Hijri date today

Today’s Islamic date in the Umm al-Qura calendar, the start of the next month, the Islamic dates of the coming year and a Gregorian–Hijri date converter.

Why your country’s date can differ

This page uses the Umm al-Qura calendar, the official calendar of Saudi Arabia. Many countries, among them Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Morocco, begin each Hijri month only when the new crescent has been sighted locally. When the crescent is too thin to be seen on the 29th evening, the month there begins a day later, so the local Hijri date can be one day behind the date above. In large countries such as India and Pakistan the first day of the month can even differ from one city to another.

To see whether the new crescent can be seen from your own city, open the live Moon and hilal simulator on our home page, choose your city and look at the evening of the 29th. Then confirm with the moon sighting announced locally, by the committee or scholars your community follows.

Hijri date converter

Convert any date between the Gregorian and Hijri calendars (Umm al-Qura, 1300 to 1600 AH).

Islamic dates in the coming year

Expected dates in the Umm al-Qura calendar. Saudi religious authorities can adjust the start of Ramadan, Shawwal and Dhu al-Hijjah after crescent reports, and in countries that sight the crescent locally these days can come a day later.

The months of this Hijri year

How the Hijri calendar works

The Hijri calendar is purely lunar. Each month begins with the new crescent and has 29 or 30 days, so a year has 354 or 355 days, about 11 days fewer than a Gregorian year. That is why Ramadan and the Eids come about 11 days earlier each year and move through all the seasons in about 33 years. Years are counted from the Hijra, the Prophet’s migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, and a Hijri day begins at sunset, so the evening before a date already belongs to it.

The Umm al-Qura calendar

The Umm al-Qura calendar is calculated in advance by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) for the location of the Kaaba in Mecca. Since 1423 AH (2002) its rule has been: if on the 29th day of a month the conjunction (new moon) happens before sunset at Mecca and the Moon sets after the Sun, the next day begins the new month; otherwise the month has 30 days (R.H. van Gent, Utrecht University). The official calendar is published on the Umm al-Qura Calendar website. Our dates come from the same calendar and match its date for today.

The Islamic months in order

Muharram (محرم), Safar (صفر), Rabiʿ al-Awwal (ربيع الأول), Rabiʿ al-Thani (ربيع الآخر), Jumada al-Awwal (جمادى الأولى), Jumada al-Thani (جمادى الآخرة), Rajab (رجب), Shaʿban (شعبان), Ramadan (رمضان), Shawwal (شوال), Dhu al-Qaʿdah (ذو القعدة) and Dhu al-Hijjah (ذو الحجة). Muharram, Rajab, Dhu al-Qaʿdah and Dhu al-Hijjah are the four sacred months.

Questions people ask

More: how we calculate. Umm al-Qura dates checked against the official Umm al-Qura Calendar website (today’s date) and R.H. van Gent’s table of principal Islamic days (1448–1449 AH).