Why do Islamic dates change every year?

Because the Hijri lunar year is roughly 11 days shorter than the Gregorian solar year — 354 days versus 365.25. Every Islamic event therefore moves about 11 days earlier in the Gregorian calendar each year, completing a full cycle through every season every 33 years or so. This is why your parents probably fasted Ramadan in winter and you fast it in summer — same month, drifted across a generation. Both memories are accurate; the calendar is just orbiting differently.

Why is the date sometimes off by 1 day from my mosque?

Two reasons. First, different Muslim countries use different methods — Saudi Arabia uses the Umm al-Qura tabular calendar, Pakistan and most of South Asia rely on local moon-sighting via the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Egypt uses astronomical calculations. Second, the Islamic day starts at sunset (Maghrib), not midnight — so what feels like "tonight" after Maghrib is already the next Hijri day. When your mosque and this widget disagree by a day, the mosque's local announcement wins for religious observance.

What's the difference between AH and CE/AD?

AH stands for Anno Hegirae, Latin for "in the year of the Hijra" — it counts years since Prophet Muhammad ﷺ's migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. CE means Common Era (formerly AD, Anno Domini). Because Hijri years are about 3 percent shorter than Gregorian years, the current Gregorian year is roughly 1.03 times the matching Hijri year — which is why the gap between the two numbers slowly widens over centuries.

How do I find when Ramadan starts this year?

Punch in 1 Ramadan plus the current Hijri year. For 1446 AH, 1 Ramadan falls on 1 March 2025; for 1447 AH it lands around 18 February 2026. The tabular calculation gives you a date you can plan around — book flights, request leave, schedule the Sehri grocery run. The Ruet-e-Hilal Committee may shift the announced start by 1 day either way based on actual moon sighting, but for everything except the ceremonial start, the tabular date is reliable.

Are there 12 Hijri months?

Yes, twelve in order: 1. Muharram (sacred), 2. Safar, 3. Rabi al-Awwal (Mawlid month), 4. Rabi al-Thani, 5. Jumada al-Awwal, 6. Jumada al-Thani, 7. Rajab (sacred), 8. Sha'ban, 9. Ramadan (fasting), 10. Shawwal (Eid al-Fitr on the 1st), 11. Dhu al-Qi'dah (sacred), 12. Dhu al-Hijjah (Hajj plus Eid al-Adha on the 10th). The four sacred months — Muharram, Rajab, Dhu al-Qi'dah, Dhu al-Hijjah — were months in which warfare was forbidden in pre-Islamic Arabia, and Islam preserved the prohibition per Quran 9:36.

Can I use this for historical dates?

Yes — the Aladhan API supports any Hijri date from 1 AH onwards. One caveat: the Gregorian calendar didn't exist before 1582 (the Julian calendar was used in Europe before then), so for any pre-1582 conversion the calculator returns the "proleptic" Gregorian date, which is the Gregorian date as if it had been in use. Perfect for historical research and family tree work; just don't use the result to argue with a Julian-calendar history textbook about exact day-of-week.

Hijri ↔ Gregorian Date Converter (2026)

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