Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and marks the time when the Quran is said to have been revealed to Prophet Muhammad by God with a month-long fast. Its name literally means “scorching heat” in Arabic.
Muslims are needed to spend a period of 30 days abstaining from food and drink, including water, during daylight hours, as a means of celebrating and reflecting on their faith.
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Ramadan 2022 starts
Like other Muslim carnivals, the festival of Ramadan is based on the lunar calendar. The month begins the sighting of the crescent moon, which generally appears one night after the new moon.
This year, Ramadan is awaited to start on Saturday 2 April, although it could come a day thereafter if the moon is not observed. It lasts between 29 and 30 days, until the sighting of the coming crescent moon marks the end of the holy month and the appearance of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic Hijri calender.
The Moon Sighting
The idea of a moon sighting should relate to you physically witnessing the moon in your region, which could be hampered by factors similar as rainfall conditions, or whether to postpone to sightings in Saudi Arabia or other regions.
Some people argue that technological advancements in astronomy mean that the rising of the new moon can be calculated with unknown accuracy, meaning that a standardized start date can be used for all Muslims around the world, rather than having variations.
Significance of Ramadan
Fasting at Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam – the basic rules that all Muslims follow – along with the Shahadah (claim of faith), Salat (prayer), Zakat (charity) and the Hajj pilgrimage.
For each day of Ramadan, fasting consists of abstaining from eating or drinking, including water, while the sun is out. Once the sun has set, Muslims eat dinner, a meal called “ Iftar” in Arabic. Iftar is generally a community- concentrated meal.
During Ramadan, it’s customary for Muslims to supplicate redundant nighttime prayers and share in other religious practices throughout the day and night, when possible. They will frequently wake up for or stay up until “ Suhur”, a pre-dawn meal.
During Ramadan, there’s an increased sacrifice of the Salat, with Muslims giving thanks to Allah, while the fasting ritual allows them to understand the suffering of others.
Eid al-Fitr 2022
Ramadan is expected to end on Sunday 1 May, which would mean Eid al-Fitr follows on Sunday 2 May. Eid al-Fitr’s name comes from an Arabic term which translates as the “feast of breaking the fast”
In normal times, it’s traditional for Muslims to gather together in premises to celebrate breaking their fast, with large-scale events and festival food, prayer and stalls. After Eid some Muslims decide to fast for the six days that follow. This stems from the Islamic belief that a good deed in Islam is rewarded 10 times, therefore fasting for 30 days during Ramadan and six days during Shawwal creates a year’s worth of goodwill.
