A beginner's guide to Ramadan in the UAE

Dubai: Traffic thickens, then slows. Phones light up with the same question “Where are you?” Kitchens fall quiet, then busy again.

In mosques, homes and offices, people glance at the clock not with impatience, but with anticipation. When the call to prayer finally rises, it does not announce an end. It signals a beginning.

This is Ramadan in the UAE: a month that reshapes time itself. Days grow gentler, nights grow longer, and a nation known for momentum learns, briefly and deliberately, how to pause. (Check the daily Ramadan timetable here)

For Muslims, Ramadan is the most sacred period in the Islamic calendar, a time of fasting, prayer and reflection. 

For everyone else living in the country, citizens, residents, newcomers and visitors, it is a shared social season that quietly rewrites the rules of daily life.

For a few weeks each year, the UAE moves to a different rhythm. Workdays shorten. Meals migrate to nightfall. The public sphere softens. And a place famous for speed, scale and spectacle reveals a slower, more intimate version of itself shaped by restraint during daylight hours and generosity after dark.

If you are new to the UAE, you may arrive with a set of practical questions that feel almost logistical: When does it start? Can I eat in public? What changes at work? Are malls open? Do taxis still run? Does anything close?

The useful answer is that very little “shuts down” in the literal sense. The country keeps functioning. But it functions on a different timetable and with a different set of social expectations, many of them unspoken, most of them easy to follow once you understand what the month is asking of those who observe it.

Ramadan is based on the Islamic lunar calendar. That means its months begin with the sighting of the new crescent moon, and the beginning of Ramadan is officially confirmed only when religious authorities announce it. In the UAE, the start is tied to the official moon-sighting process and the announcement made by the country’s competent religious bodies.

In 2026, Ramadan is widely expected to begin on Thursday, February 19. The reason is not simply “prediction”, but the underlying astronomy behind crescent visibility. Reports citing the Abu Dhabi-based International Astronomy Centre (IAC) have said the crescent that would mark the start of Ramadan 1447 AH will not be visible on Tuesday, February 17, from any part of the Arab or Islamic world, describing sighting that evening as impossible or highly improbable even with optical aid. 

This matters because many countries traditionally look to the sky on the evening of the 29th day of Sha’ban, the month before Ramadan. In 2026, that observation window falls around Tuesday, February 17.

But if the crescent cannot be seen, countries that rely on authenticated sightings would complete 30 days of Sha’ban and begin Ramadan the following day, which points to Thursday, February 19. Some jurisdictions that apply alternative criteria may declare an earlier start on Wednesday, February 18, but that is expected to be less common. 

Once Ramadan begins, it lasts 29 or 30 days depending on the next crescent sighting, then ends with Eid Al Fitr, the festival that marks the end of the fast.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and the month in which the Qur’an’s revelation is commemorated. Fasting (sawm) is one of Islam’s five pillars, alongside the testimony of faith, daily prayer, charitable giving, and pilgrimage.

But Ramadan, as it is lived, is not limited to abstaining from food and water. It is a month that asks for restraint in what goes into the mouth and what comes out of it. People abstain from swearing, gossip and harsh speech. They take their anger down a notch. They add worship to their routines. They increase charity. They become more deliberate about family, neighbourliness, and the small forms of generosity that are easy to neglect in a busy year.

In the UAE, you will feel that “softening” in the public sphere. Customer service gets a little more patient. People greet one another differently. Social life shifts later. The city becomes quieter in daylight and more alive after sunset. It is not unusual to see entire neighbourhoods coming to life at night with Ramadan markets, tents, family walks, and late suppers that can run past midnight.

If you are trying to understand Ramadan’s daily rhythm, picture it as two worlds joined by a threshold at sunset.

During daylight hours, Muslims who are able to fast abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to sunset. That fast is not meant as a public performance. Most people go about their day as normal, working, driving, shopping, handling life, conserving energy, and waiting for the moment when the fast is broken.

At sunset, the threshold arrives. The fast ends with iftar, often beginning with dates and a drink, following the Prophetic tradition. Families gather. Hotels, restaurants and Ramadan tents serve iftar menus. Mosques fill for the evening prayer.

