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Many Muslims around the world decide their first and last day of fasting in Ramadan after sighting the new moon. This is a wrong practice that goes against Quran and often makes Muslims get their fasting dates wrong.
In the Quran, God does not ask Muslims to physically see the moon to know when Ramadan or any other month begins and ends. God says He has rendered the sun and the moon to serve as calculation devices so we must use them to calculate the months, not wait to see them first. Do you look for the sun every day before you offer your Salat prayers, or do you follow a pre calculated prayer chart? Likewise, you must use calculation in advance to know when months change, and when to start and end fasting (2:189, 6:96, 10:5, 17:12, 31:29).
[Quran 6:96] At the crack of dawn, He causes the morning to emerge. He made the night still, and He rendered the sun and the moon to serve as calculation devices. Such is the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient.
By not calculating, millions of Muslims begin and end fasting on the wrong day every year.
Perhaps they are not aware that the new moon cannot be seen at the time it is born. When a new moon is born, the sun, moon and earth are aligned, and the sun’s light is on the other side of the moon.
Therefore, the new moon cannot be seen at that time while the first distinguishable crescent can only be seen a little while later. Sometimes, even that is difficult because the new moon rises and sets at around the same time the sun rises and sets. The glare of the sun makes it difficult to notice the crescent by which time the new moon may have set. Cloudy skies and hazy atmospheric conditions also make it difficult to spot the early crescent. So by waiting to see the moon, the exact day to start and end fasting may have passed.
The Islamic calendar has twelve lunar months that change with the new moon approximately every 29½ days. To calculate the beginning or end of a lunar month, you only need to know these two rules.
Rule #1 A lunar month always starts from the night which starts at sunset and ends at sunrise. The night is followed by the day which starts at sunrise and ends at sunset.
Rule #2 If the new moon is born before the sunset of the day it is born, the new month begins from the sunset of that day. If the new moon is born after the sunset of day it is born, the new month begins from the sunset of the next day.
The following examples can help you understand how to calculate the exact dates of fasting in Ramadan.
Start with finding out the time of the new moon for your location and when the sun sets on the same date. This information is widely available on the internet.
Let’s say on March 15, the new moon is at 5 p.m. and the sunset is at 7 p.m.
Since the new moon is before sunset, Ramadan starts from the sunset of March 15 and you begin fasting on March 16.
But suppose on March 15, the new moon is at 9 p.m. and the sunset is at 7 p.m.
Since the new moon is after sunset, Ramadan starts from the sunset of March 16, and you begin fasting on March 17.
Now let’s take April 15 when the new moon is at 5 p.m., and the sunset is at 7 p.m.
Since the new moon is before sunset, Ramadan ends with the sunset of April 15 and fasting is also over on April 15.
But suppose on April 15, the new moon is at 9 p.m. and the sunset is at 7 p.m.
Since the new moon is after sunset, Ramadan ends with the sunset of April 16 so fasting is also over on April 16.
The Night of Destiny, is the 27th night of Ramadan. God says that this night is “better than a thousand months” so it is important that you observe it on the right night (97:2-3). As an example, if October 4 is the first night of Ramadan, the night of October 30 (after the 26th fast ends) is the 27th night of Ramadan.
To help Muslims avoid wrong practices they may be following in Ramadan, see our videos:
Quran The Final Testament (Authorized English Version translated from the Original by Rashad Khalifa, PhD.
This presentation contains images that were used under a Creative Commons License. Click here to see the full list of images and attributions. Sun/Moon vectors from www.freevector.com