Ramadan Fasting Times - How are they defined ?

 

The start of Fajr (the islamic dawn prayer) is defined as '...the point at which the sun reaches 18 degrees below the horizon..". This corresponds to the beginning  of astronomical twilight. Fajr finishes at the point of sunrise. During the holy month of Ramadan, fasting is normally practised by muslims during daylight hours between the start of Fajr and astronomical sunset. 

Although there are specialised tables available online for Ramadan fasting times each year, these tend to be aimed at the larger centres of population.  The exact start and finish times for fasting each day will of course vary between different locations, and precise values may not always be provided by mosques for our smaller towns and villages. 

Even in a relatively small island such as the UK, variations in both latitude and longitude can lead to significant differences between locations, particularly if Ramadan falls close to either solstice, when the range of latitude we experience in these islands(ca 50-60 degrees N) can lead to big differences in sunrise and sunset times. (If Ramadan falls in midsummer, when astronomical twilight lasts all night in much of mainland Britain, special arrangements for fasting times will apply).

For anyone needing precise times for sunrise and sunset at their own location over the Ramadan period this year, the Almanac app for MS Excel will calculate sunrise and sunset times for any location on any date from its precise latitude and longitude.

Almanac also calculates Astronomical, Nautical and Civil twilight periods, and will thus provide an accurate estimate of the start and finish times for Fajr, and hence the times for that year's Ramadan fasts, each day. The program will also provide information on a wealth of other possible astronomical observations, including the positions of the planets, moon and many other celestial objects in the sky at any location, date and time, and charts to show changes as the seasons progress. It will even provide a list of forthcoming solar and lunar eclipses. You can download the Excel app here.

Since the calculations aren't limited to a single year, you can also use it for the 2026 and subsequent Ramadan periods. 

If you want to plan ahead, you can also find the start dates for Ramadan for any year between 2024 and 2034 by downloading the Diary Excel app. It will also provide the date of Eid, which marks the end of the Ramadan fasting period. The software will incorporate these and other notable dates generated for any year you select into a convenient year-planner format. You can then either print the planner out as landscape A4 or store as a .pdf. (As an additional 'extra' for those who have trouble remembering when to put their bins out (i.e. most of us!), it will even work out and include the dates for your bin collections for the year on the plan - see link for more details).

All you need is a pc with a working copy of MS Office (2010 or later)....

First published 12.3.25; Revised 25.3.25


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