Islamic calendar

The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar (also called 'Hijri calendar') is the calendar used to date events in predominantly Muslim countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Muslim holy days. It is a purely lunar calendar having 12 lunar months in a year of about 354 days. Because this lunar year is about 11 days shorter than the solar year, Muslim holy days, although celebrated on fixed dates in their own calendar, usually shift 11 days earlier each successive solar year, such as a year of the Gregorian calendar. Islamic years are also called Hijra years because the first year was the year during which the Hijra occurred—Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina. Thus each numbered year is designated either H or AH, the latter being the initials of the Latin anno Hegirae (in the year of the Hijra).

Sacred days

Important dates in the Islamic (Hijri) year are:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• 1 Muharram (Islamic new year)
• 10 Muharram (Day of Aashurah, a day of mourning for Shia Muslims)
• 27 Rajab (Isra and Miraj)
• 15 Shabaan (Shab-e-Br'aat)
• 1 Ramadhan (first day of fasting)
• 17 Ramadhan (Nuzul Al-Qur'an) (Malaysia only; often 27 Ramadhan elsewhere)
• 19-22 Ramadan (Shia Muslims mourn the death of Imam Ali.
• Last 10 days of Ramadhan which include Laylat al-Qadr
• 1 Shawwal (Eid ul-Fitr)
• 8-10 Thw al-Hijjah (the Hajj to Makkah)
• 10 Thw al-Hijjah (Eid ul-Adha).