Later, many people attend taraweeh, special night prayers performed during Ramadan. As the month progresses, especially in the final 10 nights, devotion intensifies for those seeking Laylat Al Qadr, the ‘Night of Power’, associated with the Qur’an’s revelation.

For a newcomer, the most visible sign of the threshold is how quickly the city changes its posture around sunset: the roads can become heavier beforehand, then briefly calm as families and drivers pause to break the fast, then grow lively again as the night unfolds.

This is the question people feel nervous asking out loud: can you eat in public if you are not fasting?

Non-Muslims are not required to fast during Ramadan. In practice, many restaurants, cafés and food courts continue to operate, particularly in malls and hotels, and the UAE’s official government portal notes that non-Muslims can find dining options in designated areas.

The social expectation, however, is that public eating and drinking in front of those who are fasting is discouraged. Even when dining options exist, the etiquette of the month is built around avoiding conspicuous eating, drinking, smoking or chewing gum in open public spaces during daylight hours out of respect for those fasting. 

What this looks like on an ordinary day is fairly simple. In a mall, you may see restaurants operating, with seating arranged or screened in ways that are more discreet than usual in some of the emirates. In hotels, you will find daytime dining and room service running normally. In offices, non-fasting colleagues typically eat quietly in designated areas rather than at their desks in open-plan spaces. Outdoors, people become more cautious about drinking water openly, even if they are not fasting, because the month’s tone is communal and public.

A useful rule of thumb is to ask yourself: is anyone around me likely to be fasting, and am I making it harder for them than it needs to be? If the answer is yes, relocate to a more appropriate setting.

Many first-time visitors assume Ramadan means shutters down and silence. The UAE is not built that way. It is built for continuity. Ramadan merely shifts hours.

Supermarkets and grocery shops generally operate as usual, because household life continues and iftar hosting often increases shopping needs. Malls commonly extend opening hours into the late night, because the social peak shifts after iftar.

Dining becomes more bifurcated. Some standalone venues reduce daytime operations, while mall and hotel dining remains accessible. After sunset, restaurants become busier, and iftar reservations become part of the month’s practical planning rather than a luxury. Many venues run suhoor offerings late into the night, especially in hotel settings, where the month’s social life can feel almost nocturnal.

Tourist attractions often remain open, but they may shift their most “Ramadan” programming into the evening. A clear example is Global Village in Dubai, which has announced Ramadan operating hours beginning at 5pm, with closing at 1am from Sunday to Wednesday and 2am from Thursday to Saturday.

The point is not to memorise a thousand schedules. It is to internalise the logic: daytime becomes more functional and subdued; night-time becomes the month’s main stage.

One of the UAE’s most tangible Ramadan adjustments affects every office, regardless of religion: working hours are reduced.

Working hours for both public and private sector employees in the UAE are set to be reduced during the holy month of Ramadan, in line with the country’s labour rules and regulations.

Under Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, private sector employees must receive a mandatory reduction of two working hours per day during Ramadan. The rule applies to all private sector staff regulated by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, regardless of job role or seniority. Employers may organise shifts and remote work arrangements where appropriate, provided the reduced hours requirement is met.

If you are new to work culture in the UAE, this is where Ramadan becomes practical. Meeting schedules often move earlier. Deadlines close to sunset become unpopular. People who commute long distances may be more protective of the time window before iftar. Productivity does not disappear, but the country accepts that the day is shorter and the evenings are fuller.

For families, Ramadan is often felt most sharply through school schedules. Private school timetables compress, and regulators issue guidance to limit the length of the school day.

In Dubai, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has capped the private school day during Ramadan at a maximum of five hours, with specific guidance that fasting pupils should be exempt from physical education classes, and Fridays ending no later than 11:30am to allow time for Friday prayers.

In Sharjah, the Sharjah Private Education Authority (SPEA) has allowed private schools the option to set their own Ramadan timetables, provided the school day does not exceed six hours, while urging schedules to reflect differences across educational stages and quality-of-life considerations for students, parents and staff.

If you are a parent, this changes the household’s daily engineering. Mornings begin earlier. Afternoon time expands. Children may nap more. Bedtimes drift later if families attend iftar invitations or Ramadan events.

