At the table

When is Ramadan 2027? The published dates for 1448, and why Eid may be 9 or 10 March

Updated 28 September 2026

If you are booking leave, talking to the school or setting a zakat date, you want a date now, not an announcement the night before. The calendars published so far agree on the first fast, Monday 8 February 2027; the split comes at Eid, on Tuesday 9 or Wednesday 10 March. Which one your mosque keeps depends on the method it follows.

When does Ramadan 2027 start?

Every calculated calendar we checked puts 1 Ramadan 1448 on Monday 8 February 2027. That includes Saudi Arabia's Umm al-Qura calendar, the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and Muhammadiyah's global Hijri calendar in Indonesia, KHGT. The Universal Hejric Calendar (UHC), a visibility-based calendar from the International Astronomical Center's crescent project (ICOP), gives the same date in both of its world regions.

A new month begins at maghrib the evening before its first day, as Wifaqul Ulama's monthly declarations put it, so an 8 February start means the first taraweeh on Sunday 7 February.

The new moon is on Saturday 6 February at 15:56 UT, according to the US Naval Observatory. The moonsighting.com summary for Ramadan says nobody will see the crescent that evening; by the 7th it becomes visible from North Africa and some of Europe, and by the 8th it is easy to see everywhere. ICOUK (Moon Sighting UK) reads it the same way: its Ramadan 1448 report gives 8 February as the most likely UK start.

Key dates at a glance, from the calculated calendars unless marked:

• Sunday 7 February, evening: first taraweeh, if Ramadan starts on the 8th.
• Monday 8 February: 1 Ramadan 1448, the first fast.
• Friday 5 March, evening: the night Diyanet lists as Laylat al-Qadr.
• Tuesday 9 or Wednesday 10 March: Eid al-Fitr, depending on the calendar.
• Sunday 16 or Monday 17 May: Eid al-Adha, depending on the calendar.

Is Eid al-Fitr 2027 on 9 or 10 March?

Both, depending on whom you follow. Umm al-Qura, FCNA, Diyanet and KHGT put 1 Shawwal, Eid al-Fitr, on Tuesday 9 March. On those calendars Ramadan lasts 29 days and the last fast is Monday 8 March.

Others have Wednesday 10 March, including Singapore's Ministry of Manpower, which lists Hari Raya Puasa that day. Indonesia's joint ministerial decree on 2027 holidays, signed on 15 September 2026 and reported by Kompas TV and Jurnas, lists Idulfitri on 10 and 11 March. ICOUK's Shawwal report expects 10 March in the UK.

The UHC splits within itself. Its Shawwal 1448 page gives 9 March for its western region and 10 March for its eastern region, which the UHC explanation defines as 180 degrees east to 20 degrees west. The UK falls inside it.

Why the gap? The new moon arrives on Monday 8 March at 09:29 UT. Calculated calendars use rules that can already be met that evening. Umm al-Qura starts a month once the moon is born and sets after the sun in Makkah; FCNA needs the moon at least 5 degrees above the horizon and 8 degrees from the sun at sunset somewhere on Earth.

A crescent that young is very hard to see, though. According to moonsighting.com, it can't be seen anywhere on 8 March, but can across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas on the 9th. ICOP's calendar, whose rule counts visibility by telescope as well as by eye, still gives the 9th in its western region. ICOUK, which waits for a sighting, expects Eid on the 10th.

This happened last time too. FCNA had Eid al-Fitr 1447 on Friday 20 March 2026, while Singapore's holiday fell on Saturday 21 March.

Which bodies have published dates for 1448?

These are the published dates as checked on 28 September 2026. Calculated calendars, holiday lists and a sighting forecast are different things, so check the "type" column before relying on a row.

"By count" means the body publishes 1 Dhu al-Hijjah (Friday 7 May 2027) and we have counted forward to the 10th. Indonesia's decree says the dates of 1 Ramadan and both Eids will be fixed later by the Minister of Religious Affairs, so its holidays are provisional; Muhammadiyah's KHGT dates are its own, not the government's. Even Umm al-Qura's own Hijri calendar page notes that occasion dates may differ by one day in some countries, depending on actual sighting.

Will Saudi Arabia start Ramadan on 8 February?

Not necessarily. Umm al-Qura is Saudi Arabia's official Hijri calendar, but the start of Ramadan, Shawwal and Dhu al-Hijjah is announced after a sighting. In February 2026 the Saudi Press Agency reported that the Supreme Court called on Muslims in the Kingdom to look for the Ramadan crescent on the evening of 29 Sha'ban "according to the Umm Al-Qura calendar", and to register any sighting at the nearest court. A similar call for Shawwal followed in March.

If that pattern holds, the evening to watch is 29 Sha'ban 1448 by Umm al-Qura. Counting from its 1 Sha'ban on Saturday 9 January 2027, that's Saturday 6 February, the day of the new moon. Unless a sighting is accepted that evening, Sha'ban runs to 30 days and Ramadan begins on Monday 8 February.

At the other end, if Ramadan does begin on the 8th, 29 Ramadan is Monday 8 March, again the day of the new moon. A sighting accepted that evening would put Eid on Tuesday 9 March; without one, Ramadan runs to 30 days and Eid falls on Wednesday 10 March. For households that follow Saudi Arabia, that night's announcement is the one to listen for.

When is Laylat al-Qadr in 2027?

In a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari (2017), narrated by Aisha, the Prophet told people to seek it in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan, rather than naming one date. One Companion was more specific: in Sahih Muslim (762a), Ubayy ibn Ka'b swore that it is the night before the morning of the 27th. Diyanet lists Kadir Gecesi, the Turkish name for the night, on 26 Ramadan, Friday 5 March 2027, which by our count is the evening that begins the 27th.

