Thursday, September 21 – Al Hijri – Islamic New Year

Al-Hijra / Islamic New Year in 2017 will start on Thursday, the 21st of September.

The Hijri New Year, also known as Islamic New Year or Arabic New Year is the day that marks the beginning of a new Islamic calendar year, and is the day on which the year count is incremented. The first day of the year is observed on the first day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar.

Although Al-Hijra / Muharram is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar.

This difference means Al-Hijra / Muharram moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Al-Hijra / Muharram may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not.

The residents in the UAE will enjoy a long weekend.