Ramadan’s most misunderstood “inconvenience” is not the restaurant schedule or the quietness in daylight. It is traffic. The roads in the UAE do not become permanently congested in Ramadan, but the minutes leading up to iftar can feel unusually tense, as fasting drivers try to reach home, pick up food, or arrive at family gatherings on time.

The best way to navigate this is not moralising. It is logistics. If you have a choice, avoid planning urgent cross-city travel close to sunset. If you must travel, leave earlier than you think you need. If you rely on taxis or ride-hailing, expect higher demand around iftar time and plan bookings accordingly.

This is also one of the quiet kindnesses of Ramadan: giving people more time. The month is, in part, a practice of patience. You will see it in the way people accept slower service, longer queues, and delayed replies. You will also see it in the way the UAE attempts, structurally, to reduce pressure by shortening working days.

Ramadan changes sound. It changes the “volume” of public life. Loud music in open public spaces tends to be reduced. People keep voices calmer. Entertainment exists, but the public tone becomes more measured, especially in daytime.

Ramadan in the UAE is not only an act of worship. It is also a social culture built around hospitality. Iftar tables are invitations into the local grammar of generosity. Ramadan tents are social institutions as much as dining venues. Late-night walks through malls or waterfronts become family rituals. Even in neighbourhoods that do not look “traditional”, the month creates its own forms of togetherness.

This is why the question “does everything close?” misses the point. The month does not withdraw life from the city. It rearranges it.

In Ramadan, people often assume etiquette is about perfection. It is not. It is about effort.

Modest clothing is the easiest signal of respect, particularly in public spaces, government buildings, heritage areas and cultural sites. The UAE does not suddenly become a different country in Ramadan, but it becomes more attentive to shared norms.

In workplaces and public settings, keeping your tone calm, avoiding arguments, and lowering the heat in disagreements is not only polite, it is aligned with the month’s ethics.

Greetings are an underrated tool. “Ramadan Mubarak” and “Ramadan Kareem” are widely exchanged. Using them with colleagues, neighbours, and service staff is a small but meaningful way to meet the month respectfully.

If Ramadan has a public heartbeat in the UAE, it is charity. Across the country, you will see free iftar meal distributions, food boxes, community tents, and organised charity initiatives. These are not marginal activities. They are central expressions of the month’s spirit, and they align with the UAE’s broader culture of organised giving.

But the UAE also regulates fundraising and donations. The government’s official portal is explicit that natural persons are not allowed to host, organise, or carry out fundraising activities, and that fundraising must be done through licensed charities or authorised organisations.

This is important for residents who may be accustomed to informal fundraising elsewhere. In the UAE, “good intentions” do not exempt you from donation rules. The safest and most effective approach is to donate through recognised charities and official channels, particularly those operating visible Ramadan campaigns.

Begging is another issue that becomes more visible during Ramadan, and official guidance notes that begging is illegal and encourages reporting through established channels. 

The point is that the UAE treats Ramadan charity as both a moral practice and a regulated civic activity. If you want to participate, do it properly, and you will find no shortage of credible avenues.

For many Muslims, Ramadan includes structured charitable obligations and compensations, not only voluntary giving.

In 2026, the UAE fatwa council has set the official values for Zakat Al Fitr and related payments following a field price study conducted with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism.

The council has set Zakat Al Fitr at 2.5kg of rice per person or Dh25 in cash, and fidyah for those unable to fast at feeding one poor person with 3.25kg of wheat or Dh20 per day. Reporting also notes a minimum value of Dh20 for an iftar meal, alongside other kaffarah and fidyah values for specific cases. (Check out our free Zakat calculator)

Ramadan concludes with the sighting of the new moon of Shawwal, heralding Eid Al Fitr.

In the UAE, Eid Al Fitr 2026 is expected to fall on the evening of Thursday, March 19 to Friday, March 20, marking the start of the country’s first long weekend of the year.

The UAE designates the first three days of Shawwal, the month following Ramadan, as public holidays. The length of the holiday could be extended depending on whether Ramadan lasts 29 or 30 days.

If Ramadan lasts 29 days, the holiday will run from Friday, March 20, to Sunday, March 22 (Shawwal 1–3), giving those with a Saturday–Sunday weekend three days off.

Should the month extend to 30 days, one extra day would be added, creating a four-day weekend including Ramadan 30 (Thursday, March 19).