If Ramadan starts on Monday 8 February, the odd nights fall as below. This is our arithmetic, not a published ruling; if your community starts a day later, move each one along a day.

• 21st night: evening of Saturday 27 February
• 23rd night: evening of Monday 1 March
• 25th night: evening of Wednesday 3 March
• 27th night: evening of Friday 5 March
• 29th night: evening of Sunday 7 March

When is Eid al-Adha 2027?

Here the split is between Sunday 16 and Monday 17 May. Umm al-Qura, KHGT and both UHC regions put 1 Dhu al-Hijjah 1448 on Friday 7 May, which on those calendars makes the day of Arafah Saturday 15 May and Eid Sunday 16 May. Diyanet lists Kurban Bayrami from Sunday 16 to Wednesday 19 May.

FCNA's table also starts the month on 7 May, but its calendar page says Eid al-Adha will be the day after the day of Arafah as determined by Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court. Saudi Arabia sets that date from a sighting: ICOUK's Dhul Hijjah report notes that it normally makes its official Dhul Hijjah announcement on the Saudi Press Agency website. So treat 15 and 16 May as the calendar's expectation, not a settled date.

Singapore's Hari Raya Haji and Indonesia's provisional Iduladha holiday are on Monday 17 May. ICOUK's report expects the month to start in the UK on 8 May, putting Eid al-Adha on the same Monday; the new moon is on Thursday 6 May at 10:58 UT, by USNO's figures.

Why do communities start the month on different days?

Because more than one method is in use. The shared starting point is a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari (1909): begin the fast on seeing the crescent, end it on seeing the crescent, and if cloud hides it, complete thirty days of Sha'ban. Communities differ on what it leaves open: must the sighting be local, and can calculation stand in for the eye?

• Local sighting. ICOUK cites a London conference in 1984 at which more than 350 senior ulama agreed to make every effort to sight the crescent on the UK horizon when it is geographically possible. The New Crescent Society bases its calendar on verified reports from its network of sighting locations across the British Isles.
• UK first, then Morocco. Wifaqul Ulama decides with the Batley Moon Sighting Committee, using UK sightings first and Morocco second, though it notes the decision is not necessarily based on Morocco every month.
• Following another country. The National reported in February 2026 that some UK mosques follow Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or Morocco, which can be a day or two apart, leaving some families split.
• Calculation. FCNA follows the European Council for Fatwa and Research in holding that calculation can confirm the month without a physical sighting. The UHC starts a month in a region if the crescent could be seen from land anywhere in it on the 29th.

In September 2026, Rabi al-Thani 1448 began on three different days:

• Saturday 12 September: the Umm al-Qura, FCNA, Diyanet, KHGT and UHC calendars, and Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Yemen in ICOP's table of official starts.
• Sunday 13 September: 14 countries in that table, including Egypt, Morocco, Indonesia and the UAE, whose Fatwa Council decided after reviewing scientific data, Khaleej Times reported. The Central Hilal Committee of North America and, in Britain, Wifaqul Ulama also chose the 13th after negative sighting reports.
• Monday 14 September: ICOUK, after the crescent was not sighted in the British Isles on 12 September, and the New Crescent Society. ICOP lists the UK and France here.

So the UK began the month on two different days, and so did North America. Calculation doesn't end disagreement either, because the rules differ: for Jumada al-Akhirah 1448, Diyanet and KHGT start on Tuesday 10 November 2026, while Umm al-Qura and FCNA start on Wednesday 11 November.

You can see which count your mosque keeps well before Ramadan. For Jumada al-Ula 1448 the published tables start on Monday 12 October 2026, after the new moon on the 10th at 15:50 UT. Wifaqul Ulama asks Muslims in Britain to look on Sunday 11 October, its 29th, and expects a sighting to be possible in most parts of the world that evening.

ICOUK asks for observations on the 12th and 13th, and says the moon sets before the sun on the UK horizon on the 11th; its forecast gives 14 October as the most likely UK start. The date your mosque announces for that month shows which count it follows.

How can a household plan around two possible dates?

Find out which body your mosque follows. That answer decides which row of the table is yours. Our guide on how to verify a mosque covers other questions worth asking at the door.

If you pay zakat in Ramadan, expect the date to move. Our page on hawl, the lunar year for zakat notes that some households pick a date they remember, often in Ramadan. Because the lunar year is shorter, that date slides earlier each year: FCNA's table has Ramadan 1447 starting on 18 February 2026 and Ramadan 1448 on 8 February 2027.

Check your wealth against the nisab threshold at prices on your own date; the zakat calculator does the arithmetic, but you keep the date. If you also give sadaqah in Ramadan, our page on zakat vs sadaqah explains why scholars tie a gift's status as zakat to the intention you hold when you give it.

Zakat al-fitr is timed around Eid. It is separate from zakat on wealth. In Sahih al-Bukhari (1503), Ibn Umar reports that the Prophet made it due on every Muslim, young or old, and ordered it paid before people went out to the Eid prayer.

Another narration (1511) records that Ibn Umar paid it for young and old, even for the narrator's children, and that people gave it a day or two before Eid. Who pays for whom in your household is a question for a scholar you trust. If you give through a charity, ask when it needs the money to distribute it in time.

Tell the school early. In England, the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 give schools an absence code, R, for a day "exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body" a parent belongs to. Say which day your community expects to keep, and that it may move by one day. Those regulations cover England only.

At work, ask for both days. A request covering 9 and 10 March, or 16 and 17 May, saves a late-night email.

This is general information about published calendars, not a ruling on which method to follow. If your household is unsure, ask a scholar you trust, and ask your mosque which body it follows.

General information, not a fatwa. Where scholars differ, we try to say so. For your situation, ask a scholar you trust.