Islamic calendar

Today Tuesday 11 February 2014 AD 22 Bahman 1392 SH 10 Rabi' al-thani 1435 AH

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The Islamic calendar, Muslim calendar or Hijri calendar (AH)^[2][3] is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days.

It is used to date events in many Muslim countries (concurrently with the Gregorian calendar), and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper days on which to observe the annual fast (see Ramadan), to attend Hajj, and to celebrate other Islamic holidays and festivals.

The first year was the Islamic year beginning in AD 622 during which the emigration of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra, occurred. Each numbered year is designated either "H" for Hijra or "AH" for the Latin anno Hegirae ("in the year of the Hijra");^[4] hence, Muslims typically call their calendar the Hijri calendar.

The current Islamic year is 1435 AH. In the Gregorian calendar, 1435 AH runs from approximately 3 November 2013 (evening) to 23 October 2014 (evening).

Months

Four of the twelve Hijri months are considered sacred, although there is disagreement over the designated months, such as between proponents for the sequences {7,11,12,1} vs. {12,1,2,3}.^[5] The twelve Hijri months are named as follows in Arabic:^[6]

1. Muḥarram (المحرّم meaning "forbidden"), so called because battle was forbidden (haram) during this month. Muharram includes the Day of Ashura.
2. Ṣafar (صفر meaning "void"), supposedly named thus because pagan Arab houses were empty this time of year while their occupants gathered food.
3. Rabīʿ I (Rabīʿ al-Awwal, ربيع الأوّل) meaning "the first spring".
4. Rabīʿ II (Rabīʿ ath-Thānī ربيع الثاني or Rabīʿ al-Ākhir ربيع الآخر) meaning "the second (or last) spring".
5. Jumādā I (Jumādā al-Ūlā, جمادى الأولى meaning "the first month of parched land"). Often considered the pre-Islamic "summer".
6. Jumādā II (Jumādā ath-Thāniya جمادى الثانية or Jumādā al-Ākhira جمادى الآخرة) meaning "the second (or last) month of parched land".
7. Rajab (رجب meaning "respect", "honor"). This is another sacred month in which fighting was traditionally forbidden.
8. Shaʿbān (شعبان meaning "scattered"). Marked the time of year when Arab tribes dispersed to find water.
9. Ramaḍān (رمضان meaning "scorched"). Ramadan is the most venerated month of the Hijri calendar. During this time, Muslims must fast from dawn till sunset and should give charity to the poor.
10. Shawwāl (شوّال meaning "raised"). She-camels normally would be in calf at this time of year.
11. Dhū al-Qaʿda (ذو القعدة meraning "the one of truce"). Dhu al-Qa'da was another month during which war was banned.
12. Dhū al-Ḥijja (ذو الحجّة meaning "the one of pilgrimage"). The month in which the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hajj) occurs.

Days of the week

In Arabic, as in Hebrew, the "first day" of the week corresponds with Sunday of the planetary week. The Islamic and Jewish weekdays begin at sunset, whereas the medieval Christian and planetary weekdays begin at the following midnight.^[7] The Christian liturgical day, however, kept in monasteries, begins with vespers (see vesper), which is evening, in line with the other Abrahamic traditions. Muslims gather for worship at a mosque at noon on "gathering day" (Yaum al-Jumu‘ah, yawm يوم meaning "day") which corresponds with Friday. Thus "gathering day" is often regarded as the weekly day of rest. This is frequently made official, with many Muslim countries adopting Friday and Saturday (e.g. Egypt, Saudi Arabia) or Thursday and Friday as official weekends, during which offices are closed; other countries (e.g. Iran) choose to make Friday alone a day of rest. A few others (e.g. Turkey) have adopted the Western Saturday-Sunday weekend while making Friday a working day with a long midday break to allow time off for worship.

Months

Names of months

Parentheses indicate the number of days in a month during a leap year.

No.	Islamic calendar	Length
1	Muharram	30 (29)
2	Safar	29 (30)
3	Rabi' I	30 (29)
4	Rabi' II	29 (30)
5	Jumada I	30 (29)
6	Jumada II	29 (30)
7	Rajab	30 (29)
8	Sha'aban	29 (30)
9	Ramadan	30 (29)
10	Shawwal	29 (30)
11	Dhu al-Qi'dah	30 (29)
12	Dhu al-Hijjah	29 (30)
Total		354 (355)

History

Islamic Calendar

Muharram Safar Rabi' al-awwal Rabi' al-thani Jumada al-awwal Jumada al-thani Rajab Sha'aban Ramadan Shawwal Dhu al-Qi'dah Dhu al-Hijjah

Pre-Islamic calendar

Inscriptions of the ancient South Arabian calendars reveal the use of a number of local calendars. At least some of these calendars followed the lunisolar system. For Central Arabia, especially Mecca, there is a lack of epigraphical evidence but details are found in the writings of Muslim authors of the Abbasid era. Both al-Biruni and al-Mas'udi suggest that the Ancient Arabs used the same month names as the Muslims, though they also record other month names used by the pagan Arabs.^[8]

