Why don’t all Muslims around the world start Ramadan on the same day? What about the start and end time of the fast, which changes every day from one country to another?
Practicing Muslims prepare, as they do every year at the start of the ninth month of the year of the Hijri calendar, called Ramadan, to begin their month of fasting. But the Hijri calendar, also called Islamic, is a synodic lunar calendar, and not solar, like our Gregorian calendar. As a result, each year, the start of the month of Ramadan occurs around ten days earlier in our calendar. So, while the month of fasting had started on March 22 in 2023, it is expected to begin on March 11 or 12 this year.
But again, the date varies somewhat from country to country. If generally the religious authorities harmonize among themselves in the same State, the choice of the date depending for many on the observation of the moon, it is not uncommon for one country to start one day and another the next. In short, the date of the start of the month of Ramadan will not be made official in most countries around the world until after the night of doubt. During this, religious authorities will try, in the four corners of the globe, to see the new moon which marks the start of Ramadan. Note that if, in certain countries, astronomical calculations make it possible to determine the date of the start of the fasting month well in advance, in most, the traditional observation of the moon is still respected.
What about schedules? You may have already noticed this while traveling, the Maghreb being closer to the equator than France, in summer, beyond the time change, the sun sets much earlier in Tataouine than in Paris, when in Iceland he hardly goes to bed! The start of the fast and the end of the fast being fixed at the time of sunrise and sunset, the times during which practicing Muslims must, among other things, neither drink nor eat therefore vary again from one country to the other. another, and even from one day to the next! Indeed, with the days getting longer in spring, each day of Ramadan that passes will be longer than the previous one. Also pay attention in France to the time change, scheduled for March 31 and which should turn everything upside down!