It’s the time of the year when Muslims all over the world refrain from eating and drinking from dawn till dusk. ‘Sawm’, or fasting during the month of Ramadan, is one of the most important things a Muslim does in his/her lifetime, as it is one of the 5 pillars of Islam.
Visit our Ramadan 2024 page for more Ramadan and Eid content!
It is then predicted to come to a close on the evening of Thursday, the 14th of June, 2018.
The Islamic calendar contains 12 months, the ninth of which is the holy month of Ramadan. These months do not coincide with the scientific calendar. Instead, they are based on the sighting of the new moon or crescent moon.
Although every month in the Islamic calendar begins and ends with such a sighting, you’ll probably hear a lot more about it just before Ramadan. This is because Muslims all over the world are eagerly waiting for its arrival so we can be sure that the holy month has arrived.
This means that although the predicted date of the start of Ramadan 2018 is the 16th of May, it may actually end up being the 17th. Similarly, the sighting of the moon signals the end of Ramadan and the start of Eid-Ul-Fitr. This could also be delayed one day, or even come one day in advance.
One such method is the acceptance of a sighting in another country (most commonly Saudi Arabia) even if scholars in their own country have not confirmed it for that day. Another method is to pre-calculate the dates through the “Hijri” method. Hijri being the Islamic word for year, it just means that a prediction is made beforehand (similar to the scientific calendar) and followed. The advancement of technology has made this more reliable in recent days.
Nevertheless, Ramadan is almost here, and we pray that Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) makes it a blessed and beneficial one for all of us!