Ramadan 1448 H: complete guide (February-March 2027)
Ramadan 1448 H is expected to begin around 17 February 2027 according to ruʾyat al-hilāl (sighting of the crescent), and to end with Eid al-Fiṭr around 19 March 2027. These dates remain approximate: confirmation belongs to local Muslim authorities according to their sighting method. The sacred month of fasting is one of the pillars of Islam; it is also the annual school of tazkiyah, patience and return to Allāh. This guide gathers in one page the great milestones of Ramadan 1448 H: the merit of fasting, the essential rules, the Sunan of the faster, tarāwīḥ prayer, the search for Laylat al-Qadr, iʿtikāf of the last ten nights, and Zakāt al-Fiṭr closing the month. Each section refers to the position of Ahl al-Sunnah following the way of the Salaf al-Ṣāliḥ. The aim is sober: prepare the month without overloading, live the prescribed acts with consistency, avoid non-reported practices. Wa Allāhu aʿlam.
The merit of fasting Ramadan
Allāh says in sūrat al-Baqarah: "O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may attain piety" (al-Baqarah 2:183), then: "The month of Ramadan in which the Quran was sent down, as guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion" (al-Baqarah 2:185). The Prophet ﷺ reported, in a ḥadīth of the two Ṣaḥīḥ (al-Bukhārī and Muslim) from Abū Hurayrah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu, that "whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven". It is the month of the descent of the Quran, of the opening of the gates of Paradise and the chaining of the most rebellious shayāṭīn, as confirmed by the Messenger ﷺ.
The 1448 H calendar: month overview
First day of Ramadan 1448 H: approximately Wednesday 17 February 2027. Seventeenth night (historical commemoration of Badr, with no obligatory rite attached): approximately 5 March 2027. Beginning of the last ten nights (search for Laylat al-Qadr): approximately 8 March 2027. Eid al-Fiṭr: approximately 19 March 2027. All these dates depend on local ruʾyat al-hilāl and may vary from one country to another. The prophetic rule is clear: "Fast when you see it and break the fast when you see it" (al-Bukhārī and Muslim, from Ibn ʿUmar raḍiyallāhu ʿanhumā). For exact start and end dates, the user refers to the recognised Muslim authority in their country.
The rules of fasting
Fasting Ramadan is obligatory upon every Muslim who is pubescent, of sound mind, resident, capable, free of impediment (menses, postnatal bleeding, travel, illness). The intention (niyyah) for the obligatory fast must be made before fajr (according to the position held by the majority of Ahl al-Sunnah, especially Mālikīs, Shāfiʿīs and Ḥanbalīs), in line with the ḥadīth "there is no fast for one who has not formed the intention before fajr" (Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, al-Tirmidhī, from Ḥafṣah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhā; al-Albānī authenticated it). Abstinence runs from true dawn (al-fajr al-ṣādiq) to sunset (al-maghrib): abstinence from eating, drinking, and conjugal relations. What does not break the fast: swallowing saliva, rinsing the mouth without excess, taking a shower, using the siwāk, eating or drinking by forgetfulness (the Prophet ﷺ said: "whoever eats or drinks by forgetfulness while fasting, let him complete his fast, for it is Allāh who fed and gave him drink", al-Bukhārī and Muslim).
The Sunan of the faster
Several recommended practices accompany fasting and bring it alive. Taking suḥūr (the meal before fajr) is a blessing: "Take the suḥūr, for in the suḥūr there is a blessing" (al-Bukhārī and Muslim, from Anas raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu). Hastening the breaking of the fast (al-fiṭr) once sunset is confirmed: "people will not cease to be in good as long as they hasten the breaking of the fast" (al-Bukhārī and Muslim, from Sahl ibn Saʿd raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu). The Prophet ﷺ broke his fast with a few fresh dates, otherwise dry ones, otherwise a sip of water (Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī; al-Albānī authenticated it). A duʿāʾ of breaking the fast reported from the Prophet ﷺ is: "Dhahaba aẓ-ẓamaʾ wa-btallat al-ʿurūq wa-thabata al-ajr in shāʾa Allāh" – "The thirst has gone, the veins are moistened and the reward is secured, if Allāh wills" (Abū Dāwūd, from Ibn ʿUmar raḍiyallāhu ʿanhumā; al-Albānī graded it ḥasan). Multiply pious acts: reading the Quran, ṣadaqah, dhikr, restraint of the tongue. The Prophet ﷺ was "the most generous of people, and he was even more so in Ramadan" (al-Bukhārī and Muslim).