The Islamic tradition is unanimous in stating that Arabs of Tihamah, Hejaz, and Najd distinguished between two types of months, permitted (ḥalāl) and forbidden (ḥarām) months. The forbidden months were four months during which fighting is forbidden, listed as Rajab and the three months around the pilgrimage season, Dhū al-Qiʿda, Dhū al-Ḥijja, and Muḥarram. Information about the forbidden months is also found in the writings of Procopius, where he describes an armistice with the Eastern Arabs of the Lakhmid al-Mundhir which happened in the summer of 541 AD. However, Muslim historians do not link these months to a particular season. The Qur'an links the four forbidden months with Nasīʾ, a word that literally means "postponement".^[8] According to Muslim tradition, the decision of postponement was administered by the tribe of Kinanah,^[9] by a man known as the al-Qalammas of Kinanah and his descendants (pl. qalāmisa).^[10]

Different interpretations of the concept of Nasīʾ have been proposed.^[11] Some scholars, both Muslim^[12][13] and Western,^[8][9] maintain that the pre-Islamic calendar used in Central Arabia was a purely lunar calendar similar to the modern Islamic calendar. According to this view, Nasīʾ is related to the Pagan practices of the Meccan Arabs, where they would alter the distribution of the forbidden months within a given year without implying a calendar manipulation. This interpretation is supported by Arab historians and lexicographers, like Ibn Hisham, Ibn Manzur, and the corpus of Qur'anic exegesis.^[14] It is also corroborated by an early Sabaic inscription, where a religious ritual was "postponed" (ns'ʾw) due to war. According to the context of this inscription, the verb ns'ʾ has nothing to do with intercalation, but only with moving religious events within the calendar itself. The similarity between the religious concept of this ancient inscription and the Qur'an suggests that non-calendaring postponement is also the Qur'anic meaning of Nasīʾ.^[8] Thus the Encyclopaedia of Islam concludes that the "The Arabic system of [Nasīʾ] can only have been intended to move the Hajj and the fairs associated with it in the vicinity of Mecca to a suitable season of the year. It was not intended to establish a fixed calendar to be generally observed."^[15]

Others concur that it was originally a lunar calendar, but suggest that about 200 years before the Hijra it was transformed into a lunisolar calendar containing an intercalary month added from time to time to keep the pilgrimage within the season of the year when merchandise was most abundant. This interpretation was first proposed by the medieval Muslim astrologer and astronomer Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi, and later by al-Biruni,^[10][16] al-Mas'udi, and some Western scholars.^[17] This interpretation considers Nasīʾ to be a synonym to the Arabic word for "intercalation" (kabīsa). It also suggests that every second or third year the beginning of the year was postponed by one month. The intercalation doubled the month of the pilgrimage, that is, the month of the pilgrimage and the following month were given the same name, postponing the names and the sanctity of all subsequent months in the year by one. The first intercalation doubled the first month Muharram, then three years later the second month Safar was doubled, continuing until the intercalation had passed through all twelve months of the year and returned to Muharram, when it was repeated. The Arabs, according to one explanation mentioned by Abu Ma'shar, learned of this type of intercalation from the Jews.^[9][10][16] For a comparison between the Islamic and pre-Islamic calendars, see Islamic and Jahili months.

Prohibiting Nasīʾ

In the tenth year of the Hijra, as documented in the Qur'an (sura 9:36–37), God revealed the "prohibition of the Nasīʾ".

The number of months with Allah has been twelve months by Allah's ordinance since the day He created the heavens and the earth. Of these four are known as forbidden [to fight in]; That is the straight usage, so do not wrong yourselves therein, and fight those who go astray. But know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.
Verily the transposing (of a prohibited month) is an addition to Unbelief: The Unbelievers are led to wrong thereby: for they make it lawful one year, and forbidden another year, of months forbidden by Allah and make such forbidden ones lawful. The evil of their course seems pleasing to them. But Allah guideth not those who reject Faith.

—Sura 9 ("At-Tawba"), ayat 36–37^[18]

The prohibition of Nasīʾ would presumably have been announced when the intercalated month had returned to its position just before the month of Nasi' began. If Nasīʾ meant intercalation, then the number and the position of the intercalary months between 1 AH and 10 AH are uncertain; Western calendar dates commonly cited for key events in early Islam such as the Hijra, the Battle of Badr, the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Trench, should be viewed with caution as they might be in error by one, two or even three lunar months.

This prohibition was mentioned by Muhammad during the farewell sermon which was delivered on 9 Dhu al-Hijja 10 AH (Julian date Friday 6 March, AD 632) on Mount Arafat during the farewell pilgrimage to Mecca.

Certainly the Nasi' is an impious addition, which has led the infidels into error. One year they authorise the Nasi', another year they forbid it. They observe the divine precept with respect to the number of the sacred months, but in fact they profane that which God has declared to be inviolable, and sanctify that which God has declared to be profane. Assuredly time, in its revolution, has returned to such as it was at the creation of the heavens and the earth. In the eyes of God the number of the months is twelve. Among these twelve months four are sacred, namely, Rajab, which stands alone, and three others which are consecutive.

—translated by Sherrard Beaumont Burnaby^[19]

The three successive forbidden months mentioned by Muhammad (months in which battles are forbidden) are Dhu al-Qi'dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram, months 11, 12, and 1. The single forbidden month is Rajab, month 7.

