How it works
The Hijri calendar is lunar: each month begins with the new crescent moon and lasts 29 or 30 days, so a Hijri year has 354 or 355 days — about 11 days shorter than a Gregorian year. That is why Ramadan and the Eids move earlier by roughly 11 days every Gregorian year.
Which Hijri calendar is used?
This converter uses the Umm al-Qura calendar, the official civil calendar of Saudi Arabia, which fixes the length of every month in advance from astronomical calculation. The tables come from the Unicode CLDR calendar data built into your browser, and cover 1343–1500 AH (1924–2077 CE).
Worked examples. 1 Muharram 1446 AH = Sunday 7 July 2024. 1 Shawwal 1445 AH (Eid al-Fitr) = Wednesday 10 April 2024. Thursday 5 November 2026 = 25 Jumada al-Ula 1448 AH.
Why your local date may differ by one day
Many countries — including Egypt, and Saudi Arabia for religious occasions such as the start of Ramadan and the Eids — announce the start of a month after sighting the crescent. Sighting can confirm the month a day earlier or later than the calculated Umm al-Qura date. For religious dates, always follow the announcement of your country’s official authority.
How the conversion works
From Gregorian to Hijri, the date is passed to the Umm al-Qura calendar directly. From Hijri to Gregorian, an arithmetic estimate (a Hijri year averages 354.367 days) finds the right area, then nearby days are checked until the exact Umm al-Qura date is found. If you enter the 30th of a month that only has 29 days, you are told the date does not exist instead of getting a wrong answer.
To count how many days are left until a date, or your exact age, use the age & date calculator. Zakat is due after a full Hijri year — see the zakat calculator.