Ramadan Moon

The day begins at sunset. Ftour — the breaking of the fast — is the main meal, served the moment the adhan sounds from the mosque. The table is set before the call: dates, harira soup, chebakia pastries, boiled eggs, msemen, fresh juice, milk, and coffee. The sequence is precise — dates first (following the Prophet's practice), then harira, then everything else.

Harira is Ramadan. The thick tomato-based soup with lentils, chickpeas, vermicelli, and fresh herbs appears on every table in Morocco during the holy month. Each family has its recipe. Street stalls sell it by the bowl. The smell of harira simmering in the late afternoon is the smell of Ramadan itself.

Chebakia — flower-shaped fried pastries soaked in honey and sprinkled with sesame — is the sweet counterpoint. They are prepared in enormous batches, often days before Ramadan begins. Families make hundreds. Neighbours exchange trays.

The day is restructured. Work slows. Government offices and businesses shorten hours. The streets empty in the late afternoon as everyone prepares ftour. After the meal, the city comes alive — people walk, shop, visit family. The cafes fill. At midnight, many souks are still open.

Laylat al-Qadr — the Night of Power — falls on one of the odd-numbered nights in the last ten days of Ramadan, most commonly the 27th. It is considered the night the Quran was first revealed. Mosques fill to capacity. Many spend the entire night in prayer. The spiritual intensity of this single night is said to exceed a thousand months of worship.

For visitors, Ramadan requires adjustment. Restaurants in tourist areas remain open, but eating or drinking visibly in public during daylight hours is considered disrespectful. The compensation is access to a Morocco that tourists rarely see — the communal ftour, the night markets, the generosity of shared meals with strangers.

Explore the full interactive module — with Hijri calendar tools, prayer time calculations, and the food traditions of Ramadan in Morocco — at Dancing with Lions: https://www.dancingwiththelions.com/data/ramadan-moon