What Is the Hijri Calendar?
The Hijri calendar is the Islamic calendar: twelve lunar months whose year one dates from the Hijrah — the Prophet's migration from Makkah to Madinah. It is the calendar by which Ramadan, Eid, Hajj and all Islamic occasions are measured, and it drifts across the seasons by about eleven days each year.
Where the name comes from
'Hijri' comes from Hijrah — migration. The second caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), is recorded as the one who established the era, choosing the year of the Prophet's (peace be upon him) migration from Makkah to Madinah as the start of the Islamic calendar. 'Announce the migration,' the companion narrations report, and so the Hijri year was born.
A lunar year, not a solar one
The Hijri year is made of twelve lunar months, each beginning with the sighting of the new moon. A lunar month is about 29.5 days, so the Hijri year lasts about 354 days — roughly eleven days shorter than the solar (Gregorian) year. The result is that Islamic months and occasions migrate through the seasons over the cycle of about 33 years: Ramadan was once deep winter and will one day be deep summer.
Why Allah's calendar is lunar
The Qur'an states the principle plainly: 'Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months, in the book of Allah, the day He created the heavens and the earth' (9:36). Scholars explain the lunar calendar as deliberately simple — moon-based, natural, and not tied to agriculture or empire. It is a calendar of worship, and its drift across the seasons is not a flaw but its nature.
The months and their purposes
The twelve months — Muharram, Safar, Rabi' al-Awwal, Rabi' al-Thani, Jumada al-Ula, Jumada al-Thaniyah, Rajab, Sha'ban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Dhul Qa'dah and Dhul Hijjah — carry the rhythm of Islamic life: the sacred months, the month of fasting, the month of Hajj, and the days of Eid. The platform's Hijri Calendar displays them in real time with the current date.
Reading Hijri dates
A Hijri date is written day / month / year — for example, 29 Ramadan 1448 AH. 'AH' stands for 'After Hijrah' (Anno Hegirae). Today's date on a calculated calendar is an estimate: actual dates depend on confirmed moon sighting, which is why you will always see both the calculated date and the caveat on this platform.
Frequently asked questions
Which calendar do Muslims actually use in daily life?
Most Muslims live with two calendars: the Gregorian for work and administration, the Hijri for worship. Schools, mosques and countries differ on which occasions are official, but the religious calendar is the Hijri one.
Why does the Hijri year number differ from the Gregorian?
The eras begin at different points — the Hijrah (622 CE) for Islam and the traditional birth of Christ for the Gregorian — and the Hijri year is shorter. They never track each other exactly.
Sources
- Quran 9:36
- Quran 9:37 (the postponing of sacred months)
- Historical accounts of Umar ibn al-Khattab's (and Ali's) establishment of the era
Last content review: 2026-09-25. How Destiny Map selects and verifies sources is explained on the Sources & Methodology page.
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