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Hijri Calendar Converter

Use this free Hijri calendar converter to change any Gregorian date into its Hijri date, or any Hijri date into its Gregorian date. It also shows today's Hijri date at the top of the page. The converter uses the tabular Islamic calendar, the standard arithmetic version of the Hijri calendar, so you can plan ahead for Ramadan, Eid, Hajj, and other Islamic dates with confidence.

The tabular calendar can differ by a day from the date fixed by local moon sighting. Confirm religious dates with your local mosque.

12 Rajab 1447 AH
Thursday, 1 January 2026

How it works

The Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar: each month begins with the new moon, and a full cycle of 12 months takes about 354.37 days. Because that is about 11 days shorter than the solar year of 365.25 days, Hijri dates drift earlier through the Gregorian calendar by roughly 11 days each year. Ramadan, for example, falls in a different season every decade or so, and over about 33 years it works its way through all four seasons.

This converter uses the tabular Islamic calendar, also called the Kuwaiti algorithm. It is a fixed arithmetic system, which means the same input always gives the same output, unlike moon sighting, which depends on weather and location. The system counts days from the Islamic epoch, 16 July 622 CE in the Julian calendar, which is Julian Day 1948439.5. Every date, Gregorian or Hijri, is first turned into a Julian Day Number, a simple count of days, and then converted back into the other calendar.

The months follow a fixed pattern. Odd-numbered months — Muharram, Rabiʿ al-awwal, Jumada al-ula, Rajab, Ramadan, and Dhu al-Qaʿdah — have 30 days. Even-numbered months — Safar, Rabiʿ al-thani, Jumada al-akhirah, Shaʿban, Shawwal, and Dhu al-Hijjah — have 29 days. That pattern alone gives 354 days. The extra day in a leap year goes to Dhu al-Hijjah, the twelfth month, which then has 30 days instead of 29.

Leap years keep the calendar in step with the real moon. In each 30-year cycle, the leap years are years 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, and 29 — eleven leap years per cycle. That makes the average Hijri year 354 days plus 11/30 of a day, or about 354.367 days, which matches the true average lunar year to within a fraction of a day per century. The calculator checks whether your Hijri year is a leap year and adjusts Dhu al-Hijjah accordingly, so dates in that month convert correctly.

Julian Day Number = days since 1 January 4713 BCE
Islamic epoch = Julian Day 1948439.5 (16 July 622 CE)
Leap years in a 30-year cycle: 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, 29

The twelve Hijri months

#MonthDaysNotes
1Muharram30First month; 10 Muharram is Ashura
2Safar29Second month
3Rabiʿ al-awwal30Birth month of the Prophet Muhammad
4Rabiʿ al-thani29Also called Rabiʿ al-akhir
5Jumada al-ula30First Jumada
6Jumada al-akhirah29Second Jumada
7Rajab30A sacred month
8Shaʿban29The month before Ramadan
9Ramadan30The month of fasting
10Shawwal29Eid al-Fitr falls on 1 Shawwal
11Dhu al-Qaʿdah30A sacred month; Hajj preparations
12Dhu al-Hijjah29 (30 in leap years)Hajj and Eid al-Adha

Worked example

Take 1 January 2026 and convert it to the Hijri date.

Step 1: Turn the Gregorian date into a Julian Day Number. For 1 January 2026, the count is 2461041.5.
Step 2: Subtract the Islamic epoch, 1948439.5, leaving 512602 days since the start of the Hijri calendar.
Step 3: Divide those days into 30-year cycles and leap years to find the year. The result is the year 1447.
Step 4: Work through the months of 1447 — Muharram has 30 days, Safar 29, and so on — until the remaining days land in the seventh month, Rajab, on day 12.

The answer is 12 Rajab 1447 AH, a Thursday. Enter 1 January 2026 in the converter and it gives exactly that. Going the other way, 1 Ramadan 1447 converts to 18 February 2026 on the tabular calendar.

Tabular calendar vs. moon sighting

The tabular calendar is exact and predictable, which is why it is used in software, printed calendars, and official civil calendars in several countries. But the traditional Islamic month begins when the crescent moon is sighted, and that sighting can fall a day earlier or later than the arithmetic date. Clouds, the observer's location, and different rulings about whether a sighting in one country applies to another can all move the date by a day. For everyday planning — knowing roughly when Ramadan or Eid will fall — the tabular date is fine. For fasting, prayer, and festival days, confirm with your local mosque or religious authority, which announces the month after the sighting.

FAQ

What is the Hijri calendar?

The Hijri calendar is the lunar calendar used to set Islamic dates. Its year has 12 lunar months and is about 354 or 355 days long, so it is roughly 11 days shorter than the Gregorian year and Islamic dates move earlier through the seasons over time. Year 1 began with the Hijra, the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE.

Why can the Hijri date differ by a day from my local calendar?

This converter uses the tabular Islamic calendar, a fixed arithmetic calendar. Many communities instead start each month when the new crescent moon is actually sighted, and clouds, location, and local rulings can shift the start of a month by a day. For religious observances, always confirm the date with your local mosque or religious authority.

How long is a Hijri year?

A common Hijri year has 354 days and a leap year has 355 days. Months alternate between 30 and 29 days: odd-numbered months have 30 days and even-numbered months have 29 days, except Dhu al-Hijjah, the twelfth month, which has 30 days in a leap year.

Which Hijri years are leap years?

In each 30-year cycle, the leap years are years 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, and 29. That gives 11 leap years in every 30 years, which keeps the average Hijri year at about 354.367 days, very close to the true lunar year.

When does Ramadan 1447 start?

On the tabular calendar, 1 Ramadan 1447 falls on 18 February 2026. The actual start of the fast depends on the sighting of the crescent moon, so your local start date may be 17 or 19 February 2026. Check with your local mosque nearer the time.