If you've ever wondered why Ramadan arrives earlier every year, or why your grandmother remembers her birthday by the Islamic date and not the Gregorian one, it all comes back to the calendar. The Islamic calendar, the Hijri calendar, is one of the very few in wide use today that follows only the moon.
As we write this in early November 2026, it's the month of Jumada al-Ula, 1448 AH. Here's how the system works, and where the months of 1448 fall.
Where it starts
The calendar counts years from the Hijrah, the Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ migration from Makkah to Madinah in 622 CE. That's what the "AH" stands for: Anno Hegirae, "in the year of the Hijrah".
The system was formally adopted during the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab, around 17 years after the Hijrah, when official letters needed a clear way to be dated. The Companions discussed several possible starting points and chose the Hijrah, the moment the Muslim community was first established.
How the months work
Each month begins when the new crescent moon is seen after sunset, and lasts 29 or 30 days. Twelve lunar months make about 354 or 355 days, around 11 days shorter than the 365-day solar year.
That difference is why every Islamic date moves backward through the seasons. Ramadan cycles through summer, autumn, winter and spring over about 33 years. Someone who lives to their seventies will have fasted Ramadan in every season at least twice.
The Qur'an confirms that there are twelve months, four of them sacred:
"Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the register of Allah, from the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred."Qur'an 9:36 (meaning)
The four sacred months are Muharram, Rajab, Dhu al-Qa'dah and Dhu al-Hijjah.
One more thing that catches people out: Islamic days begin at sunset. The "night of the 27th" of Ramadan is the evening before the 27th day.
The twelve months of 1448
Here are the months with a rough meaning of each name and the expected Gregorian start date, taken from the Umm al-Qura calendar. Local sighting can move any of them by a day.
| Month | Name roughly means | Expected start |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Muharram | Forbidden (a sacred month) | 16 June 2026 |
| 2. Safar | Empty, perhaps as homes emptied for travel | 15 July 2026 |
| 3. Rabi' al-Awwal | The first spring | 14 August 2026 |
| 4. Rabi' al-Thani | The second spring | 12 September 2026 |
| 5. Jumada al-Ula | The first dry month | 12 October 2026 |
| 6. Jumada al-Akhirah | The second dry month | 11 November 2026 |
| 7. Rajab | Respect (a sacred month) | 10 December 2026 |
| 8. Sha'ban | Spreading out | 9 January 2027 |
| 9. Ramadan | Intense heat | 8 February 2027 |
| 10. Shawwal | Lifting | 9 March 2027 |
| 11. Dhu al-Qa'dah | The month of sitting (a sacred month) | 8 April 2027 |
| 12. Dhu al-Hijjah | The month of Hajj (a sacred month) | 7 May 2027 |
The names are older than Islam, and they were fixed at a time when the Arabs still added extra months to keep the calendar lined up with the seasons. That practice was ended in the Qur'an (9:37), which is why "Ramadan", the month of intense heat, can now fall in the middle of winter, as it does in 2027.
Key dates still to come in 1448
- 1 Ramadan: around Monday 8 February 2027. See our Ramadan 2027 guide.
- Laylat al-Qadr: sought in the odd nights of the last ten, from the evening of 27 February. See the last ten nights.
- Eid al-Fitr, 1 Shawwal: Tuesday 9 or Wednesday 10 March 2027. See how the Eid date is decided.
- Day of Arafah, 9 Dhu al-Hijjah: around Saturday 15 May 2027.
- Eid al-Adha, 10 Dhu al-Hijjah: around Sunday 16 May 2027.
- Islamic New Year 1449, 1 Muharram: around Sunday 6 June 2027.
Calculation or sighting?
Because months depend on the crescent, there are different ways of deciding when they begin: a local sighting, accepting a sighting from elsewhere, or astronomical calculation. Saudi Arabia's Umm al-Qura calendar is calculated in advance for civil purposes, while religious occasions like Ramadan and Eid are still confirmed by sighting. We go into this more in our article on the Eid date.
Converting dates yourself
Most phones can show the Islamic calendar alongside the Gregorian one. Look for "Islamic" or "Hijri" in your calendar settings, and choose the Umm al-Qura variant if you're offered one. Keep in mind that any converter can be a day out from your local mosque.
Dates are expected dates from the Umm al-Qura calendar. Please confirm religious dates with your local mosque or moon-sighting authority.