The tarāwīḥ prayer
The qiyām of Ramadan, called tarāwīḥ, is a confirmed Sunna of the Prophet ﷺ. ʿĀʾishah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhā reports that the Prophet ﷺ prayed with his Companions three nights in the mosque, then ceased to go out to them out of fear that it would become obligatory upon them (al-Bukhārī and Muslim). Under the caliphate of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu, the Companions gathered behind one imām, Ubay ibn Kaʿb raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu, and ʿUmar said: "what an excellent innovation this is", in the linguistic sense (something new in its collective organisation), not in the religious sense of blameworthy bidʿah. As for the number of rakaʿāt: it is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ did not exceed eleven rakaʿāt during the night, in Ramadan and outside Ramadan (al-Bukhārī, from ʿĀʾishah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhā). It is also reported that in the time of ʿUmar raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu the Companions prayed twenty or twenty-three rakaʿāt (reported in Muwaṭṭaʾ Mālik). Ahl al-Sunnah scholars (Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Bāz, Ibn ʿUthaymīn, al-Albānī) concluded with breadth: eleven or twenty-three are transmitted practices, without rigidity or reproach, the essential being the quality of the prayer (ṭuʾmaʾnīnah, khushūʿ, length of recitation) more than the number.
Laylat al-Qadr and iʿtikāf
Allāh says in sūrat al-Qadr: "We have indeed sent it down during the Night of al-Qadr. And what will make you know what the Night of al-Qadr is? The Night of al-Qadr is better than a thousand months" (al-Qadr 97:1-3). The Prophet ﷺ taught to seek it in the last ten nights of Ramadan, particularly in the odd-numbered nights (al-Bukhārī and Muslim, from ʿĀʾishah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhā). The Prophet ﷺ taught ʿĀʾishah an invocation for that night: "Allāhumma innaka ʿafuwwun tuḥibbu al-ʿafwa fa-ʿfu ʿannī" – "O Allāh, You are Forgiving, You love pardon, so pardon me" (al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Mājah; al-Albānī authenticated it). Iʿtikāf consists of secluding oneself in the mosque with the intention of worship. The Prophet ﷺ practised iʿtikāf during the last ten nights of Ramadan until Allāh took his soul, then his wives practised iʿtikāf after him (al-Bukhārī and Muslim). It is a confirmed Sunna whose precise conditions (jumuʿah mosque or any mosque, minimum duration, permitted exits) are detailed by the ʿulamāʾ; for personal application, consult a trusted qualified scholar.
Zakāt al-Fiṭr
Zakāt al-Fiṭr is an obligation upon every Muslim alive at the end of Ramadan, young or old, free, paid by the head of household for those under his responsibility. Ibn ʿUmar raḍiyallāhu ʿanhumā reports: "the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ prescribed Zakāt al-Fiṭr: one ṣāʿ of dates or one ṣāʿ of barley, upon the slave and the free, the male and the female, the young and the old among the Muslims, and ordered that it be paid before people go out to the (Eid) prayer" (al-Bukhārī and Muslim). Zakāt al-Fiṭr is given in staple food of the country, measured by the prophetic ṣāʿ (approximately 2.5 to 3 kg according to contemporary scholarly estimates, to be confirmed with a local authority). Its function is twofold, as reported from the Prophet ﷺ: purification of the faster from vain talk and food for the poor (Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, from Ibn ʿAbbās raḍiyallāhu ʿanhumā; al-Albānī graded it ḥasan). It is paid from the sunset of the last night of Ramadan and at the latest before the Eid prayer, as clarified by the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar.
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