Hijri Calendar

How to read this calendar

Each row is one Islamic month. The Starts and Ends columns give the first and last day of the month in the Gregorian calendar, and the Days column shows whether the month has 29 or 30 days in that year.

Select a month name to read about its meaning, history and notable days.

Why the months have different lengths each year

An Islamic month runs from one new crescent to the next. The moon takes about 29 and a half days to complete its cycle, so months come out at either 29 or 30 days. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, no month has a fixed length. Ramadan can be 29 days one year and 30 the next.

Twelve lunar months add up to 354 or 355 days. That is about 11 days short of the solar year, which is why Ramadan, Hajj and the two Eids arrive earlier every year in the Gregorian calendar and pass through all four seasons over roughly 33 years.