How many days till Ramadan as families start countdown to holy month of fasting

Fasting is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith and there’s a whole month of that coming when Ramadan arrives for 2023. The ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Ramadan is set to start towards the end of March this year.

The Arabic word used for fasting is sawm and it’s one of the main practices of the religion, alongside the declaration of faith (shahada), prayer (salah), charity (zakat) and pilgrimage (hajj). Worshippers fast during Ramadan by abstaining from food, drink, smoking and sexual activity between sunrise and sunset.

The exact date Ramadan starts won’t be confirmed until nearer the time but we have a pretty good idea when it might be, by counting forwards on the existing calendar and looking at astronomical charts calculating the visibility of the new moon. To help you keep track of it, we have created a countdown tool which is included below.

Ramadan 2023

is due to start in

Ramadan is expected to begin either on the evening of March 22 or the next night, March 23, depending on moon-sighting announcements in different countries. In Saudi Arabia, an astronomical calendar put together so the country’s government can plan ahead for events and public holidays has forecast the start of Ramadan as March 23.

For the countdown we have chosen the earliest possible start of sunset on March 22 – it will be updated nearer the time if anything changes but this at least gives a good estimate to have in mind. Ramadan will last 29 or 30 days and is followed by the festivities of Eid ul Fitr.

Green Lane Masjid and Community Centre (GLMCC) in Birmingham, which organises the city’s huge public Eid celebrations, follows the Saudi declarations. Others in the UK align with the news from Morocco or look for the moon in British skies and base their dates on that.

Muslims may already be thinking of preparing for Ramadan. A month of daily fasting for around 16 hours a day can be a shock to the system so some families do voluntary fasting on some days at the start of the preceding month – around the end of February and start of March. It’s not advised to fast close to Ramadan because the body needs to be healthy and well-nourished before enduring a whole month going without food and drink for most of the day.

Each day of fasting begins with a meal called suhoor or sehri and ends with a meal called iftar. There are also five prayers throughout each day to keep the mind focused on religious devotion and spiritual activities.

The lead-up to Ramadan is also a great opportunity for worshippers to quit smoking, gambling, alcohol or other vices, cut down on luxuries and excesses, ease off on junk food, and immerse themselves in greater study of the Qu’ran.

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