Guide · 7 min read
The four sacred months of the Islamic calendar
Of the twelve months of the Hijri year, four hold a special status: they are the sacred months. Two of them frame the pilgrimage season at the end of the year, one opens the new year, and one stands alone in the middle. Their names alone record what they were for - one means 'forbidden', another 'the one of truce' - and the arrangement is older than the Hijri era itself.
This guide covers which four months are sacred, the structural detail most explainers skip - three of the four run consecutively across the year boundary while the fourth sits by itself - what is commonly observed inside them, and when they land in the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian dates below are civil calculations from the Umm al-Qura calendar, the engine behind this site's converter, and can differ by about a day from a locally sighted date.
Which months are sacred
The four sacred months are Dhu al-Qadah, Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab - the eleventh, twelfth, first and seventh months of the Hijri year. The Quran states that of the twelve months, four are sacred, and Islamic tradition identifies them as these four.
Each month's name carries part of the story. Muharram comes from the same root as 'forbidden'; Dhu al-Qadah is 'the one of truce'; Dhu al-Hijjah is 'the one of pilgrimage'; Rajab is linked to a root meaning 'to respect'. The other eight months take their names from seasons and daily life - spring, parched land, scorching heat - but these four are named for their status.
| Position | Month | Arabic | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Dhu al-Qadah | ذُو ٱلْقَعْدَة | The one of truce |
| 12 | Dhu al-Hijjah | ذُو ٱلْحِجَّة | The one of pilgrimage |
| 1 | Muharram | مُحَرَّم | Forbidden |
| 7 | Rajab | رَجَب | To respect |
Three in a row, and one on its own
The arrangement is not four scattered months. Dhu al-Qadah, Dhu al-Hijjah and Muharram are consecutive - months eleven, twelve and one - so the sacred season runs in an unbroken stretch of about three months that crosses the Hijri New Year in the middle. Rajab, month seven, stands alone almost exactly half a year away.
In the Umm al-Qura calendar the current run makes the shape concrete: 1 Dhu al-Qadah 1447 falls on 18 April 2026, Dhu al-Hijjah follows on 18 May, the year turns to 1448 AH on 16 June, and Muharram closes on 14 July 2026 - eighty-eight consecutive sacred days. The isolated month arrives later: 1 Rajab 1448 falls on 10 December 2026.
So in any given year the sacred months occupy two windows of the calendar: one long block around the turn of the Hijri year, and one single month on the far side of it.
Why these four
The traditional explanation is travel. The Hajj pilgrimage falls in Dhu al-Hijjah, and in pre-Islamic Arabia reaching a pilgrimage site could mean weeks of crossing tribal territory. The sacred months were a standing truce: Dhu al-Qadah - literally the month of truce - covered the journey out, Dhu al-Hijjah the pilgrimage itself, and Muharram the journey home. Fighting was traditionally suspended so that pilgrims and caravans could travel in safety.
Rajab is explained the same way. Sitting mid-year, it is traditionally associated with the lesser pilgrimage, Umrah, and gave a protected month to those travelling for it, far from the main season.
The Hijri calendar kept the four months and their names when it was established, and the pattern has been fixed ever since: the same four months, in the same positions, every year. What changed with the calendar's founding is only the numbering of the years; the sacred months are part of the older architecture of the year itself.
What falls inside them
The sacred months contain several of the most widely marked dates of the Islamic year. In Dhu al-Hijjah, the Hajj season culminates in the Day of Arafah on the 9th, when pilgrims gather at Arafah, and Eid al-Adha, the festival of the sacrifice, on the 10th. In Muharram, the Islamic New Year falls on the 1st, when the Hijri year count advances, and the Day of Ashura on the 10th is marked by many Muslims with fasting and remembrance. In Rajab, the Night Journey - Isra and Miraj - is commonly commemorated on the 27th. Dhu al-Qadah, the month of truce, carries no major dated observance of its own.
For the Hijri year 1447-1448, the Umm al-Qura calendar places these dates as follows: the Day of Arafah on 26 May 2026, Eid al-Adha on 27 May 2026, the Islamic New Year on 16 June 2026, Ashura on 25 June 2026, and Isra and Miraj (27 Rajab 1447) on 16 January 2026.
The usual caution applies to every one of those dates. They are civil calculations from a published table, not sighting announcements; the observed day can differ by about a day from any calculated calendar, and communities follow the announcement of their local religious authority. The key-dates pages on this site carry the same note year by year.
When they land in the Gregorian year
Because the Hijri year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian one, the sacred months are not tied to any season. Each year they arrive 10 to 12 days earlier in the Gregorian calendar, and over about 33 years the whole sacred season makes a complete circuit - April now, but December a decade from now, and high summer a generation ago.
The table shows the start of the three-month sacred run over four consecutive Hijri years, from the Umm al-Qura calendar. The same drift applies to Rajab, half a year offset.
This is the same eleven-day slide that moves Ramadan and every other Hijri date, and the guide on how the Islamic calendar works explains where the eleven days go.
| Hijri year | 1 Dhu al-Qadah (Gregorian) | Weekday |
|---|---|---|
| 1446 AH | 29 April 2025 | Tuesday |
| 1447 AH | 18 April 2026 | Saturday |
| 1448 AH | 8 April 2027 | Thursday |
| 1449 AH | 27 March 2028 | Monday |
Looking them up
Each sacred month has its own page on this site - Muharram, Rajab, Dhu al-Qadah and Dhu al-Hijjah - with its Arabic spelling, the meaning of its name, and its Gregorian span for the current and coming years, alongside the eight other months of the year.
For the dated observances inside them, the key-dates pages list the Day of Arafah, Eid al-Adha, the Islamic New Year, Ashura and Isra and Miraj for any year from 1970 to 2075, in both calendars. And to place any single date - to check whether it falls inside a sacred month at all - the converter takes a date in either calendar and returns the other.
Frequently asked questions
Which are the four sacred months in the Islamic calendar?
Dhu al-Qadah, Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab - the eleventh, twelfth, first and seventh months of the Hijri year. The Quran states that four of the twelve months are sacred, and Islamic tradition identifies them as these four. Three run consecutively across the turn of the Hijri year, and Rajab stands alone in the middle of the year.
Are the four sacred months consecutive?
Three of them are: Dhu al-Qadah, Dhu al-Hijjah and Muharram are months eleven, twelve and one, so they form an unbroken stretch of roughly three months across the Hijri New Year. The fourth, Rajab, is month seven and sits on its own about half a year away. In 1447-1448 AH the consecutive block runs from 18 April to 14 July 2026 in the Umm al-Qura calendar.
What important dates fall inside the sacred months?
Dhu al-Hijjah contains the Hajj season, the Day of Arafah on the 9th and Eid al-Adha on the 10th. Muharram opens with the Islamic New Year on the 1st and includes the Day of Ashura on the 10th, marked by many Muslims with fasting and remembrance. Isra and Miraj is commonly commemorated on 27 Rajab. Calculated dates for all of these are civil calculations and can differ by about a day from a sighting, so communities follow their local religious authority.
Do the sacred months fall at the same time every year?
In the Hijri calendar, always: the same four months in the same four positions. In the Gregorian calendar, never: the Hijri year is about eleven days shorter, so the sacred months arrive 10 to 12 days earlier each Gregorian year and drift through all four seasons over about 33 years. 1 Dhu al-Qadah falls on 18 April in 2026 but on 27 March by 2028.