About Dhu al-Hijjah
Dhu al-Hijjah (ذُو ٱلْحِجَّة) is the twelfth month of the Hijri calendar. Its name means “The one of pilgrimage.” The twelfth month and a sacred month. It contains the Hajj pilgrimage, the Day of Arafah (9th), and Eid al-Adha (10th). It is one of the four sacred months (Dhu al-Qadah, Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab), in which fighting was traditionally prohibited.
Like every Hijri month it has 29 or 30 days, determined in the Umm al-Qura calendar by the official tables and in the tabular calendar by a fixed arithmetic rule. Because the lunar month depends on the sighting of the new crescent, the exact first day can differ by a day from the calculated date. Our guide on Umm al-Qura, tabular and moon-sighting calendars sets out how far apart the three methods actually land.
Dates in Dhu al-Hijjah
- Day of Arafah - 9 Dhu al-Hijjah. The day pilgrims gather at Arafah during Hajj, on 9 Dhu al-Hijjah.
- Eid al-Adha - 10 Dhu al-Hijjah. The festival of the sacrifice, on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah, during the Hajj season.