Year numbering

In pre-Islamic Arabia, it was customary to identify a year after a major event which took place in it. Thus, according to Islamic tradition, Abraha, governor of Yemen, then a province of the Christian Kingdom of Aksum (Ethiopia), attempted to destroy the Kaaba with an army which included several elephants. The raid was unsuccessful, but that year became known as the Year of the Elephant, during which Muhammad was born (sura al-Fil). Most equate this to the year AD 570, but a minority use AD 571.

The first ten years of the Hijra were not numbered, but were named after events in the life of Muhammad according to Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī:^[20]

1. The year of permission.
2. The year of the order of fighting.
3. The year of the trial.
4. The year of congratulation on marriage.
5. The year of the earthquake.
6. The year of enquiring.
7. The year of gaining victory.
8. The year of equality.
9. The year of exemption.
10. The year of farewell.

In AD 638 (17 AH), Abu Musa Ashaari, one of the officials of the Caliph Umar in Basrah, complained about the absence of any years on the correspondence he received from Umar, making it difficult for him to determine which instructions were most recent. This report convinced Umar of the need to introduce an era for Muslims. After debating the issue with his counsellors, he decided that the first year should include the date of Muhammad's arrival at Medina (known as Yathrib, before Muhammad's arrival). Uthman ibn Affan then suggested that the months begin with Muharram, in line with the established custom of the Arabs at that time.^[21] The years of the Islamic calendar thus began with the month of Muharram in the year of Muhammad's arrival at the city of Medina, even though the actual emigration took place in Safar and Rabi' I.^[4] Because of the Hijra, the calendar was named the Hijra calendar.

The first day of the first month of the Islamic calendar (1 Muharram 1 AH) was Friday, 16 July AD 622, the equivalent civil tabular date (same daylight period) in the Julian calendar.^[22][23] The Islamic day began at the preceding sunset on the evening of 15 July. This Julian date (16 July) was determined by medieval Muslim astronomers by projecting back in time their own tabular Islamic calendar, which had alternating 30- and 29-day months in each lunar year plus eleven leap days every 30 years. For example, al-Biruni mentioned this Julian date in the year AD 1000.^[24] Although not used by either medieval Muslim astronomers or modern scholars to determine the Islamic epoch, the thin crescent moon would have also first become visible (assuming clouds did not obscure it) shortly after the preceding sunset on the evening of 15 July, 1.5 days after the associated dark moon (astronomical new moon) on the morning of 14 July.^[25]

Though Cook and Crone in Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World cite a coin from 17 AH, the first surviving attested use of a Hijri calendar date alongside a date in another calendar (Coptic) is on a papyrus from Egypt in 22 AH, PERF 558.

Astronomical considerations

The Islamic calendar is not to be confused with a lunar calendar that is based on astronomical calculations. The latter is based on a year of 12 months adding up to 354.37 days. Each lunar month begins at the time of the monthly "conjunction", when the Moon is located on a straight line between the Earth and the Sun. The month is defined as the average duration of a rotation of the Moon around the Earth (29.53 days). By convention, months of 30 days and 29 days succeed each other, adding up over two successive months to 59 full days. This leaves only a small monthly variation of 44 minutes to account for, which adds up to a total of 24 hours (i.e. the equivalent of one full day) in 2.73 years. To settle accounts, it is sufficient to add one day every three years to the lunar calendar, in the same way that one adds one day to the Gregorian calendar, every four years.^[26] The technical details of the adjustment are described in Tabular Islamic calendar.

The Islamic calendar, however, is based on a different set of conventions.^[27] Each month has either 29 or 30 days, but usually in no discernible order. Traditionally, the first day of each month is the day (beginning at sunset) of the first sighting of the hilal (crescent moon) shortly after sunset. If the hilal is not observed immediately after the 29th day of a month (either because clouds block its view or because the western sky is still too bright when the moon sets), then the day that begins at that sunset is the 30th. Such a sighting has to be made by one or more trustworthy men testifying before a committee of Muslim leaders. Determining the most likely day that the hilal could be observed was a motivation for Muslim interest in astronomy, which put Islam in the forefront of that science for many centuries.

This traditional practice is still followed in the overwhelming majority of Muslim countries. Each Islamic state proceeds with its own monthly observation of the new moon (or, failing that, awaits the completion of 30 days) before declaring the beginning of a new month on its territory. But, the lunar crescent becomes visible only some 17 hours after the conjunction, and only subject to the existence of a number of favourable conditions relative to weather, time, geographic location, as well as various astronomical parameters.^[28] Given the fact that the moon sets progressively later than the sun as one goes west, with a corresponding increase in its "age" since conjunction, Western Muslim countries may, under favorable conditions, observe the new moon one day earlier than eastern Muslim countries. Due to the interplay of all these factors, the beginning of each month differs from one Muslim country to another, during the 48 h period following the conjunction. The information provided by the calendar in any country does not extend beyond the current month.

