Ramadan 2024 is expected to begin on or around March 11.
That puts the holy month 11 days in the Gregorian year earlier than the start of Ramadan this year. Ramadan typically “moves up” 11 days from one Gregorian year to the next. That’s because there are fewer days in Islam’s Hijri lunar calendar, the 12 months of which are all 29 or 30 days each. This lunar year, and not the 365-day solar year, is also the length of our zakat year, called a hawl in Arabic.
And if Ramadan does begin March 11, 2024, then that would make the first fasting day March 12. That’s because Ramadan begins at maghrib because the calendar day in Islam begins with sunset. So Muslims would begin their Ramadan 2024 taraweeh prayers after isha salah on the night of March 11, then begin fasting at dawn on March 12.
However, because there are disagreements each year about when Ramadan begins, determining the exact date of Ramadan 2024 based on when the holy month began this year is inherently imprecise. Some scholars use a method of calculation to determine when Ramadan 2024 (or any year) will be — well in advance — based on patterns of the moon’s orbit around the earth and more.
Ramadan 2024 and moonsighting
The Muslim tradition, as the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) established, is to sight each of the 12 lunar months’ new crescents with the naked eye in the western sky immediately after sunset.
The “new,” thin waxing crescent is potentially visible at a point when the moon has moved far enough out of direct line with the sun and Earth. The sun then lights up a sliver of it as the moon progresses in its counterclockwise orbit around the Earth. [Note: This is also the same direction we orbit the Ka‘bah in our tawaf, or circumambulation, during Hajj and Umrah.] If it is visible, it can be spotted at that time only for a few minutes before a quick moonset.