Ramadan: be careful, the calendar changes this year! Very different prayer and meal times for Muslims

In 2024, Ramadan changes date, as do the times which determine the start and end of daily fasting as well as prayers .

Every year the same question comes up: when does the month of Ramadan begin ? And every year the answer changes §&nbsp ;Ramadan in 2024 will be no exception à the rule. If a date has already arrived, été set by the French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM), this must still be confirmed by observation of the sky during the Night of Doubt organized à the Grand Mosque of Paris this Sunday, March 10. It is the presence of the first crescent moon in the sky which will determine whether Muslims who practice Ramadan must begin fasting on the 11th or the 12th. March.

But why do the dates of the month of Ramadan differ from one year to the next ? Quite simply? cause of the different monthly cycles between the Hijri calendar, used in ancient times. by Islamic tradition, and the Gregorian calendar commonly used in modern times. In Occident. While the Western calendar is modeled on the solar cycle and has months of 30 or 31 days, with the exception of the month of February, the Muslim calendar determines the month of ;eacacute;beginning and end of each month depending on the cycle of the moon which only lasts 29 to 30 days. 30 days.

Over a year, the Hegirian calendar therefore has between 10 and 12 days less compared to the Gregorian calendar. It is this difference which explains the fact that every year the month of Ramadan begins around ten days ahead of the year previous. If the month of fasting begins around March 11 in 2024, it had begun around March 11 in 2024. March 22 in 2023 and April 2 in 2022.

It's not just the dates of Ramadan that change year after year, the start and end times of the Thursday The daily routine and prayer times are also different from the previous Ramadan. It's not about the calendar this time, but always about physics. It is the sunrises and sunsets that punctuate the beginning and breaking of the fast, as well as certain prayers: that of Fajr which must be made à dawn and that of the Maghreb scheduled for sunset which marks the end of the fast. But depending on the time of year. When the month of Ramadan arrives, the hours of sunshine change and logically those of prayers too.

Still, the schedules remain more difficult à respect throughout the month of Ramadan, because they continue to change day after day according to the solar cycle. Fortunately, Muslims who adhere to fasting will be able to rely on this information. a time range. For example in France, the first prayer will shift by a few minutes each day but will always be between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., while the prayer to break the fast will only be gradually postponed as the months go from 7 p.m. to 7 p.m. approximately 8:30 p.m. Please note that the times of prayer and Ramadan fasting vary from one city to another. another, because depending on where you are located, Marseille or à Bordeaux, more &agrav; east or further east in the west, sunrises and sunsets will be delayed by a few minutes.