The holy month is fast approaching for Muslims.
Like every year, the 5 to 6 million Muslims in France, but also those around the world, are preparing to fast during the month of Ramadan.
Part of one of the five pillars of Islam, this month of fasting takes place during the ninth month of the Hijri calendar, the month of Ramadan.
Because yes, Ramadan is not the name of a religious festival, but the name of a month in the Muslim calendar.
Eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar.
It is for this reason that the start date of the month of Ramadan, and of all the other months of the year, changes every year and arrives around ten days earlier than the previous year.
Also read: What is Eid-el-Kébir, the “great holiday” of Muslims?
For this year 2024, or the year 1445 AH, the month of fasting will begin on Monday March 11, according to the announcement of the French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM) on February 17.
Each year, the CFCM gives the start date of Ramadan several days in advance based on “scientific data” based on the “calculation criteria adopted by the CFCM in 2013”.
These astronomical calculations which anticipate the lunar phases are used in other countries such as Turkey, Egypt and the United States.
Press release: Monday March 11, 2024 is the 1st day of Ramadan of the year 1445H - CFCM https://t.co/yRXpPNIE2s
— CFCM (@CfcmOfficiel) February 17, 2024
“Fast when you see the crescent moon”
But in France, it is the ancestral method of observing the moon which is followed by the Grand Mosque of Paris and defines the official start date of Ramadan.
An observation of the sky and the Moon is then carried out during the Night of Doubt to confirm the change of month and therefore the beginning and end of Ramadan.
A tradition held thanks to one of the words attributed to Muhammad: “Fast when you see the crescent moon and stop fasting when you see it too”.
The Grand Mosque of Paris having set the date of the “Night of Doubt” for Sunday March 10, Ramadan will begin Monday March 11 or Tuesday March 12.
Each year, it is only on the 29th day of the month of Shaabane, the eighth month of the year, that Muslims know the date of the start of Ramadan.
In the same way, it is only during the Night of Doubt on the 29th day of the month of Ramadan that they know the date of Eid-el-Fitr, the breaking of the fast, which should take place this year in the around April 10.