The month of Ramadan corresponds to a fasting period for practitioners. A detail of the calendar could soon surprise the faithful: it will soon be longer!
Ramadan is one of the pillars of Islam and is associated with a period of fasting, where practitioners must refrain from drinking and eating from sunrise to sunset. During this month, prayer also occupies a preponderant place just like charity and sharing. The faithful must also pay the Zakat al-Fitr, compulsory alms, which represents 9 euros per person, before the end of Ramadan. This sum is intended for the poorest people. According to INSEE, 5 million believers practice Ramadan each year in France.
The date of the exact start of Ramadan is defined during the night of doubt, with the observation with the naked eye of the new moon crescent. If it is impossible to observe it, fasting begins a day later. The date is also evaluated in advance from a scientific method. Astronomical calculations anticipate the lunar phases.
THE Muslim calendar is, indeed, lunar: the months change to each new moon. Ramadan then corresponds toU ninth month. It ends With the feast of L’Eid El-Fitr, marking the beginning of months of Chawwal, where some volunteer Muslims add six days of additional fast, but not necessarily consecutive.
The cycles of the moon are however shorter than those of the sun, alternating 29 or 30 days, instead of 30 or 31 in the solar calendar. LThe lunar years therefore last 354 or 355 days rather than 365 or 366. Thus, with this difference, the Date of Ramadan changes each year, going back ten to twelve days.
This discrepancy will have a surprising consequence in 2030. That year, Muslims will have to fast another week. Ramadan in 2030 should start on January 5 and last a month, as usual, but it was not in 2031 that the next will start. A new fast should start over the last week of December 2030. It should fall from December 26 and continue in January 2031, adding six days of additional fast in the year. This is a first since 1997. The Ramadan cycle is therefore recycled every 33 years: a duplicate should therefore happen in 2063.