Islamic Date Today — Hijri Date & Calendar

By the Editorial Team · reviewed against our sources · updated September 2026 · guidance, not a fatwa

What is today’s Hijri date?

Today’s Hijri date is simply today’s date expressed in the Islamic lunar calendar rather than the Gregorian solar one most of the world uses day to day. The Hijri calendar counts from the year the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) migrated from Makkah to Madinah, an event known as the Hijrah. The calendar tool at the top of this page reads your device’s current date and converts it automatically, so the Hijri day, month and year appear without any manual work. To move between calendars in both directions, use our Hijri date converter.

How the tool shows it (Umm al-Qurā)

The calendar above is built on the Umm al-Qurā calendar, the calculated civil calendar of Saudi Arabia and the most common reference used online. It is a tabular, astronomy-based system: rather than waiting for a physical moon sighting, it estimates when each new month begins from the position of the moon. This makes it consistent and predictable, which is why software, airlines and official documents rely on it. The trade-off is that a calculated calendar cannot capture every local sighting, so the displayed day is best understood as a reliable default rather than a religious ruling for your exact location.

Reading a Hijri date (day / month / year AH)

A Hijri date has the same three parts as a Gregorian one, in the order day, month and year. The twelve Hijri month names are Muharram, Safar, Rabiʻ al-Awwal, Rabiʻ al-Thani, Jumada al-Ula, Jumada al-Akhirah, Rajab, Shaʻban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Dhul-Qaʻdah and Dhul-Hijjah. The year is followed by the letters “AH”, short for the Latin Anno Hegirae, meaning “in the year of the Hijrah.” So a date such as 10 Muharram 1448 AH means the tenth day of the first month in the 1448th year since the migration. Because a lunar year is about eleven days shorter than a solar one, the Hijri year number climbs a little faster than the Gregorian one over time.

Why it can differ by ±1 day

You may notice the date here differs by a day from a calendar in another country, a mosque announcement, or another app. This is normal. Islamic months traditionally begin with the sighting of the new crescent moon (hilal), and the crescent becomes visible at slightly different times across the globe depending on longitude, weather and viewing conditions. Some communities follow a local sighting, others follow the sighting in Makkah, and calculated calendars like Umm al-Qurā use astronomical estimates. These legitimate methods can place the start of a month a day apart. For everyday reference the difference rarely matters, but for the exact start of Ramadan or the day of Eid, always defer to your local authority.

Using the Hijri date for worship & Zakat (hawl)

Today’s Hijri date is more than a curiosity; it anchors the Islamic rhythm of worship. It helps you count the white days recommended for voluntary fasting, anticipate Ramadan, and know when the sacred months fall. It also matters for Zakat. Zakat becomes due after your wealth has been held for one full lunar year, a period called the hawl. Recording the Hijri date on which your wealth first reached the nisab threshold lets you return to the same point next year and calculate what is owed. Because the lunar year is shorter, tracking the hawl by the Hijri calendar is the correct method; using the Gregorian year would push your due date slightly late each time. When your hawl completes, our Zakat calculator works out the amount owed.

Other tools you may find useful

If you want to explore beyond today’s date, our Hijri date converter turns any Gregorian date into a Hijri one and back again, the Ramadan 2027 page shows the estimated start and a live countdown, and the Zakat al-Fitr guide explains the charity given before Eid prayer at the close of Ramadan.

This page is provided for general reference only and is guidance, not a fatwa. Calculated Hijri dates are estimates and may differ from a local moon sighting by about a day. For the confirmed start of a month, Ramadan or Eid, please follow your local mosque or a recognised moon-sighting authority.

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