A number of Muslim countries try to overcome some of these difficulties by applying different astronomy-related rules to determine the beginning of months. Thus, Malaysia, Indonesia, and a few others begin each month at sunset on the first day that the moon sets after the sun (moonset after sunset). In Egypt, the month begins at sunset on the first day that the moon sets at least five minutes after the sun. A detailed analysis of the available data shows, however, that there are major discrepancies between what countries say they do on this subject, and what they actually do.^[29][30]

Theological considerations

If the Islamic calendar were prepared using astronomical calculations, Muslims throughout the Muslim world could use it to meet all their needs, the way they use the Gregorian calendar today. But, there are divergent views on whether it is licit to do so.^[31]

A majority of theologians oppose the use of calculations (beyond the constraint that each month must be not less than 29 nor more than 30 days) on the grounds that the latter would not conform with Muhammad's recommendation to observe the new moon of Ramadan and Shawal in order to determine the beginning of these months.^[32][33][34]

However, some jurists see no contradiction between Muhammad's teachings and the use of calculations to determine the beginnings of lunar months.^[35] They consider that Muhammad's recommendation was adapted to the culture of the times, and should not be confused with the acts of worship.^[36][37][38]

Thus the jurists Ahmad Muhammad Shakir and Yusuf al-Qaradawi both endorsed the use of calculations to determine the beginning of all months of the Islamic calendar, in 1939 and 2004 respectively.^[39][40][41] So did the "Fiqh Council of North America" (FCNA) in 2006^[42][43] and the "European Council for Fatwa and Research" (ECFR) in 2007.^[44][45]

The major Muslim associations of France also announced in 2012 that they would henceforth use a calendar based on astronomical calculations, taking into account the criteria of the possibility of crescent sighting in any place on Earth.^[46]

Turkish Muslims also use an Islamic calendar which is calculated several years in advance (currently up to 1437 AH/2015 CE) by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet Isleri Baskanligi).^[47] Since 1 Muharrem 1400 AH (21 November 1979) the computed Turkish lunar calendar is based on the following rule: “The lunar month is assumed to begin on the evening when, within some region of the terrestrial globe, the computed centre of the lunar crescent at local sunset is more than 5° above the local horizon and (geocentrically) more than 8° from the Sun.”^[48]

Fatimid Dawoodi Bohra follow the tabular Islamic calendar (see section below) prepared on the basis of astronomical calculations from the days of Fatimid imams.

Saudi Arabia's Umm al-Qura calendar

Saudi Arabia uses the sighting method to determine the beginning of each month of the Hijri calendar. Since AH 1419 (1998/99) several official hilal sighting committees have been set up by the government to determine the first visual sighting of the lunar crescent at the beginning of each lunar month. Nevertheless, the religious authorities also allow the testimony of less experienced observers and thus often announce the sighting of the lunar crescent on a date when none of the official committees could see it.

The country also uses the Umm al-Qura calendar, based on astronomical calculations, but this is restricted to administrative purposes. The parameters used in the establishment of this calendar underwent significant changes over the past decade.^[49][50]

Before AH 1420 (before 18 April 1999), if the moon's age at sunset in Riyadh was at least 12 hours, then the day ending at that sunset was the first day of the month. This often caused the Saudis to celebrate holy days one or even two days before other predominantly Muslim countries, including the dates for the Hajj, which can only be dated using Saudi dates because it is performed in Mecca.

For AH 1420–22, if moonset occurred after sunset at Mecca, then the day beginning at that sunset was the first day of a Saudi month, essentially the same rule used by Malaysia, Indonesia, and others (except for the location from which the hilal was observed).

Since the beginning of AH 1423 (16 March 2002), the rule has been clarified a little by requiring the geocentric conjunction of the sun and moon to occur before sunset, in addition to requiring moonset to occur after sunset at Mecca. This ensures that the moon has moved past the sun by sunset, even though the sky may still be too bright immediately before moonset to actually see the crescent.

In 2007, the Islamic Society of North America, the Fiqh Council of North America and the European Council for Fatwa and Research announced that they will henceforth use a calendar based on calculations using the same parameters as the Umm al-Qura calendar to determine (well in advance) the beginning of all lunar months (and therefore the days associated with all religious observances). This was intended as a first step on the way to unify, at some future time, Muslims' calendars throughout the world.^[51][52]

Other calendars using the Islamic era

The Solar Hejri is a solar calendar used in Iran and Afghanistan which counts its years from the Hijra or migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in AD 622.

Tabular Islamic calendar

The Tabular Islamic calendar is a rule-based variation of the Islamic calendar. There exists a variation of the Islamic calendar known as the tabular Islamic calendar in which months are worked out by arithmetic rules rather than by observation or astronomical calculation. It has a 30-year cycle with 11 leap years of 355 days and 19 years of 354 days. In the long term, it is accurate to one day in about 2,500 years. It also deviates up to about one or two days in the short term.

Kuwaiti algorithm

Microsoft uses the "Kuwaiti algorithm", a variant of the tabular Islamic calendar,^[53] to convert Gregorian dates to the Islamic ones. Microsoft claims that the variant is based on a statistical analysis of historical data from Kuwait.

