experienced by Muhammad that the Ramadan fast began. According to Islamic history, Muhammad became increasingly dismayed at the moral state of his beloved Mecca. He began retreating to a cave on the outskirts of Mecca, where he would contemplate and meditate on the presence of God. On one of these excursions during the last ten days of Ramadan, he experienced a revelation that would profoundly change him and eventually establish him as a prophet. Muslims believe that in A.D. 610, the angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and revealed to him the first words of the Holy Qur’an, which were a command to read. The night of that revelation is referred to as the Night of Power. Thus, Muslims began fasting during Ramadan to commemorate the revelation of the Qur’an to Muhammad.

Today, fasting during the month of Ramadan remains an act of commemoration, worship, and faith for Muslims all over the world. African American Muslims are part of this world community of believers who adhere to the five pillars of Islam. As one of those five pillars, fasting during Ramadan helps facilitate the intentions and efforts of Muslims to submit to something greater than themselves and to cultivate their knowledge and understanding of self, society, and Islam as their way of life.

View objects in the NMAAHC collection relating to Islam

Written by Tulani Salahu-Din, Museum Specialist, Language and Literature
Published on March 17, 2023