Dates and Origins of Ramadan

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Ramadan Dates in 2024, 2025 and 2026

Ramadan is celebrated at the following dates:

• Monday, March 11, 2024
• Saturday, March 1, 2025
• Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month in the Islamic calendar, characterized by intense fasting and prayer¹². It is observed by 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide as the most significant period for practicing the fundamentals of Islam².

Origin

Ramadan celebrates when the initial verses of the Quran were revealed to Mohammad³. In the year 610 AD, Muhammed left his home of Mecca for Mount Hira to find solitude for meditation³. One night while in a deep meditative state, an angel appeared to him in a vision⁴. The angel, Jibril, introduced himself and revealed that Muhammad was, in fact, a messenger of Allah⁴. Muhammed was commanded to recite what were to be the first verses of the Quran and to bring the word of Allah back to his people⁵. Baffled at first, he returned to Mecca to tell his wife, Khadijah, of the encounter⁵. She and her cousin, Waraqa ibn Nawfal, an expert on various religions, convinced Muhammad that he was in fact visited by an angel and was destined to be a prophet⁵. Jibril continued to visit Muhammad several times throughout his life⁶.

Celebration

Practicing Muslims fast during the holy month of Ramadan⁷. This includes abstaining from food, drink, sexual relations, smoking, and cursing⁷. As one of the five pillars of Islam, is meant as a way to reconnect spiritually rather than as a physical ritual⁷. Each morning, one eats a hearty breakfast of slowly digestible food (suhoor)⁸. To break fast every evening, dates are eaten, just as Muhammed had before beginning his nightly meal. Afterward, dinner (iftar) is eaten before finishing the night with the special Isha prayer⁸. Throughout the month, it is also common for Muslims to go to a Mosque to recite five daily prayers and to spend several hours studying the Quran⁹. The holy month concludes with Eid al-Fitr, a festival characterized by fine clothing, decorations placed around homes, and time spent with family and friends¹⁰.

Fasting is required of every able-bodied, healthy, sane, postpubescent Muslin¹¹. Exceptions include menstruating women, people who are traveling, and those with a temporary illness. Days which are missed should be made up as soon as possible¹². In the case of being too old or frail to endure abstaining from food or water, a person can pay a fee (fidyah) or make a donation to charity (it'am) for each missed day¹². If the fast is broken intentionally, one is required to compensate with Kaffarah, a sixty day fast, and then observe one additional fasting day (qadha)¹³.