Hijri Calendar
Convert between Gregorian and Hijri dates accurately.
Today: 04-08-2026 ↔ 21 Ṣafar 1448
What the Hijri calendar is
The Hijri calendar is the lunar calendar used across the Muslim world to mark religious months and dates. It counts from the Hijra, the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Makkah to Madinah in 622 CE, which is year 1 in the Hijri system. Every subsequent year is measured from that point, so a Hijri year such as 1447 or 1448 is not a translation of the Gregorian year — it is a separate count on a separate calendar, and the tool above converts between the two in either direction.
Twelve lunar months, and why the year is shorter
The calendar has twelve months, each following one cycle of the moon: Muharram, Safar, Rabi al-Awwal, Rabi al-Thani, Jumada al-Awwal, Jumada al-Thani, Rajab, Sha'ban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Dhul Qa'dah and Dhul Hijjah. A lunar month runs about 29.5 days, so twelve of them add up to roughly 354 or 355 days — about eleven days shorter than a Gregorian solar year. Unlike some other lunar calendars, the Hijri calendar has no leap month added to keep it in step with the seasons. That is deliberate, not an oversight.
The practical effect is that Hijri dates drift steadily earlier against the Gregorian calendar, by roughly eleven days a year, completing a full cycle through all four seasons over about thirty-three years. Ramadan, for instance, moves gradually through summer, spring, winter and autumn over the course of a lifetime rather than falling in the same season every year.
Which months carry particular significance
Four months hold special standing as the sacred months named in the Qur'an: Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab. Ramadan, the ninth month, is the month of fasting. Shawwal, the tenth, opens with Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the fast. Dhul Hijjah, the twelfth, is the month of Hajj and contains Eid al-Adha. Muharram marks the start of the Hijri year and contains the Day of Ashura. Knowing which month a Gregorian date falls in is often the actual reason someone reaches for a converter — checking how far off Ramadan is this year, or working out which Hijri month a historical date sits in.
Calculated dates versus an observed or announced start
This is the point most worth understanding before relying on any Hijri date. Traditionally, the start of each Hijri month is set by the sighting of the new crescent moon, not by a fixed arithmetic rule. Different countries and different religious authorities use different visibility criteria, or in some cases pre-calculated astronomical tables, so the announced start of Ramadan, Shawwal or Dhul Hijjah does not always fall on the same Gregorian day worldwide — a one-day difference between countries is common and is not an error on anyone's part.
The converter on this page uses a tabular calculation: a fixed arithmetic approximation of the lunar calendar, not a record of an actual moon sighting anywhere. It is accurate as a calculation and useful for planning, but it does not determine when Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha or any other observance officially begins. For that, follow the announcement of your national or local religious authority, which may differ from what this tool computes by a day in either direction.
How the conversion is done
Converting a Gregorian date to Hijri, or the reverse, is a matter of arithmetic once you fix a starting epoch and a rule for month lengths. This tool uses the standard tabular Islamic calendar calculation applied consistently across both directions, so converting a date to Hijri and immediately back to Gregorian returns the date you started with. What it cannot do is tell you, for a date in the future, exactly which day a local moon-sighting committee will announce — that is inherently an observational decision made close to the date itself, not something available to compute months in advance.
What people actually use this tool for
Common uses include checking which Hijri month and year a Gregorian date corresponds to for documents or records, working out roughly how many days remain until Ramadan or Hajj season, converting a historical date given only in one calendar, and general curiosity about where a birthday or anniversary falls on the other calendar. None of these require observational precision — they are planning and reference uses, which is exactly what an arithmetic converter is good for.
What this tool does not do
It does not predict or confirm moon sighting, and it is not a substitute for your local mosque's or country's official announcement of a month's start. It also has no connection to prayer times: for daily prayer times, sunrise, a next-prayer countdown and a monthly calendar for a specific city, use that city's own page, reachable from the search above.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the Hijri year shorter than the Gregorian year?
The Hijri calendar is purely lunar: twelve months of about 29.5 days each, totalling roughly 354 to 355 days, with no leap month added to catch it up to the solar year. A Gregorian year runs about 365.25 days, so the Hijri calendar falls behind by around eleven days annually. Over roughly thirty-three years that drift adds up to a full extra Hijri year relative to the Gregorian count, which is why Hijri months move gradually through all four seasons over a lifetime.
Does this converter tell me exactly when Ramadan starts?
It gives you an arithmetic estimate, not an official start date. Traditionally the beginning of Ramadan and other Hijri months is set by moon sighting or by a national authority's announcement, and different countries can announce a start a day apart from each other depending on the visibility criteria they use. Always follow your local mosque or national authority for the confirmed date rather than relying solely on a calculated conversion.
Why might two countries announce different dates for the same Islamic month?
Because the start of a Hijri month traditionally depends on sighting the new crescent moon, and moon visibility genuinely differs by location and by the sighting criteria a given authority accepts. Some authorities require a physical sighting; others accept pre-calculated astronomical visibility predictions. Neither approach is wrong — it is a real difference in method, and it commonly produces a one-day gap between countries for the same month.
What are the four sacred months in the Hijri calendar?
Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab. These four are named as sacred months in the Qur'an. Dhul Hijjah is also the month of Hajj and contains Eid al-Adha, while Muharram opens the Hijri year and contains the Day of Ashura.
Can I convert a date far in the future and trust it?
You can convert it arithmetically, and the calculation itself will be consistent, but treat any future Hijri date as an estimate rather than a confirmed one. The actual start of each month is only fixed close to the time, by sighting or by a national authority's announcement, so a conversion for a date months or years ahead can end up a day off from what is eventually announced.