History -- Military history -- List of Islamic Battles Fought During Ramadan

  • 624 - Battle of Badr. On 17 Ramadan, the Prophet Muhammad led his forces in Arabia to victory over Makkan idolaters. "The great battle of Badr" or "Conquest of Mecca", was the first battle between believers and infidels.
  • 627 - The Battle of the Ditch. Muslims trained for this battle during Ramadan, though it occurred in the following month of Shawal.
  • 630 - Battle of Tabouk (also called the Battle of Tabuk). The soldiers of Islam, under the leadership of the Prophet Mohammed, established a training and fighting camp in Tabouk during the month of fasting, and attacked the Byzantine army.
  • 653 - Conquest of Rhodes. Muslims plundered the Colossus of Rhodes, melted it and turned it into arms for the soldiers.
  • 710 - Muslims led by Tarek bin Ziyad, invaded Spanish southern frontier cities on the Andalusian coast defeating King Roderick. They stayed for eight hundred years, disseminating Islam. From there, Islam spreads out through Europe.
  • 1187 - Battle of Hattin. Took place at dawn -- after the Night of Power (Lailat ul-Qadr); a night during the last ten days of Ramadan when tradition says that the the angel Gabriel descended and God called Muhammad to be His messenger. (It is sometimes translated as the Night of Destiny.) Sultan Saladin (Salah Al-Din Al-Ayubi) wiped out the Frankish army and went on to reclaim Jerusalem for Islam. The battle took place on July 4.
  • 1948 - Israeli War of Independence. Fighting took place over two Ramadans.
  • 1962 to 1970 - Yemeni Civil War. Fighting continued through nine Ramadans.
  • 1973 - Ramadan War (Elsewhere known as the Yom Kippur War). Egypt and Syria launched their attack on Israel it was called Operation Badr, and foot soldiers were given religious slogans. The Yom Kippur War is also known as the 6th of October war of 1973 and the 10th of Ramadan War.
  • 1975 to 1990 - Lebanon's civil war. Fighting took place over the course of seventeen Ramadans.
  • 1981 - Iran rejected Iraqi offers for a Ramadan cease-fire.
  • 1982 - Iran launched an attack on Iraq that they explicitly called "Operation Ramadan."
  • 1986 - Christian forces called for a Ramadan cease-fire, which lasted two weeks.
  • 1987 - Iran again rejected Iraqi offers for a Ramadan cease-fire.
  • 1987 to 1993 - The first Palestinian Intifada was waged over six Ramadans.
  • 1990s - There were at least 20 examples of Ramadan violence by Muslims during the Algerian civil war.
  • 2000 - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee stated that India would initiate a unilateral cease-fire in observance of the holy month of Ramadan as a step towards peace in Kashmir. Nonetheless, widespread fighting continued between Indian forces and the guerrillas in Jammu-Kashmir.
  • 2000 - Al-Qaida operatives tried to bomb a U.S. destroyer, the USS The Sullivans, in the harbor at Aden, Yemen. It was the Night of Power. The suicide boat was overloaded with explosives and sank.
  • 2001 - Al-Qaida successfully bombs the USS Cole in the same harbor at Aden, Yemen.
  • 2003 - After the 2003 Iraq war, suicide bombers struck at four locations, including the Red Cross headquarters, killing at least 35 people.