Rare calendar alignment marks start of Ramadan 1446 AH on March 1, 2025
In 2025, the city of Kiruna in Sweden will have the longest fasting hours, with Muslims abstaining from food and drink for 20 hours and 30 minutes each day.
This year, a rare astronomical occurrence took place as the holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic year 1446 AH began on March 1, 2025. An alignment between the Hijri and Gregorian calendars is uncommon due to the differences in their counting systems.
The Islamic calendar follows the lunar cycle, meaning each month begins with the sighting of the new moon. A Hijri year lasts either 354 or 355 days, making it 10 to 12 days shorter than the solar-based Gregorian calendar.
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The Gregorian calendar, used internationally for civil purposes, consists of 365 days in a regular year and 366 days in a leap year, like 2024. This discrepancy in the number of days causes the Islamic months to shift gradually through the seasons.
Due to the difference in length between the two calendars, the starting dates of Islamic months continuously shift earlier in the Gregorian year. This process results in a complete cycle approximately every 33 years, during which the months align for a brief period before continuing to drift apart again.
The head of the Astronomers' Association in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Eng. Majed Abu Zahra, stated that the alignment of Ramadan 1, 1446 AH, with March 1, 2025, illustrates the connection between celestial movements and timekeeping systems. He noted that while such alignments occur every 33 years, slight variations in specific dates are possible due to the irregularities in the lunar and solar cycles.
"The precise synchronization - as in the case of Ramadan 1, 1446 corresponding to March 1, 2025 - only occurs when the lunar and solar cycles are in harmony, and this alignment reflects the mathematical and astronomical precision in the movement of the moon and the earth. Such synchronization does not occur often, but it returns in a similar way approximately every 33 years, albeit in different months," he said
The shifting nature of the Islamic calendar affects fasting hours as well. The length of daily fasting varies depending on location, as it is determined by the time between sunrise and sunset.
In 2025, the city of Kiruna in Sweden will have the longest fasting hours, with Muslims abstaining from food and drink for 20 hours and 30 minutes each day. In contrast, Muslims in Somalia will experience the shortest fasting duration, lasting around 13 hours.
This variation occurs due to the tilt of the Earth's axis and the differences in daylight hours across various latitudes.
In regions close to the poles, where daylight can last nearly 24 hours in summer or be absent for long periods in winter, scholars and local authorities provide guidance on fasting adjustments.
As Ramadan shifts earlier by approximately 10 to 11 days each year, it will eventually fall in January. This shift creates a rare situation where, roughly every 33 years, Ramadan occurs twice within the same Gregorian year.
The last time this happened was in 1997. According to Saudi Arabia's 2030 calendar, the first Ramadan of that year will start on January 6, with Eid al-Fitr on February 5.
The second Ramadan of 2030 will begin on December 26. This means that in 2030, Muslims will observe fasting for approximately 36 days—completing a full Ramadan (1451 AH) and the first six days of the next Ramadan (1452 AH).
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