The first day of Ramadan in the Hijri calendar is likely to coincide with March 1, in the Gregorian calendar, Saudi Gazette reported while quoting Jeddah Astronomical Society President Eng Majed Abu Zahra.

He said that the Hijri calendar, based on lunar cycles, consists of 354 or 355 days, making it shorter than the Gregorian calendar, which has 365 or 366 days in a leap year.

“The Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar that depends on the earth’s rotation on its axis around the sun,” the report said.

Due to this difference, the Jeddah Astronomical Society president stated Hijri months shift by approximately 10 to 12 days earlier each year in the Gregorian calendar, allowing them to pass through all seasons over a 33-year cycle.

Abu Zahra emphasized that such precise alignments, like Ramadan 1, 1446 corresponding to March 1, are “infrequent and showcase the mathematical and astronomical precision in the movements of the moon and earth.”

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The unique phenomenon serves as a reminder of the fluidity of time and the compatibility of different calendar systems, he added.