question: How do restaurants, and similar business, deal with Ramadan in Islamic countries?
comment: I can only speak from my own experience. I’m not Muslim but I was in Istanbul once during Ramadan. People would gather together every night to break their fast when the sun went down. You couldn’t get a seat in a restaurant because they were all fully booked with large parties eating together at sunset. It looked like they were doing very good business to me.
passages: In Hyderabad and neighbouring areas, the month of Ramadan is synonymous with Hyderabadi haleem. During the 2014 Ramadan season, 5 billion worth of Hyderabadi haleem was sold in the city, and an additional 25,000 people were employed in the preparation and sale of haleem. The connoisseur chefs are paid salaries of up to a month plus benefits, As of 2011, during Ramadan there were 6,000 eateries throughout the city that sold haleem (70% of which are temporary until Ramadan ends), and 28% of Hyderabadi haleem produced in the city was exported to 50 countries throughout the world.
   Islam's holiest month, "Ramaḍān", is observed through many events. As Muslims must fast during the day during Ramadan, mosques will host "Ifṭār" dinners after sunset and the fourth required prayer of the day, that is "Maghrib". Food is provided, at least in part, by members of the community, thereby creating daily potluck dinners. Because of the community contribution necessary to serve "iftar" dinners, mosques with smaller congregations may not be able to host the "iftar" dinners daily. Some mosques will also hold "Suḥūr" meals before dawn to congregants attending the first required prayer of the day, "Fajr". As with iftar dinners, congregants usually provide the food for suhoor, although able mosques may provide food instead. Mosques will often invite poorer members of the Muslim community to share in beginning and breaking the fasts, as providing charity during Ramadan is regarded in Islam as especially honorable.
   The restaurant's interior was designed to cater to Muslim customers. For example, the toilets had water hoses to accommodate clients who do not use toilet paper, and the menu had Arabic lettering. There was a children's playground. The restaurant closed on Friday, the Muslim Day of Prayer. On Friday, the restaurant re-opened at 4 P.M. and closed at midnight. Muslim female employees were allowed to wear headscarves if they choose to do so, but were not required to do so.
   Some countries impose modified work schedules. In the UAE, employees may work no more than six hours per day and thirty-six hours per week. Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait have similar laws.
  
  Section::::Health.
  
  Ramadan fasting is safe for healthy people, but those with medical conditions should seek medical advice if they encounter health problems before or during fasting. The fasting period is usually associated with modest weight loss, but weight can return afterwards.
   Over time, the practice of "iftar" has involved into banquets that may accommodate hundreds or even thousands of diners. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the largest mosque in the UAE, feeds up to thirty thousand people every night. Some twelve thousand people attend "iftar" at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
  
  Section::::Religious practices.:Charity.
   When determining when Ramadan begins, the ISGH uses the time when a crescent moon is first seen in North America as the start date of Ramadan. This originates from the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).
  
  Section::::Mosques.
  
  Section::::Mosques.:Al-Noor.
   At sunset, families break the fast with the "iftar", traditionally opening the meal by eating dates to commemorate Muhammad's practice of breaking the fast with three dates. They then adjourn for "Maghrib", the fourth of the five required daily prayers, after which the main meal is served.
  
  Social gatherings, many times in buffet style, are frequent at "iftar". Traditional dishes are often highlighted, including traditional desserts, particularly those made only during Ramadan. Water is usually the beverage of choice, but juice and milk are also often available, as are soft drinks and caffeinated beverages.
   Section::::Around the world.:United States and Canada.
  
  Iftar meals in the United States and Canada are often held at mosques, households, and Islamic community centres.
  
  On 9 December 1805, President Thomas Jefferson postponed dinner at the White House until sunset to accommodate an envoy from Tunis, an event considered by many to be the first White House iftar.
   Fasting from sunrise to sunset is "fard" (obligatory) for all adult Muslims who are not acutely or chronically ill, travelling, elderly, pregnant, breastfeeding, diabetic, or menstruating. The predawn meal is referred to as "suhur", and the nightly feast that breaks the fast is called "iftar". Although "fatwas" have been issued declaring that Muslims who live in regions with a midnight sun or polar night should follow the timetable of Mecca, it is common practice to follow the timetable of the closest country in which night can be distinguished from day.
   Section::::Employment during Ramadan.
  
  Muslims continue to work during Ramadan; however, in some Islamic countries, such as Oman and Lebanon, working hours are shortened. It is often recommended that working Muslims inform their employers if they are fasting, given the potential for the observance to impact performance at work. The extent to which Ramadan observers are protected by religious accommodation varies by country. Policies putting them at a disadvantage compared to other employees have been met with discrimination claims in the United Kingdom and the United States.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Fasting
  
  BULLET::::- Five Pillars of Islam
  
  Section::::External links.
   Section::::Etiquette.:Month of Ramadan.
   As Ramadan is also the month of almsgiving, many people organise iftar dinners for the poor, students, guests, and foreigners. People can find Turkish food available in most mosques.
   During the Islamic month of Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food and drinks between dawn and sunset. Exceptions to this obligation are made for children who are pre-pubescent, the infirm, travelers, and pregnant or menstruating women. During Ramadan, the daylight hours will often begin and end with a large meal. After dinner, many Muslims participate in special communal prayers held during Ramadan. The end of Ramadan fasting is celebrated with special prayers, gatherings of family and friends, and specially prepared meals. Muslims may also fast on other special days of the year, and to make up for missed days of fasting. Classic Islamic law details the exact definition of the fast, the times of fasting, how a fast may be broken, who must fast, and permitted exceptions to the fast.
   Section::::Timing.
  
