Spirit of Ramadan returns to Iraq's IS-free Mosul At night young men in Mosul walk the streets beating drums to announce the pre-dawn breakfast Ramadan, just one of the traditions specific to the Muslim holy month in the city that has returned since the ouster of the Islamic State group last July. The Islamic State (IS) group which controlled the city for three years before its ouster last July had banned drumming, along with other Ramadan traditions that make up the festive spirit of the dawn-to-dusk fasting month.