Ramadan Preparation Checklist for Sha'ban 1448

Sha'ban 1448 is expected to begin on Saturday 9 January 2027, and Ramadan on Monday 8 February 2027 (the actual dates depend on moon sighting or your local authority and may differ by a day). That gives you four weeks. People who use them arrive at the first tarawih calm and prepared; people who do not spend the first week of Ramadan catching up. This checklist is organised by week so that nothing is left to the last evening.

Why Sha'ban

The collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim report that the Prophet (peace be upon him) fasted more in Sha'ban than in any month except Ramadan. It is the natural month for making up missed fasts, trying a few voluntary ones, and settling the household's routine before the month that matters. The expected dates for the whole year are on the Ramadan 2027 page.

Week 1 (from 9 January): the obligations

• Count missed fasts from Ramadan 1447 (2026): illness, travel, menstruation. Write the number down.
• Make them up now. Sha'ban is the last window before the deadline most scholars set, which is the next Ramadan. One a week clears four; two a week clears eight. Details and the rules for fidyah are in missed fasts: qada, fidyah and kaffarah.
• Health check. If you have diabetes, take daily medication, or are pregnant, book the pre-Ramadan appointment now, while adjustments to medicine timing can be tested.
• Zakat date. If your zakat anniversary falls in Ramadan, or you have chosen a Ramadan date, gather the figures: cash, savings, gold, investments, business stock, less debts due. Calculate in Sha'ban; pay in Ramadan.

Week 2 (from 16 January): the plan

• Qur'an plan. Decide what you will realistically finish: one khatm is 20 pages a day, four after each prayer; one juz with translation takes longer. Set it out in the Ramadan Qur'an plan.
• Simplify the schedule. Look at February's calendar. Move optional commitments out of the month, especially evening ones. Ask for adjusted working hours now, before rotas are fixed.
• Annual leave. If you want the last ten nights (expected from the evening of Saturday 27 February) or Eid (expected Tuesday 9 March) off work, request it this week.
• Practice fasts. Fast a Monday and a Thursday to find out how your body and mood respond, and what suhoor works.
• Caffeine. Begin reducing coffee and tea so the first fasting day is not a headache.

Week 3 (from 23 January): the household

• Suhoor shopping list. Oats, eggs, yoghurt, wholegrain bread, dates, fruit, nuts, lentils. Decide the three suhoor plates you will rotate.
• Freezer. Cook and freeze four or five iftar bases (soup, dal, a stew) so weeknights are easy.
• Children. Decide who is fasting and for how long, and tell the school in writing.
• Charity plan. Choose one or two charities, verify them, and decide whether to give daily or in the last ten nights. The six Shawwal days and the Eid plan can wait, but zakat al-fitr (a sa' of staple food per person, paid before the Eid prayer; Bukhari 1503, Muslim 984) should be in the budget; see zakat al-fitr.
• Tidy the prayer space at home: a clean corner, a mat, a Qur'an with translation, a lamp.

Week 4 (from 30 January): the tools

• Print the timetable. Open the Ramadan timetable for your city, check that the calculation method matches your local mosque, and print it for the fridge and for the car. Masjid volunteers who print for the congregation should read printing a masjid timetable.
• Set phone reminders. Two alarms for suhoor (for example 04:55 and 05:05 for a 05:40 Fajr), one five minutes before Maghrib, and prayer-time notifications for Dhuhr and Asr at work. See prayer reminders on your phone.
• Check the mosque. Tarawih times, 8 or 20 rak'ahs, whether there is a community iftar, and parking.
• Share the times with family members who use a different app, so the household breaks the fast together.
• Sleep. Shift bedtime fifteen minutes earlier each night in the final week.

The last two days (6–7 February)

• Confirm the start date with your local mosque or authority on the evening of Saturday 6 February (the astronomical new moon falls that day, with an annular solar eclipse) and again on Sunday 7 February.
• Shop for fresh items; set out suhoor for the first morning.
• Attend the first tarawih on the evening of Sunday 7 February if the month is confirmed.
• Make the intention, sleep early, and eat suhoor before Fajr on Monday 8 February; the Prophet (peace be upon him) said there is blessing in it (Bukhari 1923; Muslim 1095).

A short version for the busy

Ramadan is a month of ease by design (Qur'an 2:185). Preparation in Sha'ban is simply how you give yourself that ease.