Tonight it has been confirmed that the crescent moon has been sighted, which means Ramadan is officially starting.
Muslims follow the islamic Hijri calendar, which has a lunar cycle. This means a new month starts when the new moon cycle begins rather than every 30, 31, and sometimes 28 days according to the solar Gregorian calendar. As a result, the Hijri calendar is around 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, which means Ramadan starts around 11 days earlier every year.
During Ramadan, muslims all around the globe are fasting from dawn until sunset. Not only fasting from food, but also fasting from negativity. Anything that can be considered bad or harmful is avoided. A beautiful message to be positive and find gratitude in the little things in life
Last year, the Inclusivity Group made a highly informative newspost about what Ramadan exactly is and how the fasting period works. We encourage you to read the post here.
PS: Did you know 'Ramadan Mubarak' means 'Have a blessed Ramadan' and 'Ramadan Kareem' means 'Have a generous Ramadan'? These are common phrases originated from Arabic, used by muslims all around the world!
In short:
Ramadan starts tonight, the crescent moon has been sighted! Ramadan is a month in the islamic Hijri calendar, which is a lunar calendar. A Hijri year is around 11 days shorter than a Gregorian year, which is a solar calendar.
RamadanKareem!