The Islamic New Year is called the Hijri New Year.
The first year of the Islamic (Hijri) calendar was chosen to be the year in which our beloved Prophet peace be upon him Migrated from the city of Makkah to the city of Madinah. Both cities are in present day Saudi Arabia.
Therefore in 2023 the Hijri year is 1445 Hijri and in 2024 the Hijri year will be 1446 Hijri.
In 2023 the New Hijri year started on Wednesday 19th of July 2023.
How do Muslims celebrate the Hijri New year?
Muslims do not celebrate nor congratulate each other on the Hijri New year but the first month of the Islamic calender called Muharram is one of the Four blessed months months of the year. In this month the Muslims are encouraged be extra careful of commiting sins and to do extra good deeds and fast on the day Ashura sometimes spelt as Ashoorah.
The Importance of Muharram and the reason why we fast on these days is explained in the following article…
Importance of Muharram and fasting on the day of Ashura
Ashura in 2023 will be on Friday 28th July 2023
Hijri calendar is based on 12 months and each Month of the Muslim Hijri calender begins when a new moon is sighted. Thus it is a lunar calender wereas the Gregorian calender is a solar Calender
In the Islamic lunar calender each month begins when a new moon is sighted. Therefore each of its 12 months can be can be either 29 days long or 30 days long so a year could theoretically be anywere from 348 day minimum to a maximum of 360 days long.
Since the Islamic lunar year is eight to twelve days shorter than the solar year as approximated by the Gregorian calendar, the Islamic New Year does not occur on the same Gregorian calendar date every year.
The exact date will only be known on the last day of the 12th Hijri month. We will try to announce the date as soon as we find out.
Muslims do not worship the moon they only worship Allah (God). The lunar month helps us to us keep track of years. In my life time I gone more than a full circle. Fasting the Month of Ramadan and celebrating the two Eids in the Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. Each period has its own beauties.