What does Hilal mean?
The new crescent moon whose sighting begins each Islamic month.
Hilal explained
Fast when you see it and break your fast when you see it, the Prophet ﷺ said of Ramadan's crescent. Communities differ on local sighting, global sighting, and calculation, which is why Eid can fall on different days.
Related terms
Questions about Hilal
What does Hilal mean?
Hilal (هِلَال, Hilal) means: The new crescent moon whose sighting begins each Islamic month.
How is Hilal written and pronounced in Arabic?
It is written هِلَال and pronounced Hilal. It is also spelled Crescent moon, Moon sighting.
Where does Hilal come from in the Quran or hadith?
Fast when you see it and break your fast when you see it, the Prophet ﷺ said of Ramadan's crescent. Communities differ on local sighting, global sighting, and calculation, which is why Eid can fall on different days. Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 1909.
Practice with the full Quran, word by word, in the Barakah Life app
Every term here is something Barakah does: prayer times to the minute, a qibla you can trust, du'as with audio, the Quran word by word, tasbih, zakat, and a guide for Jumu'ah itself.
Get the Barakah app