Ramadan illness, pregnancy, and breastfeeding. However, many Muslims with medical conditions insist on fasting to satisfy their spiritual needs, although it is not recommended by the hadith. Professionals should closely monitor such individuals who decide to persist with fasting. Those who were unable to fast still must make up the days missed later. Each day, before dawn, Muslims observe a pre-fast meal called the suhur. After stopping a short time before dawn, Muslims begin the first prayer of the day, Fajr. At sunset, families hasten for the fast-breaking meal known as iftar. Dates are usually the first food to break the
Fast of the Firstborn not hear the completion of the tractate, or if he does not understand what he hears, or if he is in the "shiva" period of mourning and is thus forbidden from listening to the Torah material being taught, some authorities rule that subsequent eating would not qualify as a "seudat mitzvah" and he would therefore be forbidden to break his fast. Other authorities allow a firstborn to break his fast under such circumstances. The "Minchas Yitzchak" (ibid.) suggests that a firstborn in such a position should at least try to contribute to the "siyum" in some way, such as by