  The calendar is a lunar calendar, and months begin when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. Since the Islamic lunar calendar year is 10 to 11 days shorter than the solar year and contains no intercalation, Ramadan migrates throughout the seasons. The Islamic day starts after sunset. The estimated start and end dates for Ramadan, based on the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia, are:
   During the last ten days of Ramadan, larger mosques within the Muslim community will host "Iʿtikāf", a practice in which at least one Muslim man from the community must participate. Muslims performing itikaf are required to stay within the mosque for ten consecutive days, often in worship or learning about Islam. As a result, the rest of the Muslim community is responsible for providing the participants with food, drinks, and whatever else they need during their stay.
  
  Section::::Religious functions.:Charity.
   Although Ramadan is a month of fasting for Muslims in Egypt, it is usually a time when Egyptians pay a lot of attention to food variety and richness, since breaking the fast is a family affair, often with entire extended families meeting at the table just after sunset. There are several desserts served almost exclusively during Ramadan, such as "kunafa" () and "qatayef" (). In this month, many Egyptians prepare a special table for the poor or passers-by, usually in a tent in the street, called "Ma'edet Rahman" (, ), which literally translates to "Table of the Merciful", referring to one of the 99 names of God in Islam. These may be fairly simple or quite lavish, depending on the wealth and ostentation of the provider.
   Section::::Overview.
  
  "Bab Al-Hara" aired during Ramadan and forms part of the emerging modern tradition of the Ramadan soap opera. The Arab satellite channels broadcast special programming every night during Ramadan to try to capture audiences from among the families who have gathered together to eat and break the fast.
   During Ramadan, Turkish NGOs like the Journalists and Writers Foundation have recently started to organise Interfaith Dialogue Dinners to promote dialogue between those of different religious and cultural backgrounds. These high-profile events have started a whole new era of organising large dinner parties by the NGOs in Turkey for people from different cultures and understandings even if they are not Muslims. In recent years Turkish NGOs, such as the Peace Islands Institute (former Interfaith Dialog Center), all over the world have organised iftar dinners for inter-cultural and interfaith dialogue, which helps promote the true understanding of the month of Ramadan.
   Every celebratory occasion is marked by a festive meal called Al-Maeda, which always commences with a breaking bread blessing, and concludes with a thanksgiving toast although they do not drink wine. They carry daggers which are never drawn, use bathing garments, grow their hair long and wear turbans like the Sikhs. Ramadaan and Hajj are considered to occur at the right time (winter and spring respectively) for three years in a row at intervals of 33 years. At such a Hajj, Alenzar vows are fulfilled with sacrifices, headshaving, free-association and edible vine products.
  
  Section::::External links.
  
  BULLET::::- A New Ecumenism
   Many mosques will provide iftar (literally: dinner) meals after sundown for the community to come and end their day's fasting as a whole. It is also common for such meals to take place at Muslim soup kitchens. The fast is broken with a date (when possible) following the tradition of Muhammad, or with water.
  
  Section::::Rulings for a fasting person.
  
  Linguistically, the word fasting in the Arabic language means unconditional 'restraint' (imsak) from any action or speech during any time.
  
  According to the Sacred Law, fasting is the act of:
   There are several rituals unique to this mosque; one of the ritual is the qunut ritual on the 16th night of Ramadan, known as the "Malam Qunut" ("qunut night"). During the "Malam Qunut", the Sultan performed a ceremony known as "Kolano Uci Sabea". In this ceremony, the Sultan and his family arrived at the mosque in a palanquin, performed the tarawih prayer, helped by the "Bobato Akhirat" (the Sultanate council of religious matter), and then returned to his "kedaton" ("palace") in a palanquin. In the kedaton, the Sultan and his queen ("Boki") will perform a special prayer for the ancestor inside a special room located above the shrine of the ancestor. After this prayer, the Sultan and his queen will meet the people of Ternate.
   BULLET::::- In Jakarta, Indonesia, police say that the traffic due to 7 million people leaving the city to celebrate Eid al-Fitr results in an increase in street crime. As a result, police deploy an additional 7,500 personnel.
  
  BULLET::::- During Ramadan, millions of pilgrims enter Saudi Arabia to visit Mecca. According to the "Yemen Times", such pilgrims are usually charitable, and consequently smugglers traffic children in from Yemen to beg on the streets of Saudi Arabia.
  
  Section::::Ramadan in polar regions.
   Muslims devote more time to prayer and acts of charity, striving to improve their self-discipline, motivated by hadith: "When Ramadan arrives, the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of hell are locked up and devils are put in chains."
  
  Section::::Religious practices.:Fasting.
   The length of the dawn to sunset time varies in different parts of the world according to summer or winter solstices of the Sun. Most Muslims fast for eleven to sixteen hours during Ramadan. However, in polar regions, the period between dawn and sunset may exceed twenty-two hours in summer. For example, in 2014, Muslims in Reykjavik, Iceland, and Trondheim, Norway, fasted almost twenty-two hours, while Muslims in Sydney, Australia, fasted for only about eleven hours. In areas characterized by continuous night or day, some Muslims follow the fasting schedule observed in the nearest city that experiences sunrise and sunset, while others follow Mecca time.
   Section::::Important dates.
  
  The first and last dates of Ramadan are determined by the lunar Islamic calendar.
  
  Section::::Important dates.:Beginning.
  
  Because "Hilāl", the crescent moon, typically occurs approximately one day after the new moon, Muslims can usually estimate the beginning of Ramadan; however, many prefer to confirm the opening of Ramadan by direct visual observation of the crescent.
  
  Section::::Important dates.:Night of Power.
  
raw_presuppositions: People do not eat at restaurants during Ramadan. Restaurants in Islamic countries struggle with business due to Ramadan.
raw_corrections: People do eat at restaurants during Ramadan after sunset. People would gather every night at restaurants to break their fast.