Notable dates

Important dates in the Islamic (Hijri) year are:

• 1 Muharram (Islamic New Year)
• 10 Muharram (Day of Ashura) For Sunnis, the crossing of the Red Sea by Moses occurred on this day. (Musa). For Shia, the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad, and his followers.
• 12 Rabi al Awal (Mawlid an Nabi) for most Sunnis
• 17 Rabi al Awal (Mawlid an Nabi for Twelvers and some Sunnis)
• 27 Rajab (Isra and Mi'raj for majority of Muslims)
• 15 Sha'ban (Mid-Sha'ban, or Night of Forgiveness), and for Twelvers the birthday of Muhammad al-Mahdi (The Twelfth Imam)
• 1 Ramadan (First day of fasting)
• 27 Ramadan (Nuzul Al-Qur'an) The day Muhammad received the first verses of the Qur'an (17 Ramadan in Indonesia and Malaysia)
• Last third of Ramadan which includes Laylat al-Qadr
• 1 Shawwal (Eid ul-Fitr)
• 8–13 Dhu al-Hijjah (the Hajj to Mecca)
• 9 Dhu al-Hijjah (Day of Arafa)
• 10 Dhu al-Hijjah (Eid al-Adha)

Days considered important predominantly for Shia Muslims:

• 21 Ramadan Ali ibn Abi Talib's martyrdom.
• 3 Sha'ban (Birthday of Husayn ibn Ali.)
• 13 Rajab (Birthday of Ali ibn Abi Talib)

Days considered important predominantly for Sunni Muslims(especially in India & parts of Asia):

• 6 Rajab Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.(Generally 6th Day of Every Month is celebrated and observed as Chatthi)
• 11 Rabi Ul Aakhir Urs of Gaus E Aazam Dastagir (Generally 11th Day of Every Month is celebrated and observed as Gyarvi)

Converting Hijri to Gregorian date or vice versa

Conversions may be made online (see list below), by using the Tabular Islamic calendar (see Tabular Islamic calendar), or, for greatest accuracy (one day in 15,186 years), via the Jewish calendar. Theoretically, the days of the months correspond in both calendars if the displacements which are a feature of the Jewish system are ignored. The table below gives, for nineteen years, the Muslim month which corresponds to the first Jewish month.

Year AD Year AH Muslim month 2011 1432 5 2012 1433 5 2013 1434 5 2014 1435 6 2015 1436 6 2016 1437 7 2017 1438 7 2018 1439 7 2019 1440 8 2020 1441 8

Year AD Year AH Muslim month 2021 1442 8 2022 1443 9 2023 1444 9 2024 1445 10 2025 1446 10 2026 1447 10 2027 1448 11 2028 1449 11 2029 1450 11

This table may be extended since every nineteen years the Muslim month number increases by seven. When it goes above twelve, subtract twelve and add one to the year AH. From AD412 to AD632 inclusive the month number is 1 and the calculation gives the month correct to a month or so. AD622 corresponds to BH1 and AH1. For earlier years, year BH = (623 or 622) – year AD).

An example calculation: What is the civil date and year AH of the first day of the first month in the year AD 20875?

We first find the Muslim month number corresponding to the first month of the Jewish year which begins in AD20874. Dividing 20874 by 19 gives quotient 1098 and remainder 12. Dividing 2026 by 19 gives quotient 106 and remainder 12. The two years are therefore (1098–106)=992x19 years apart. The Muslim month number corresponding to the first Jewish month is therefore (992x7)=6944 higher than in 2026. To convert into years and months divide by twelve – 6944/12=578 years and 8 months. Adding, we get 1447y 10m + 20874y – 2026y + 578y 8m = 20874y 6m. Therefore, the first month of the Jewish year beginning in AD20874 corresponds to the sixth month of the Muslim year AH20874. The worked example in Conversion between Jewish and civil dates, shows that the civil date of the first day of this month (ignoring the displacements) is Friday, 14 June. The year AH20875 will therefore begin seven months later, on the first day of the eighth Jewish month, which the worked example shows to be 7 January, AD20875 (again ignoring the displacements). The date given by this method, being calculated, may differ by a day from the actual date, which is determined by observation.

A reading of the section which follows will show that the year AH20875 is wholly contained within the year AD20875, also that in the Gregorian calendar this correspondence will occur one year earlier. The reason for the discrepancy is that the Gregorian year (like the Julian) is slightly too long, so the Gregorian date for a given AH date will be earlier and the Muslim calendar catches up sooner.

Current correlations

An Islamic year will be entirely within a Gregorian year of the same number in the year 20874, after which year the number of the Islamic year will always be greater than the number of the concurrent civil year. The Islamic calendar year of 1429 occurred entirely within the civil calendar year of 2008. Such years occur once every 33 or 34 Islamic years (32 or 33 civil years). More are listed here:

Islamic year within civil year
Islamic	Civil	Difference
1060	1650	590
1093	1682	589
1127	1715	588
1161	1748	587
1194	1780	586
1228	1813	585
1261	1845	584
1295	1878	583
1329	1911	582
1362	1943	581
1396	1976	580
1429	2008	579
1463	2041	578
1496	2073	577
1530	2106	576
1564	2139	575

Because a hijri or Islamic lunar year is between 10 and 12 days shorter than a civil year, it begins 10–12 days earlier in the civil year following the civil year in which the previous hijri year began. Once every 33 or 34 hijri years, or once every 32 or 33 civil years, the beginning of a hijri year (1 Muharram) coincides with one of the first ten days of January. Subsequent hijri New Years move backward through the civil year back to the beginning of January again, passing through each civil month from December to January.

