Ramadan 2023: French Muslim Groups Announce Start Date

In a press release, the Great Mosque of Paris, the Gathering of Muslims of France (RMF), Muslims of France (MF) and the French Federation of Islamic Associations of Africa, the Comoros and the Antilles (FFAIACA) forming a coordination, announce that they have set up a theological commission which has been assigned the mission of setting the dates of the month of Ramadan and the religious holidays of the year 1444. This commission "will take into consideration the results of the work on the adoption of scientific calculation and universal astronomical data for the determination of the beginning and end of the blessed month of Ramadan," reports Saphirnews.

The commission recalls that "these two complementary methods contribute to the unity of the Muslims of France", but also "facilitates the organization of the fasting of Ramadan and the date of the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, important religious practices of Islam". For the four Muslim federations, the precise astronomical calculations for the Ramadan crescent for the year 1444 AH confirm the conjunction of the crescent, on Tuesday, March 29 / March 21, 2023, at 5:23 pm GMT (6:23 pm Paris time). "Consequently, Thursday, March 23, 2023 would be the first day of the month of Ramadan," they announce.