When does Ramadan start?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which is a lunar calendar of 29 or 30 days a month. A lunar year is about eleven days shorter than a solar year, so Ramadan moves earlier through the seasons, completing a cycle in about 33 years.

Sighting and calculation

Traditionally a month begins when the new crescent is sighted after sunset on the 29th day; if it is not seen, the month has 30 days. Many countries still follow local sighting; others, including Saudi Arabia (the Umm al-Qura calendar, used for civil purposes), use calculation, and some communities follow the sighting reported from elsewhere. This is why Ramadan may start on different days in different countries, and why the expected dates above are only expected.

In India and South Asia

In India, Pakistan and Bangladesh the committees usually announce the start after the local sighting, which often falls a day after Saudi Arabia. Check the announcement of your local moon-sighting committee or mosque in the last days of Shaban.

Dates of Ramadan depend on the sighting of the moon and can differ by a day between countries and communities (in India, often a day after Saudi Arabia). Times are calculated and may differ by a minute or two from your mosque's printed timetable, which often adds a few minutes of caution to the start of the fast. This page is not a religious ruling; follow your local mosque or a trusted scholar.