Uses

The Islamic calendar is now used primarily for religious purposes, and for official dating of public events and documents in Muslim countries.^[54] Because of its nature as a purely lunar calendar, it cannot be used for agricultural purposes and historically Islamic communities have used other calendars for this purpose: the Egyptian calendar was formerly widespread in Islamic countries, and the Iranian calendar and the 1789 Ottoman calendar (a modified Julian calendar) were also used for agriculture in their countries. In Morocco, the Berber calendar (another Julian calendar) is still used by farmers in the countryside. These local solar calendars have receded in importance with the near-universal adoption of the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes. As noted above, Saudi Arabia uses the Islamic calendar to date religious occasions such as Ramadan, Hajj, etc. and the Umm-al-Qura calendar, based on calculations, for administrative purposes and daily government business.^[55] In Indonesia, the Javanese calendar, created by Sultan Agung in 1633, combines elements of the Islamic and pre-Islamic Saka calendars.

British author Nicholas Hagger writes that after seizing control of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi "declared" on 1 December 1978 "that the Muslim calendar should start with the death of the prophet Mohammed in 632 rather than the hijra (Mohammed's 'emigration' from Mecca to Medina) in 622". This put the country ten solar years behind the standard Muslim calendar.^[56] However, according to the 2006 Encyclopedia of the Developing World, "More confusing still is Qaddafi's unique Libyan calendar, which counts the years from the Prophet's birth, or sometimes from his death. The months July and August, named after Julius and Augustus Caesar, are now Nasser and Hannibal respectively."^[57] Reflecting on a 2001 visit to the country, American reporter Neil MacFarquhar observed, "Life in Libya was so unpredictable that people weren't even sure what year it was. The year of my visit was officially 1369. But just two years earlier Libyans had been living through 1429. No one could quite name for me the day the count changed, especially since both remained in play. ... Event organizers threw up their hands and put the Western year in parentheses somewhere in their announcements."^[58]

References

External links

• URDU CALENDAR - Islamic Calendar
•  "Hegira". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. 

• Helmer Aslaksen The Islamic Calendar
• Khalid Chraibi, The reform of the Islamic calendar: the terms of the debate, Tabsir.net, September 2012

Calendar-date converters

• ISLAMIC - GREGORIAN | Calendar Converter
• Calendar Converter
• The Umm Al-Qura (Mecca) Calendar (in Arabic, English explanation here)
• The Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia (with date converter valid from 1937 to 2077)
• [http://www.makkahcalendar.org: The Islamic Calendar/Hijri Calendar for Makkah]
• Online Alavi Taiyebi Calendar
• Interactive Islamic Gregorian Calendar
• Islamic / Western Calendar Converter (supports all known variants of the tabular Islamic calendar)

See also

• Islamic and Jahili months

v t e Months of the Islamic calendar (AH) Muharram Safar Rabi' I Rabi' II Jumada I Jumada II Rajab Sha'aban Ramadan Shawwal Dhu al-Qi'dah Dhu al-Hijjah

v t e Time Key concepts Past history deep time Present Future futurology Eternity arguments for Eternal return Immortality Linear time  Time portal Measurement and standards Chronometry UTC UT TAI Unit of time Planck time Second Minute Hour Day Week Month Year Decade Century Millennium Tropical year Solar year Sidereal year Systems of measurement Time zone 12-hour clock 24-hour clock Daylight saving time Solar time Sidereal time Metric time Decimal time Hexadecimal time Calendars Gregorian Julian Hebrew Islamic Lunar Solar Hijri Mayan Intercalation Leap second Leap year Clocks Astrarium History of timekeeping devices Horology Marine chronometer Sundial Water clock Atomic clock Quantum clock Chronology / history / archaeology / geology Astronomical chronology  /  Calendar era Chronicle Timeline Periodization Regnal year Big History  /  Dating methodologies  /  Geological time Geochronology Geological history Deep time Eon Era Period Epoch Age Chron Religion and mythology Dreamtime Kāla Kalachakra Prophecy Time and fate deities Wheel of time Philosophy A-series and B-series B-theory of time Causality Duration Endurantism Eternal return Eternalism Event Perdurantism Presentism Temporal finitism Temporal parts The Unreality of Time Physics Absolute time and space Arrow of time Chronon Coordinate time Planck epoch Planck time Proper time Rate Spacetime Theory of relativity Time dilation gravitational Time domain T-symmetry Biology / psychology / sociology / economics / accounting / management Chronobiology Circadian rhythms  /  Mental chronometry Specious present Time perception  /  Time discipline  /  Time use research Time value of money Time-based currency Time banking Term  /  Accounting period Fiscal year  /  Time management Punctuality Procrastination Time clock Timesheet Time tracking software Related topics Carpe diem Clock position Space System time Tempus fugit Time capsule Time signature Time travel

