Ramadan dates

How it works

Ramadan is a month, not a single feast day. It begins at sunset on the night the new month is accepted, and the first fast is the following dawn. It ends when Shawwal is accepted; Eid al-Fitr is the morning after the last fast. A lunar month is 29 or 30 days, so the block is not a fixed Gregorian length. Neighbouring countries can differ by a day because some wait on a local crescent and some follow a published calendar such as Umm al-Qura in Saudi Arabia.

The Islamic year is shorter than the solar year, so Ramadan walks backward through the Gregorian seasons by about ten to twelve days each year. Over many years the fast is lived in every season. Long northern summer days make a long fast. Short winter days make a short one. The religious rule does not change with the season; the clock hours do.

On 3 September 2026 the most recent Ramadan has already ended. Under the Umm al-Qura table that month began on 18 February 2026. The next Ramadan, 1448 AH, is expected to begin on Monday 8 February 2027 on that same table, with the crescent sought the evening before. A mosque or national announcement outranks a projection on a website. Pencil the Gregorian square. Ink it when your community does.

How a year gets a Gregorian square

People search “Ramadan dates” for two numbers: the first fasting day and the likely Eid morning. Those numbers are outputs of a sighting or of a civil Hijri conversion, plus your time zone. A chart that lists 8 February 2027 is a planning date for communities that follow that calculation. A community that requires a local crescent may start the night after, or, rarely, the night before, compared with a neighbour.

Month: Ramadan, ninth in the Hijri year, 29 or 30 days. Start: sunset that opens the month; first fast at the next dawn. End: last fast at sunset; Eid al-Fitr the next morning, 1 Shawwal. 2026 (Umm al-Qura): began 18 February.

2027 (Umm al-Qura projection): 8 February, subject to the accepted crescent. Work and school calendars are a separate layer. Some countries shorten hours or close for parts of the month or for Eid. Others do not. Diaspora cities often keep ordinary civic hours while mosques fill at night. If you need leave, read the employer and the country’s holiday notice. The religious month can be observed while the office stays open.

When the month ends, and what not to freeze

Because the month can be 29 or 30 days, a projected Eid date can move when the Shawwal crescent is accepted. Do not tattoo a single Gregorian Eid onto a poster in autumn. Plan a window. Confirm in the last days of Ramadan. Laylat al-Qadr is sought in the last ten nights; many households give particular weight to the odd nights. That is a night inside the month, not a second set of Ramadan dates.

Print a projected Gregorian start in pencil. Ink belongs to the crescent your community accepts. Travel across a dateline or a country border can split a household’s first night. The fast you keep is the dawn and sunset where you actually are that day, under the ruling you follow, not the city you departed. If two announcements disagree, the imam or authority you already trust is the tie-break, not a search snippet from another hemisphere.