When does Ramadan 2027 start?

The crescent of Ramadan 1448 is looked for after sunset on Sunday, February 7, 2027, which is the 29th of Sha'ban. If it is sighted, the first full day of fasting is Monday, February 8, 2027, with the first taraweeh prayed on the Sunday evening. If it is not sighted, Sha'ban completes thirty days and the first day of fasting is Tuesday, February 9, 2027. Eid al-Fitr is expected on or around Tuesday, March 9, 2027, or Wednesday, March 10 if Ramadan runs thirty days. All of these dates are confirmed by sighting and may shift by a day.

Why do different masjids start Ramadan on different days?

Because scholars differ on whether a sighting elsewhere in the world counts locally. One position, global sighting, holds that a confirmed sighting anywhere obliges Muslims everywhere, so a community may follow an announcement made overseas. The other position, local sighting, holds that the month begins where the crescent is actually visible, so a community follows its own region and may begin a day later. The classical basis often cited for the local position is the narration of Kurayb and Ibn Abbas in Sahih Muslim, 1087. Both positions rest on recognized scholarship, so two masjids in one city can begin on different days.

What is the night of doubt, and should you fast it?

The 30th of Sha'ban, the day following an unsuccessful sighting, is called yawm al-shakk or the day of doubt, because it may be the last day of Sha'ban or already the first day of Ramadan. Fasting it as a precaution is discouraged, on the narration from Ammar ibn Yasir recorded in Sunan Abu Dawud, 2334. The instruction is to complete Sha'ban as thirty days and begin Ramadan with certainty. Someone who already fasts Mondays and Thursdays regularly is generally treated differently, because they are keeping an existing practice.

What should you do if your family starts Ramadan on a different day from your masjid?

The practical guidance generally given is to follow the masjid or sighting committee you normally follow and to begin when they begin. If starting a day late and ending with a community that started earlier leaves you having fasted twenty-eight days, scholars generally require that day to be made up afterward. Fasting an extra thirty-first day is not asked of anyone. Ask your local imam about your own circumstances.

How Is the Start of Ramadan Decided? Moon Sighting Explained (2027)

Q: How is the start of Ramadan decided?

Ramadan begins when the new crescent moon is sighted after sunset on the 29th of Sha'ban. If the crescent is not seen, Sha'ban is completed as thirty days and Ramadan begins the following evening. The Qur'an ties the fast to sighting the month in Surah al-Baqarah, 2:185, and the Prophet is reported to have instructed that people fast when they see the crescent and complete Sha'ban as thirty days when it is obscured. In practice a sighting is a testimony assessed by a committee or council, which then announces the month.

Q: Can Ramadan be determined by astronomical calculation instead of moon sighting?

Scholars differ. The long-standing majority position across the four schools is that the month is established by naked-eye sighting, with calculation used to know where and when to look and to reject an astronomically impossible claim. A minority position, held historically by some scholars and adopted today by several North American bodies, is that settled astronomical calculation is itself sufficient. This is why some organizations publish a fixed date years ahead while others confirm only a day or two in advance.

Ramadan begins when the new crescent is sighted after sunset on the 29th of Sha'ban. If nobody sees it — cloud, haze, or a moon simply too young to catch — Sha'ban completes thirty days and Ramadan begins the following evening instead. That is the entire mechanism. It is why every printed date says "expected," why the month is 29 or 30 days rather than a fixed length, and why two masjids ten minutes apart can start on different days without either of them being wrong.

The Dates to Watch for Ramadan 2027

Sha'ban 1448 begins on or around Sunday, January 10, 2027. Everything that decides Ramadan happens at the end of that month, on four evenings:

Sunday evening, February 7, 2027 — the 29th of Sha'ban. The crescent of Ramadan is looked for shortly after maghrib. If it is seen, the first taraweeh is prayed that same night.
Monday, February 8, 2027 — the first full day of fasting, on the expectation that the crescent is seen on the Sunday evening.
Tuesday, February 9, 2027 — the first day of fasting instead, if the crescent is not seen and Sha'ban is completed as thirty days.
Monday evening, March 8, 2027 — the 29th of Ramadan, when the crescent of Shawwal is looked for. Eid al-Fitr is expected on Tuesday, March 9, or Wednesday, March 10 if Ramadan runs the full thirty days.

One counting rule runs underneath all of that: in the Islamic calendar the night comes before the day it belongs to. The night of the 1st of Ramadan is the evening of the 29th of Sha'ban, not the evening at the end of the first day of fasting. Get that backwards and every date shifts by one.

We set out the full 2027 calendar with every key night dated separately.

How the Decision Is Actually Made

The obligation is tied to sighting rather than to a calendar. The Qur'an ties the month itself to the moon — "They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the new moons. Say, 'They are measurements of time for the people and for Hajj.'" (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:189) — and the fast to the sighting of it: "So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it." (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:185). The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have given the practical rule directly: fast when you see it, stop fasting when you see it, and if it is obscured from you, complete Sha'ban as thirty days.

In practice a sighting is a testimony. Someone reports having seen the crescent, that report is assessed for reliability, and a body of scholars — a national committee, a local shura council, or the moon-sighting committee your masjid follows — announces the month on the strength of it. You don’t personally have to go out and look.