v t e Astronomy in medieval Islam Astronomers 8th c. Ahmad Nahavandi Al-Fadl ibn Naubakht Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī and his son Mashallah ibn Athari Yaʿqūb ibn Ṭāriq 9th c. Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi Abu Said Gorgani Al-Farghānī Al-Kindi Al-Mahani Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Maṭar Al-Marwazi Ali ibn Isa al-Asturlabi Banu Musa Iranshahri Khālid ibn ʿAbd al‐Malik Al-Khwārizmī Sahl ibn Bishr Thābit ibn Qurra 10th c. Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi Al-Adami and Ibn al-Adami Abu-Mahmud Khojandi Abū Ja'far al-Khāzin Abū Sahl al-Qūhī Abū al-Wafā' Būzjānī Ahmad ibn Yusuf Al-Battani Alchabitius Al-Nayrizi Al-Saghani Ibn Yunus Ibrahim ibn Sinan 11th c. Abu Nasr Mansur Al-Bīrūnī Al-Zarqālī Alhazen Avicenna Ibn al-Saffar Kushyar ibn Labban Said Al-Andalusi Sijzi 12th c. Al-Bitruji Al-Kharaqī Al-Khazini Al-Samaw'al Abu al-Salt Anvari Ibn al-Kammad Jabir ibn Aflah Omar Khayyám Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī 13th c. Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi Ibn al‐Ha'im al‐Ishbili Jamal ad-Din Muhyi al-Dīn al-Maghribī Nasir al-Din al-Tusi Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī Zakariya al-Qazwini Ibn Abi al-Shukr Mu'ayyad al-Din al-'Urdi Athīr al-Dīn al-Abharī Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al‐Farisi 14th c. Ibn al-Shatir Shams al-Dīn Abū Abd Allāh al-Khalīlī Abū al‐ʿUqūl 15th c. Ali Qushji ʿAbd al‐Wājid Jamshīd al-Kāshī Qāḍī Zāda al-Rūmī Ulugh Beg Sibt al-Mardini Ibn al-Majdi 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Wafa'i 16th c. Al-Birjandi Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī Piri Reis Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf Works ʿAjā'ib al-makhlūqāt wa gharā'ib al-mawjūdāt Arabic star names Book of Optics Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity Islamic calendar Star chart Tabula Rogeriana The Book of Healing Zij: Alfonsine tables Almanac Astronomical catalog Book of Fixed Stars Star catalogue Toledan Tables Trigonometry table Zij-i Ilkhani Zij-i-Sultani Sullam al-sama' Instruments Alidade Analog computer Aperture Armillary sphere Astrolabe Astronomical clock Celestial globe Compass Compass rose Dioptra Equatorial ring Equatorium Globe Graph paper Magnifying glass Mural instrument Navigational astrolabe Nebula Planisphere Quadrant Sextant Shadow square Spherical astrolabe Sundial Telescope Triquetrum Concepts Almucantar Apogee Astrophysics Axial tilt Azimuth Celestial mechanics Celestial spheres Circular orbit Deferent and epicycle Earth's rotation Eccentricity Ecliptic Elliptic orbit Equant Galaxy Geocentrism Gravitational potential energy Gravity Heliocentrism Inertia Islamic cosmology Moonlight Multiverse Muslim views on astrology Obliquity Parallax Precession Qibla Salat times Specific gravity Spherical Earth Starlight Sublunary sphere Sunlight Supernova Temporal finitism Trepidation Triangulation Tusi-couple Universe Centers Al-Azhar University House of Knowledge House of Wisdom Islamic observatories Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din Madrasah Maragheh observatory Observatory Research institute Samarkand observatory Umayyad Mosque University of Al-Karaouine Influences Babylonian astronomy Egyptian astronomy Hellenistic astronomy Indian astronomy Influenced Byzantine astronomy Chinese astronomy European astronomy Indian astronomy

v t e Islam topics Beliefs God in Islam Tawhid Muhammad Prophets of Islam Five Pillars Shahada Salat Sawm Zakat Hajj History · Leaders Timeline of Muslim history Ahl al-Bayt Sahaba Shi'a Imams Caliphates Rashidun Umayyad Abbasid Córdoba Fatimid Ottoman Empire Conquests Golden Age Agricultural Revolution Religious texts Quran Sunnah Hadith Denominations Sunni Shia Sufism Ibadi Quranism Ahmadiyya Non-denominational Muslims Nation of Islam (NOI) Life · Culture Animals Art Calendar Children Holidays Mosques Philosophy Political aspects Science medieval Women Islam by country Law · Jurisprudence Economics Banking Economic history Sukuk Takaful Murabaha Riba Hygiene Ghusl Miswak Najis Tayammum Toilet Wudu Marriage · Sex Marriage contract Mahr Mahram Masturbation Nikah Nikah Mut‘ah Zina Other aspects Cleanliness Criminal Dhabiĥa Dhimmi Divorce Diet Ethics Etiquette Gambling Gender segregation Honorifics Hudud Inheritance Jizya Leadership Ma malakat aymanukum Military POWs Slavery Sources of law Theological baligh kalam  Islamic studies Arts Arabesque Architecture Calligraphy Music Pottery Medieval science Alchemy and chemistry Astronomy Mathematics Medicine Physics Philosophy Early Contemporary Eschatology Theological Other areas Agriculture Astrology Creationism Economics Feminism Golden Age Inventions Literature poetry Psychology Shu'ubiyya Sports Conversion to mosques Historiography   Other religions Christianity Hinduism Jainism Judaism Sikhism Related topics Apostasy Criticism of Islam Criticism of Muhammad Criticism of the Quran Cultural Muslim Islamism Islamophobia Islamic terrorism Islamic view of miracles Islam and antisemitism Domestic violence Nursing Persecution of Muslims Quran and miracles Qutbism

