www.greenprophet.com/2013/06/science-replaces-moon-spotting-as-ramadan-predictor

In the Islamic lunar calendar, the ninth month is a very special month for all Muslims around the world. This month is called Ramadan. It is often 30 days and sometimes 29 days. How do we know when Ramadan begins? By the end of the eight month, on the 29^th day, we look for the new  crescent moon. If we could see the new moon, then Ramadan starts by the sunset of the same day, and we start fasting before the sunrise of the next day. On the other hand, if we couldn’t see the new moon, then we complete the previous month, 30 days, and Ramadan begins the following day.

What do Muslims do in Ramadan? Ramadan is a holy month, and Muslims do good things as best as they can to worship god (Allah), increasingly in this month. It could be contributing, donating, volunteering or distributing food for the needy, and much more. Ramadan is the month that our Holy Quran was completed in, so we are reading the Quran most of the time and trying to finish reading it all (604 pages) during Ramadan. In the very beginning of the day, we eat (Sahoor) before sunrise. And it’s a regular meal, not so heavy and not so light, to keep our stomach full. After sunset we break our fast by eating dates* and drinking water. Then we eat; the reason for this is to give our stomach prior alert to not break down after a long fasting, and also to follow what the prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) was doing. We have special prayers (Taraweeh) after the last prayer in the day (Isha). Taraweeh is prayers in the short-term, but multiple and the most common is 5 prayers. In the last 10 days we pray late in the night (after midnight), we call it (Tahajjoud).

As a reward from Allah, when Ramadan finishes and everyone is so proud of what they did during Ramadan, we celebrate in the first day after Ramadan. This celebration is called Eid AL-Fitr, and we don’t fast any more. In the morning of this day, and before the sunrise, we gather in a mosque or place and pray (alfajr)-the first prayer in the day- and when the sun rises we pray (AL-Eid’s prayer). After we finish praying, we congratulate each other. That’s what makes it happier, that you’re welcoming people you don’t know and congratulating them for their efforts in Ramadan. Mostly we celebrate 3 consecutive days after Ramadan, and in these days we visit each other and hang out together, and we still donate and distribute food and clothes for the needy to have them celebrate with us.

*here is a great website selling dates if you are interested (http://tomoorona.com/)