The Islamic calendar, also known as the Hijri calendar, is the calendar used in Islamic religious practices. It consists of 12 months in a year that are based on lunar cycles. Because a lunar year is about 11 days shorter than a solar year, the Islamic months rotate and do not fall in the same season every year. Here is an overview of key dates and events in the Islamic calendar for 2018.
Introduction to the Islamic Calendar
The Islamic calendar dates back to the time of Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century. It was established as a standardised lunar calendar in 638 CE under the second caliph Umar. Being lunar-based, its year is about 354 days long, approximately 11 days shorter than the solar Gregorian year. This means Islamic calendar dates shift across different seasons over time and do not always coinc coincides with the seasons. The Islamic calendar is therefore only used as a religious calendar to determine Islamic holidays and events.
Despite some variations, the Hijri calendar is imperative for all Muslims to determine major religious observances and events. These include:
- Ramadan – Month of fasting
- Eid al-Fitr – Festival of breaking the fast
- Hajj – Annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca
Key Features of the Islamic Calendar
Some key features that distinguish the Hijri calendar from the Gregorian calendar are:
Lunar-Based
The Islamic calendar is based on lunar cycles. Each month begins when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. Since the lunar cycle takes 29.5 days, the months alternate between 29 and 30 days. This gives a year length of 354 days, which is 11 days fewer than the solar Gregorian year.
Twelve Lunar Months
There are 12 months in the Islamic calendar:
- Muharram
- Safar
- Rabiʻ al-awwal
- Rabiʻ ath-thani
- Jumada al-awwal
- Jumada ath-thani
- Rajab
- Shaban
- Ramadan
- Shawwal
- Dhu al-Qi’dah
- Dhu al-Hijjah
The month names may vary slightly by region. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, Islamic month names do not parallel the original Roman calendar.
No Leap Years
The Islamic calendar has a strictly lunar cycle without any leap years or leap months. This causes it to lose synchronisation with the seasons over time. While religious events remain in the same months, they can fall in different seasons over years.
Islamic New Year – Muharram
The Islamic New Year falls on the first day of Muharram, which is the first month of the Islamic year. In 2018, Muharram and the New Year began at sundown on September 11th. Muharram literally means “forbidden” as warfare and fighting is illegal during this month. However, there are no explicit religious rituals or celebrations for the new year.
Some Muslims may fast on the Day of Ashura, which falls on the 10th of Muharram. This fast commemorates the day Prophet Moses and the Israelites were saved from Pharoah in Egypt as believed in Islamic tradition. However, fasting is voluntary and not universally practiced by all Muslims.
Major Islamic Events 2018
The two most significant Islamic religious observances in 2018 are:
Ramadan
Ramadan is the 9th and holiest month of the Islamic calendar when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. In 2018, the first day of Ramadan corresponds with May 16th, and Eid al-Fitr starts on June 14th.
- Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and marital intimacy from morning to nightfall. The fast is broken with evening meals known as Iftar.
- While fasting, Muslims also focus on spiritual discipline, increased prayer and charity work. They aim to become closer to Allah through self-sacrifice and moral improvement during this month.
- Eid al-Fitr is the “Festival of Breaking the Fast” celebrated over several days at the end of Ramadan. It falls on the 1st of Shawwal and includes special communal prayers, family meals, gift exchanges, and donations to charity.
Hajj Pilgrimage
Hajj refers to the annual Islamic pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is compulsory once in a lifetime for all able Muslims to undertake this spiritual journey. Key rituals include:
- Performing Tawaf – walking counter-clockwise 7 times around the Kaaba shrine.
- Running between Safa and Marwa hills similar to Hajar’s search for water.
- Spending the day on Mount Arafat praying and asking for forgiveness.
- Throwing stones at pillars symbolising driving away of the devil.
In 2018, an estimated 2 million pilgrims undertook the Hajj between August 19 – 24. The specific rituals take place over 5-6 days but most pilgrims extend their stay. Due to massive crowds, Saudi Arabia sets quotas for the number of pilgrims per country. Getting picked through a lottery system is highly prized.
The Hajj reminds Muslims that they belong to an ummah(community) that is diverse yet unified in worship of Allah. Completing it signifies a new spiritual awakening and a sense of equality cutting across all nationalities and ethnic groups.
Islamic New Year 2019
As per the lunar-based calculation, the next Islamic New Year or Hijri New Year 1441 will commence at sundown on August 31, 2019. This marks the first day of the sacred month of Muharram 1440 in the Islamic calendar. The Day of Ashura falls on September 10, 2019.
With a 354-day lunar cycle, Islamic calendar dates move across seasons over time. By contrast, following a solar cycle the same seasons fall during the same months of the Gregorian calendar year after year. Learning annual correspondences is essential for Muslims to determine religious event dates in advance.
Conclusion
The Islamic lunar calendar has been in use for religious purposes for over a millennium. Being 11 days shorter than the Gregorian solar year, its key events rotate over time relative to the Gregorian months. However, anchoring them as per the Hijri calendar holds deep spiritual meaning for Muslims.
Observing holy months like Ramadan as well as once-in-a-lifetime Hajj reinforce a collective Muslim identity. Familiar rituals also connect Muslims of today to their rich cultural and religious ancestry going back to Prophet Muhammad and beyond. Understanding Islamic calendar dates ensures Muslims worldwide can fulfil sacred duties unified in faith regardless of nationality or ethnicity.
FAQs
Why is there no standard Islamic calendar?
There is no single universally accepted Islamic calendar. Different countries and sects rely on their own conventions and criteria for starting months and years. Variations arise based on sightings of the new crescent moon and methodologies for approximations. However, these only cause slight differences of a day or two across regions/groups.
How does the Islamic calendar convert to the Gregorian calendar?
Since the lunar Islamic year is 11 days shorter, a specific date repeats every 33 years on the Gregorian calendar. By knowing correspondences over this cycle, conversions can be made between the two calendars for working out equivalent dates.
When do Islamic calendar dates start repeating?
The Hijri calendar repeats itself in a 30-year cycle. This occurs because the true lunar cycle is 29.5 days rather than 29/30 days as approximated. So discrepancies add up over 30 years to one lunar year, putting the calendar roughly back in sync.
Why does Ramadan occur at different times of the Gregorian year?
As a lunar event, the timing of Ramadan is based on the ninth Islamic month. Over years, it occurs 11 days earlier each year on the Gregorian solar calendar. After a 32 year cycle, Ramadan is observable during all Gregorian calendar seasons.
How accurate is the Islamic lunar calendar compared to the solar year?
Being about 11 days shorter than the solar year, the Islamic (lunar) year loses synchronisation over time. Leap months are not used to reconcile this difference. Still, the 354-day lunar cycle provides a fairly accurate methodology for determining religious events.