Zakat and Nisab | Zakat al-Mal | Where Most Needed

Why Two Masjids in the Same City Start on Different Days

This is the question most people actually arrive with, and the answer is a disagreement that is roughly fourteen centuries old. It turns on one thing: does a sighting somewhere else in the world count for you?

One position is global sighting — a confirmed sighting anywhere obliges Muslims everywhere, so a community in Chicago follows an announcement made in Saudi Arabia or South Africa. The other is local sighting — the month begins where the crescent is actually visible, so a community follows its own region and may begin a day later. The classical anchor for the local view is a narration from Kurayb, who saw the crescent in Syria and reported it to Ibn Abbas in Madinah; Ibn Abbas did not accept the Syrian sighting for Madinah and said the Prophet ﷺ had instructed them this way (Sahih Muslim, 1087).

Scholars who hold the global position read the same texts as addressing the community as a whole.

The practical consequence is exactly the one you have seen: your masjid announces Monday, a masjid across town announces Tuesday, and both are following recognized scholarship. It is a difference in method, not a difference in seriousness.

Sighting by Eye, or by Calculation?

The second live disagreement is whether astronomical calculation can establish the month on its own. The long-standing majority position across the four schools is that the month is established by naked-eye sighting, with calculation used to know where and when to look and to reject a claimed sighting that is astronomically impossible. A minority position, held historically by some scholars and adopted today by several North American bodies, is that settled calculation is itself sufficient evidence — which is what allows a printed calendar to be issued years ahead.

This one has a visible practical effect. Calculation-based bodies can publish a fixed date early; sighting-based bodies confirm only a day or two ahead. If you have ever wondered why one organization gave you the date in October and another waited until the evening itself, that is why.

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The Night of Doubt, and Why Nobody Fasts It

The 30th of Sha'ban — the day after an unsuccessful sighting — is called yawm al-shakk, the day of doubt: it might be the last day of Sha'ban or it might already be the first of Ramadan. Fasting it as a precaution is discouraged, and the standard proof is the narration of Ammar ibn Yasir, that whoever fasts the day of doubt has disobeyed Abu al-Qasim ﷺ (Sunan Abu Dawud, 2334). The instruction is to complete Sha'ban as thirty and begin the next day with certainty rather than guess. Someone who habitually fasts Mondays and Thursdays is generally treated differently, because they are keeping an existing practice rather than pre-empting Ramadan.

What to Do When Your Community Splits

The honest answer is the unglamorous one: follow the masjid or committee you normally follow, and start when they start. Where it gets awkward is a household split across two announcements, or a family that began a day later than the masjid where they will pray Eid. If you end up fasting twenty-eight days because you started late and ended with a community that started early, scholars generally require that day to be made up — here is how a missed fast is made up afterward. Fasting an extra thirty-first day is not asked of anyone.

Planning Your Giving Around a Date That Moves

A moving start date is a practical problem for anyone who wants to give consistently through the month, because the plan you make in January has to survive a date that shifts by a day. Two things are worth settling early.

The first is Zakat al-Fitr, which is tied to the end of the month rather than the start and has to reach someone in need before the Eid prayer — we set out who owes Zakat al-Fitr and when it has to reach someone separately, and because distribution takes time, most people give it several days early.

The second — we set out who owes Zakat al-Fitr and when it has to reach someone separately, and because distribution takes time, most people give it several days early.

The second is nightly giving. Our automated giving plan lets you set a total and choose whether it spreads across all 30 nights of the month or just the last 10, with each night's gift going out on its own. Setting it up before the month starts means the shift of a day changes nothing — the plan simply follows the month you are actually in, rather than depending on you remembering after a long day of fasting.

The differences set out above — global versus local sighting, and whether calculation alone can establish the month — are long-standing, and each rests on its own reading of the same texts. This article places them side by side rather than choosing between them. For your own situation, follow your local masjid or a scholar you trust.

Sources

- Qur'an, Surah al-Baqarah 2:189 (the crescents as measurements of time) and Surah al-Baqarah 2:185 (fasting the month upon sighting it). Both quoted exactly.
- Hadith. The instruction to fast on sighting and to complete Sha'ban as thirty days when the crescent is obscured — Sahih al-Bukhari 1909 and Sahih Muslim 1081. The narration of Kurayb and Ibn Abbas, the classical basis for the local-sighting position — Sahih Muslim 1087. The prohibition on fasting the day of doubt, narrated from Ammar ibn Yasir — Sunan Abu Dawud 2334, also reported by al-Tirmidhi.
- School positions on global versus local sighting (ikhtilaf al-matali'), and on whether astronomical calculation alone establishes the month, as summarized in the classical manuals of the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools and in the contemporary rulings of North American sighting bodies. Presented side by side without preference.
- Dates. 1 Sha'ban, 1 Ramadan and 1 Shawwal 1448 AH converted from the Umm al-Qura calendar and cross-checked against published Hijri calendars, giving on or around Sunday, January 10, 2027; Monday, February 8, 2027; and Tuesday, March 9, 2027. These match the dates already published in our Ramadan 2027 guide. Sighting evenings are counted from the preceding maghrib, applying the rule that the Islamic night precedes its daytime date. Every date is hedged because each month is confirmed by sighting.