Negotiating during Ramadan

01The practice and its expected meaning

During Ramadan - a lunar month of fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam (Quran, sura 2, Al-Baqara, verses 183-185) - practising Muslims abstain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to sunset, for 29 or 30 days. For business life in the Gulf and across the Muslim world, this is not a logistical detail: working rhythms change profoundly, and a foreign partner's ability to adapt is read as a sign of respect and competence.

The framework is often legal, not merely customary: in the United Arab Emirates, labour law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021) reduces working time by two hours a day during Ramadan, for all employees, fasting or not, without any reduction in pay; in Saudi Arabia, the Labour Code caps the working time of Muslim employees at six hours a day or 36 hours a week. Important meetings are held in the morning; the iftar (the breaking of the fast at sunset) is a family and religious moment, attended only by invitation - and such an invitation is an honour.

02Where it goes wrong: geography of the misunderstanding

The classic Western mistake: scheduling a demanding meeting in the middle of the afternoon, at the physiological low point of the fast, then interpreting reduced participation as a lack of commitment. The misreading is twofold: fasting is not optional for a practising Muslim, and the drop in energy at the end of a day of fasting is a physiological fact, not a professional signal. Another widespread misunderstanding: believing that urban modernity (Dubai, Doha, Kuala Lumpur) implies a loosening of observance - young urban executives fast in large numbers. Conversely, some Westerners over-correct and no longer dare schedule anything: the month is still a working month, business goes on - early in the morning, or after the iftar, when meetings are often more relaxed and longer than usual.

The practice extends well beyond the Gulf: South and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh), North Africa, and the Muslim teams of Western companies - adapting professional calendars to Ramadan has become a global HR topic.

03Historical origins

The fast of Ramadan was instituted in the early years of Islam in Medina (the second year of the Hijra, 624 CE, according to tradition). Since the Islamic calendar is lunar, the month moves back by about eleven days each year relative to the Gregorian calendar - hence very different stakes depending on whether it falls in summer (long fasts) or in winter. The modern legal framing of work during Ramadan (the Emirati and Saudi reductions in working hours) illustrates the contemporary institutionalisation of the observance in globalised economies. Financial research has even documented a "Ramadan effect" on markets: Białkowski, Etebari and Wisniewski ("Fast profits: Investor sentiment and stock returns during Ramadan", Journal of Banking & Finance, 36(3), 2012, pp. 835-845) measure, across 14 predominantly Muslim countries (1989-2007), annualised stock returns of 38.1% during Ramadan against 4.3% for the rest of the year - a sign that the month also transforms economic psychology, far from the cliché of a "lost month".

04Documented incident

Premier League, 26 April 2021 - the match paused for iftar. During Leicester vs Crystal Palace, play stopped around the half-hour mark for a pause agreed with the referee before the match, taking advantage of a goal kick at sunset, so that Wesley Fofana (Leicester) and Cheikhou Kouyaté (Palace), both fasting, could rehydrate: the first iftar break in Premier League history, publicly welcomed by Fofana and widely covered (BBC, Goal, April 2021). The episode illustrates the shift of Western professional institutions - the sports business included - towards explicit accommodation of the fast, where ignoring it had long been the norm.

05Practical recommendations

Do: check the dates of Ramadan as soon as you plan the year (they move forward by about eleven days each year); schedule important meetings in the morning; propose post-iftar slots for informal exchanges; if a partner is fasting, refrain out of courtesy from eating or drinking conspicuously in front of him; accept an invitation to iftar as an honour; anticipate slightly longer decision times at the end of the month (preparations for Eid).

Do not: do not schedule heavy negotiations in the middle of the afternoon; do not interpret a fasting person's tiredness as disengagement; do not ask "why don't you even drink water?" or comment on the practice; do not assume that a "modern" urban executive does not fast; do not invite yourself to an iftar; do not treat the month as unproductive - the legal frameworks (reduced hours) and the customary patterns (mornings, evenings) make it possible to work effectively.

Geography of misunderstanding

Historical origins

Ramadan is 5th Pillar of Islam (Koran Sura 2), fasting since 7th century. Gulf context: universal fasting religious observance + cultural identity. Post-oil 1970s-80s: elites develop modern business sectors WHILE maintaining scrupulous observance (Dubai example). Lewis (1996): Muslim cultures maintain Ramadan regardless of Western pressure. House et al (2004): Arab countries "high uncertainty avoidance" reinforces observance. Near-universal practice in Gulfia 2026.

Documented incidents

• 2021 — Première pause iftar de l'histoire de la Premier League : lors de Leicester-Crystal Palace, le jeu marque une pause convenue avec l'arbitre au coucher du soleil pour permettre aux joueurs jeûneurs de rompre le jeûne. Symbole documenté de l'accommodement du Ramadan par les institutions professionnelles occidentales. (Goal.com, « Leicester star Fofana thanks Crystal Palace for mid-game pause to break Ramadan fast » (avril 2021) ; BBC Sport (avril 2021) ; premierleague.com, « How players observe Ramadan in the Premier League »)

Practical recommendations

Neutral alternatives

• Pre-dawn business breakfast (if plannable)
• Post-iftar meeting around 7-8pm
• Written asynchronous rather than synchronous meeting
• Video recording for flexible listening

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