v t e Time measurement and standards Major subjects Time Chronometry Orders of magnitude Metrology International standards UTC UTC offset UT ΔT DUT1 IERS ISO 31-1 ISO 8601 TAI 12-hour clock 24-hour clock Barycentric Coordinate Time Civil time Daylight saving time Geocentric Coordinate Time International Date Line Leap second Solar time Terrestrial Time Time zone Obsolete standards Barycentric Dynamical Time Ephemeris time Greenwich Mean Time Prime meridian Time in physics Absolute time and space Spacetime Chronon Continuous time Coordinate time Cosmological decade Discrete time Planck epoch Planck time Proper time Theory of relativity Time dilation Gravitational time dilation Time domain T-symmetry Horology Clock Astrarium Atomic clock Complication Equation of time History of timekeeping devices Hourglass Marine chronometer Marine sandglass Radio clock Sundial Watch Water clock Calendar Astronomical Dominical letter Epact Equinox Gregorian Hebrew Hindu Intercalation Islamic Julian Leap year Lunar Lunisolar Seven-day week Solar Solstice Tropical year Weekday determination Weekday names Archaeology and geology Dating methodologies Geologic time scale International Commission on Stratigraphy Astronomical chronology Galactic year Nuclear time scale Precession Sidereal time Units of time Century Day Decade Fortnight Hour Jiffy Lustrum Millennium Minute Moment Month Paksha Saeculum Second Shake Tide Week Year Related topics Chronology Duration Mental chronometry Metric time System time Time value of money Timekeeper

v t e Calendars Systems Lunar Lunisolar Solar In wide use Astronomical Chinese Gregorian Hebrew Hindu Iranian Islamic ISO Unix time In more limited use Akan Armenian Assyrian Bahá'í Balinese pawukon Balinese saka Bangladeshi Berber Buddhist Burmese Chinese Coptic Ethiopian Georgian Hebrew Igbo Indian Fasli Hindu Jain Malayalam Saka Tamil Vikram Samvat Vira Nirvana Samvat Iranian Jalali (medieval) Hijri (modern) Zoroastrian Irish Islamic Tabular Japanese Javanese Juche (North Korean) Korean Kurdish Mongolian Nanakshahi Nepal Sambat Oromo Somali Thai lunar Thai solar Tibetan Vietnamese Xhosa Yoruba Types Runic Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar round Christian variants Julian Revised Liturgical year Eastern Orthodox Saints Historical Attic Aztec Tonalpohualli Xiuhpohualli Babylonian Bulgar Byzantine Celtic Culāsakaraj Egyptian French Republican Germanic Hellenic Hindu Inca Maya Haab' Tzolk'in Pentecontad Rapa Nui Roman calendar Rumi Soviet Swedish Turkmen By specialty Holocene (anthropological) Proleptic Gregorian / Proleptic Julian (historiographical) Darian (Martian) Dreamspell (New Age) Discordian / Pataphysical (surreal) Proposals Calendar reform Hanke-Henry Permanent International Fixed Pax Positivist Symmetry454 Tranquility World Fictional Discworld Greyhawk Middle-earth Stardate Displays and applications Economic Electronic Perpetual Wall Year naming and numbering Terminology Era Epoch Regnal name Regnal year Year zero Systems Ab urbe condita Anno Domini (Common Era) Anno Mundi Assyrian Before Present Chinese Imperial Chinese Minguo Human Era Japanese Korean Seleucid Spanish Yugas Satya Treta Dvapara Kali Vietnamese List of calendars

v t e Chronology Main articles Time Astronomy Geology Paleontology Archaeology History Eras and epochs Calendar eras Human Era Ab urbe condita Anno Domini (Common Era) Anno Mundi Byzantine era Spanish era Before Present Hijri Egyptian Sothic cycle Hindu units of time Hindu Yugas Regnal year Canon of Kings Lists of kings Limmu Seleucid era Era names Chinese Japanese Korean Vietnamese Calendars (Pre-)Julian Pre-Julian Roman Original Julian Proleptic Julian Revised Julian Gregorian Gregorian Proleptic Gregorian Old Style and New Style dates Astronomical Lunisolar Solar Lunar Astronomical year numbering Others Chinese sexagenary cycle Geologic Calendar Hebrew Iranian Islamic ISO week date Astronomic time Cosmic Calendar Ephemeris Galactic year Metonic cycle Milankovitch cycles Geologic time Concepts Deep time Geological history of Earth Geological time units Standards Global Standard Stratigraphic Age (GSSA) Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) Methods Chronostratigraphy Geochronology Isotope geochemistry Law of superposition Optical dating Samarium-neodymium dating Archaeological methods Absolute dating Amino acid racemisation Archaeomagnetic dating Dendrochronology Glottochronology Ice core Incremental dating Lichenometry Paleomagnetism Radiocarbon dating Radiometric dating Tephrochronology Thermoluminescence dating Uranium-lead dating Relative dating Fluorine absorption Obsidian hydration Seriation Stratigraphy Genetic methods Amino acid dating Molecular clock Related topics Chronicle New Chronology Periodization Synchronoptic view Timeline Year zero Circa Floruit ASPRO chronology Portal

v t e Time in religion and mythology Time and fate deities Eternity Eschatology Golden Age Divination Prophecy Fate Calendar