Dubai for Muslim travellers: Old Dubai, a mosque visit and the Ramadan cannon

Skip the skyline for the first morning. The Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Centre for Cultural Understanding offers a heritage tour of the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, one of the oldest traditional areas of Old Dubai. It lists the tour at AED 120 per adult for 1.5 hours, beginning with Arabic coffee and dates in a wind-tower house, then the narrow alleys and iconic wind towers and ending with a visit to the Diwan Mosque.

The same centre runs cultural meals, with talks on Emirati culture, the influence of Islam on local traditions, cultural values and daily life. Breakfast is listed at AED 130 per person on Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:00, and in the holy month of Ramadan the dinner is replaced by iftar.

Few mosques in Dubai welcome non-Muslim visitors, and Jumeirah Mosque is one of them. The Centre for Cultural Understanding runs guided visits for AED 45 per person, lasting 1 hour 15 minutes, every day except Friday at 10 AM and 2 PM. No prior booking is needed, and registration opens 30 minutes before the programme.

The UAE's foreign ministry says it is respectful to dress modestly at religious sites, markets and other public areas, and that women should cover their shoulders and knees.

Arabian Tea House in Al Fahidi sits in the Bastakiya quarter and has served Emirati cuisine since 1997, on a site that describes its food as Middle Eastern halal food. It is open every day from 7:00 to 23:00, and its own blog puts a breakfast tray at AED 40 to 60. Classic trays include the Emirati Breakfast Tray, balaleet, harees and luqaimat, and you can eat in the Al Fahidi courtyard.

For a longer, more instructive meal, the cultural meals at the Centre for Cultural Understanding start at AED 130 per person for breakfast, and the programme lists lunch, dinner and Emirati tea time at higher rates on its own page.

Halal in the UAE is a national system. Under a 2014 cabinet decree, establishments must take halal certificates from certification bodies registered with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, and the ministry issues a Halal National Mark.

In March 2026 Dubai's Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department announced that Eid al-Fitr prayers would be held in all mosques across the emirate at 6:40 AM, with over 900 mosques ready to receive worshippers, and in the first half of 2025 it inaugurated 19 new mosques.

The nol card is a smart card for paying for Dubai Metro, buses, the tram and marine transport, including the ferry, the water taxi and the abra, with a single tap. The metro has Red and Green lines and cabins reserved for women and children.

The UAE government portal says the Iftar cannon is an integral part of Islamic culture, that supermarkets and grocery shops stay open as usual and malls stay open until late at night, and that non-Muslims are not required to fast. In Ramadan 2026 more than 14 million worshippers attended recitations by Emirati Qur'an reciters in Dubai's mosques.

Back in your own kitchen, our recipes for Emirati chicken machboos, Emirati yellow rice, luqaimat and Arabic coffee bring the Gulf table home.