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A sign of simpler times before even the most basic technology, the firing of the Ramadan – or midfa al iftar – announces the breaking of the fast during Ramadan.
It’s a tradition that is most popularly believed to date back two centuries, to the rule of the Mamluk Wali, Khosh Qadam of Egypt. Wali coincidentally fired a cannon at the end of the days fasting and the people of Cairo were so thrilled by the idea that they thronged to congratulate him.
The custom was first observed locally in Sharjah between 1924 and 1950 and soon spread to the other emirates.