How many days are in a Hijri month?

A Hijri month has 29 or 30 days, set by the lunar cycle and the sighting or computed calendar in force; a month never exceeds thirty days.

Which are the sacred months?

Four: Dhul-Qada, Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram consecutively, and Rajab alone, between Jumada and Shaban, as authentically narrated from Abu Bakrah in Bukhari and Muslim.

Why is Ramadan called that?

From “ramd al-har”, scorched heat: the name was fixed in the era when months tracked the seasons before intercalation was abolished, and the month then coincided with peak summer heat.

When does a Hijri month begin?

A Hijri month begins at sunset on the last day of the previous month once the crescent’s birth is established — followed either by religious sighting or astronomical computation, depending on the calendar your country follows.

The Months of the Hijri Year: Names, Meanings, and the Sacred Months

The months of the Hijri year

The Hijri year consists of twelve lunar months; each begins with the birth of the new crescent and ends with the next, lasting 29 or 30 days. The table below lists the months in order with the lexical meanings of their names as recorded by the Arabic lexicographers:

Month	Origin of the name	Note
Muharram	From "prohibition"; fighting was forbidden in it, one of the sacred months	Sacred month
Safar	Said to be from "emptiness", as Arab homes stood empty when they departed
Rabi' al-Awwal	Named after spring, the season it coincided with when the names were fixed
Rabi' al-Thani	The second Rabi, also called Rabi al-Akhir
Jumada al-Ula	Said to be from "freezing", as water froze when it was named in winter
Jumada al-Akhira	The second Jumada, also called Jumada al-Akhira
Rajab	Said to be from "honoring"; a sacred month standing alone	Sacred month
Sha'ban	Said to be from "branching", as tribes dispersed in search of water and pasture
Ramadan	From "scorching heat"; named during an intensely hot summer	Month of fasting
Shawwal	Said to be from camels raising their tails
Dhul-Qi'dah	From "sitting still"; Arabs halted fighting and travel, a sacred month	Sacred month
Dhul-Hijjah	The great month of Hajj, a sacred month	Hajj month, sacred

To see the Gregorian start date of every month in 1448 AH, see the Hijri year page or the date converter.

Where do the month names come from?

These are ancient Arabic names used long before Islam. The classical lexicographers documented their derivation: Ibn Manzur (d. 711 AH) devoted entries in “Lisan al-Arab” to each month, and al-Biruni (d. 440 AH) wrote “al-Athar al-Baqiya” (The Chronology of Ancient Nations), the earliest rigorous study of these names and their origins. According to the standard account: Muharram is from tahrim, the prohibition of fighting; Safar from the “emptying” (isfar) of houses when warring tribes left; the two Rabi months were named for the spring season when the names were fixed; the two Jumada months from jumud, freezing, for the winter cold; Rajab from taʿzim, to venerate; Shaban from the branching out (tashaʿub) of tribes seeking water; Ramadan from ramd, scorched heat; Shawwal from she-camels raising (shawl) their tails; Dhul-Qada from “sitting” (quʿud), refraining from travel and combat before Hajj; and Dhul-Hijjah is the month of the greater pilgrimage.

The four sacred months

Allah says: “The count of months with Allah is twelve months, ordained in Allah’s Book the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred” (Quran 9:36). Three are consecutive — Dhul-Qada, Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram — and the fourth stands apart: Rajab. Abu Bakrah reported the Prophet ﷺ as saying: “The year is twelve months, four of them sacred: three consecutive — Dhul-Qada, Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram — and Rajab of Mudar, which falls between Jumada and Shaban” (Sahih al-Bukhari 3197 and Muslim). In pre-Islamic times these were manipulated by intercalation (nasiʾ) so fighting could be lawful in them, until the Quran abolished it: “Intercalation is but an addition to disbelief” (9:37). Wrongdoing and fighting are graver in these months, and good deeds weigh heavier in them.

Why do the months not keep fixed seasons?

The month names were fixed in an era when the Arab calendar was lunisolar: an intercalary month (nasiʾ) was inserted every two or three years to keep the months aligned with the seasons — Ramadan then matched the scorching heat it is named for, and the Jumada months matched the cold. When Islam abolished intercalation at the Farewell Pilgrimage, the calendar became purely lunar, and the months began drifting through the seasons in a cycle of about 33 years; the names kept their old seasonal meanings even as the months toured all seasons. This is explained further in What Is the Hijri Calendar?.

Ramadan and Dhul-Hijjah: the great months of worship

Ramadan is the month of fasting and the Quran: “The month of Ramadan in which the Quran was sent down” (2:185), containing Laylat al-Qadr, “better than a thousand months” (97:3). Dhul-Hijjah is the month of the greater pilgrimage, whose first ten days are the most virtuous of the year: “No deeds are better than deeds in these days,” the Prophet ﷺ said (Sahih al-Bukhari 969). Within it falls the day of Arafah, about which he ﷺ said: “Fasting the day of Arafah, I count on Allah to expiate the year before it and the year after it” (Sahih Muslim 1162). The full calendar of the year’s occasions is detailed in Islamic Occasions.

Sources and references

Sahih al-Bukhari 3197: the hadith of the four sacred months, narrated by Abu Bakrah.
Sahih al-Bukhari 969: the virtue of deeds in the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, narrated by Ibn Abbas.
Umm al-Qura University, Makkah: the official reference for month starts in the Umm al-Qura calendar.
Ibn Manzur’s “Lisan al-Arab” and al-Biruni’s “al-Athar al-Baqiya”: the most authoritative records of the Arabic month-name etymologies.

Frequently asked questions

How many days are in a Hijri month?
A Hijri month has 29 or 30 days, set by the lunar cycle and the sighting or computed calendar in force; a month never exceeds thirty days.
Which are the sacred months?
Four: Dhul-Qada, Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram consecutively, and Rajab alone, between Jumada and Shaban, as authentically narrated from Abu Bakrah in Bukhari and Muslim.
Why is Ramadan called that?
From “ramd al-har”, scorched heat: the name was fixed in the era when months tracked the seasons before intercalation was abolished, and the month then coincided with peak summer heat.
When does a Hijri month begin?
A Hijri month begins at sunset on the last day of the previous month once the crescent’s birth is established — followed either by religious sighting or astronomical computation, depending on the calendar your country follows.