The Islamic calendar (Hijri) is purely lunar — each month begins with the sighting of the new crescent moon and lasts 29 or 30 days. A lunar year is about 11 days shorter than the solar (Gregorian) year.
This is why Islamic dates — Ramadan, the Eids, Hajj — shift earlier each year relative to the Western calendar, cycling through all the seasons over time.
"They ask you about the crescent moons. Say: They are measurements of time for the people and for Hajj."— Qur'an 2:189
The calendar counts from the Hijrah — the Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ migration from Makkah to Madinah in 622 CE, the turning point that established the first Muslim community. So the year 1446 AH means 1,446 lunar years since the Hijrah.
It was the companion ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه who established the Hijrah as year one of the Islamic calendar.
| # | Month | Notable for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muḥarram مُحَرَّم | Sacred; the Day of Ashura |
| 2 | Ṣafar صَفَر | — |
| 3 | Rabīʿ al-Awwal رَبِيع ٱلْأَوَّل | Birth of the Prophet ﷺ |
| 4 | Rabīʿ al-Thānī رَبِيع ٱلثَّانِي | — |
| 5 | Jumādā al-Ūlā جُمَادَى ٱلْأُولَى | — |
| 6 | Jumādā al-Thāniyah جُمَادَى ٱلثَّانِيَة | — |
| 7 | Rajab رَجَب | Sacred; the Night Journey (Isrā') |
| 8 | Shaʿbān شَعْبَان | Prelude to Ramadan |
| 9 | Ramaḍān رَمَضَان | Fasting; the Qur'an revealed |
| 10 | Shawwāl شَوَّال | Eid al-Fiṭr; six Sunnah fasts |
| 11 | Dhul-Qaʿdah ذُو ٱلْقَعْدَة | Sacred |
| 12 | Dhul-Ḥijjah ذُو ٱلْحِجَّة | Sacred; Hajj & Eid al-Adḥā |
Allah set apart four months as sacred — in which warfare was forbidden and good deeds carry extra weight:
"The number of months with Allah is twelve… of which four are sacred."— Qur'an 9:36
Each Islamic month begins when the new crescent is sighted. This is why Ramadan and the Eids may differ by a day between regions or be announced only the night before.
Note too that in Islam, the day begins at sunset, not midnight — so the night precedes its day. This is why we speak of "the night of" Eid or Laylat al-Qadr.
Explore the highlights of the Islamic year: