The Islamic calendar is based on the year prophet Muhammad ( ) and his fellow Muslims (known as Sahabah, the Companions) emigrated to Madinah in the year 622 C.E. (Christian Era). The emigration took place after thirteen years of persecutions by the disbelievers of Makkah. By the command of God, the Prophet left the city with his companion Abu Bakr Siddique (R.A.) and escaped a death threat by the disbelievers. The event marks the beginning of a second phase of the Islamic movement. It is the phase when Madinah became the center of an Islamic state.

The Islamic calendar is lunar. Each month must begin with the evening when the new moon is sightable by the unaided naked eye. Muslims are obligated to sight the crescent in every country. Different countries may begin the year at different days based on their own sightings. The calendar is called Hijri calendar. The Arabic word Hijrah means emigration.

Qur'an says moon is created for Calendar
1. Sun and moon follow Hisab:
"The sun and the moon follow courses exactly computed." (55:05)
2. Phases of the moon are the standard to be used for reckoning of time:
"They ask you about the waxing and waning phases of the crescent moons, say they are to mark fixed times for mankind and Hajj." (2:189)
3. Sun and Moon to be used for reckoning of time:
"It is He who made sun a lamp, and the moon a light and fixed the phases, so that you can count years and Hisab." (10:5)
4. Sun and Moon to be used for reckoning of time:
"And He who made the night for rest and sun and moon for reckoning of time. This is the decree of the Exalted, the All-knowing." (6:96)
5. Moon is the measure of month and year:

The Islamic Calendar has 12 months but, unlike Western calendars, has only 354 days. This is because the Islamic Calendar (or Hijri Calendar) follows the movements of Earth's Moon.
Like much of Islam, the calendar is based on the Quran and on personal reflection of the relationship between Muslims and Allah. Each month of the Islamic Calendar officially begins when the lunar crescent is first seen after a new moon. This is not always an exact time, especially if the skies are cloudy or overcast. In a sense, the start of each month can be different for everyone. Many people, however, prefer to rely on an official announcement by Muslim authorities as to when each month begins.

The importance of the lunar cresent is also partly the explanation for why many countries with predominantly Muslim populations have a crescent shape on their flags.
The 12 months of the Islamic Calendar, in order are these:
1. Muharram
2. Safar
3. Rabi' al-awwal
4. Rabi' al-thani
5. Jumada al-awwal

Muslims around the world use the Islamic calendar to determine the dates of religious events and observances. It is also known as the Hijri calendar or the Muslim calendar.
Tied to the Moon Phases
The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar whose time reckoning is tied to the Moon phases.
Each month lasts for a full lunation, which is the time span from one New Moon to the next. This Moon cycle encompasses all the phases of the Moon.
Crescent Moon in Sight
The timing of the months in the Islamic calendar is based on astronomical observation. A new month can only begin after a Waxing Crescent Moon is observed shortly after sunset. The Waxing Crescent Moon is the Moon phase which starts right after a New Moon.

The Kabba. Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
According to Islamic tradition, the cube-shaped Kabba dates back to the time of Abraham. It is the most sacred Muslim site, and the location towards which all Muslims face during prayer.
The Islamic calendar (or Hijri calendar) is a purely lunar calendar. It contains 12 months that are based on the motion of the moon, and because 12 synodic months is only 12 x 29.53=354.36 days, the Islamic calendar is consistently shorter than a tropical year, and therefore it shifts with respect to the Christian calendar.
The calendar is based on the Qur'an (Sura IX, 36-37) and its proper observance is a sacred duty for Muslims.
The Islamic calendar is the official calendar in countries around the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia. But other Muslim countries use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes and only turn to the Islamic calendar for religious purposes.

What does an Islamic year look like?

Saudi Arabia has shifted to the Gregorian or "Western" calendar as a basis for paying civil servants as part of an austerity package. The kingdom adopted the lunar Islamic calendar when it was founded in 1932.

The birthplace of Islam containing Mecca - Islam's holiest site - shifted to the Western Gregorian calendar on Sunday, bringing the oil-rich kingdom in line with many of its energy customers.
The Islamic lunar calendar is actually 11 days shorter than the 365-day solar year, which will actually save the kingdom money by cutting salary days for many public servants.
Introduction
The Kaʿba in the Great Mosque (al-Masjid al-Harām) in Mecca defines the latitude and longitude for which the Umm al-Qura calendar is calculated.
For several decades Saudi Arabia has employed a calculated lunar calendar which is commonly referred to as the “Umm al-Qura calendar”. It is also followed by several neighbouring states on the Arabian Peninsula such as Bahrain and Qatar.

RIYADH: Salaries, allowances and other payments to public servants will now be paid according to the Gregorian calendar in order to be aligned with the country’s fiscal year, according to a recent decision by the Council of Ministers.
On Wednesday the Cabinet agreed to switch from the Hijri calendar for payment of salaries, wages, bonuses and allowances to all civil sector employees.
The decision to switch from the lunar-based Hijri calendar to the solar-based Gregorian calendar was effective Oct. 1 and brought the government sector in line with the payment of wages in the private sector.
The government move evoked a mixed reaction.
Concerns were expressed about the banking network’s ability to cover all cash withdrawals on the first day that salaries are paid. Not only will this be an unprecedented situation in the history of the country, but it will also coincide with the date of deposit of the salaries of private sector employees.

THE kingdom presented its shift from the Islamic to the Gregorian calendar as a leap into modernity. In April the dynamic deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman, chose to call his transformation plan Vision 2030, not Vision 1451 after the corresponding Islamic year as traditionalists might have preferred. Recently his cabinet declared that the administration is adopting a solar calendar in place of the old lunar one. Henceforth they will run the state according to a reckoning based on Jesus Christ’s birth, not on the Prophet Muhammad’s religious mission.

Civil servants will lose 11 days of payment after their salary becomes based on the solar Gregorian calendar rather than the lunar Hijri calendar

Saudi Arabia has switched to the "Western" Gregorian calendar to pay its civil servants in one of a number of financial reforms announced by the Council of Ministers.
The Kingdom has used the lunar-based Hijri calendar since it was founded in 1932, but switched to the solar-based Gregorian calendar for paying public sector staff on 1 October.

Saudi Arabia to increase visa fees for pilgrims traveling to Mecca

The Islamic lunar calendar is made up of 12 months, each 29 or 30 days long depending on the sighting of the moon, with the year usually 354 days long - 11 days shorter than its Western equivalent.
The shift will mean civil servants will lose 11 days of payment as salary days are cut, bringing the nation’s public sector in line with the way private sector employees are paid, Gulf News reports.

Hajj is an annual religious pilgrimage to Mecca undertaken each year by 2-3 million people. The approximate dates for the 2017 Hajj are August 30 to September 4. Umrah is a pilgrimage that can be completed at any time of the year.
MERS Coronavirus Advisory
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) continues to pose risks in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government recommends that the following travelers postpone undertaking pilgrimages:
• Pregnant women
• Children
• Those with chronic health issues, such as heart, kidney, diabetes, cancer, or respiratory diseases
• Those with congenital or acquired immunodeficiency disorders
See the Saudi Ministry of Health website and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website for additional information on MERS-CoV.
Planning ahead for Hajj and Umrah is essential. Please review the following information and links for more details concerning:
• Pilgrimage Travel Requirements

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The pilgrimage to Mecca, also known as Hajj, is an Islamic pilgrimage to the holy city that is also the largest annual gathering of Muslims in the world. Mecca is the birthplace of Prophet Muhammed and site of the Kabaa making it the holiest and most sacred location on earth for Muslims.
1. Why do Hajj
The Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam and it is considered the sacred duty of all Muslims who are physically and financially able to perform the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime.

2. Types of pilgrimage

• A high-level committee is exploring reviving the option of sending pilgrims via sea route from Mumbai to Jeddah next year onwards
• The practice of ferrying devotees by waterways was stopped from 1995 on account of MV Akbari, the ship which would transport pilgrims, growing old
File photo.
NEW DELHI: (PTI) After a gap of nearly a quarter-century, the air at the Mumbai port may once again be filled with chanting of 'Talbiyah', a prayer Muslims invoke before they set off for or during the annual Haj pilgrimage.

A high-level committee, formed by the government to frame the Haj Policy, 2018, is exploring reviving the option of sending pilgrims via sea route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia next year onwards.

The practice of ferrying devotees between Mumbai and Jeddah by waterways was stopped from 1995 on account of MV Akbari, the ship which would transport pilgrims, growing old, a source in the Union minority affairs ministry said.

If everything goes as planned, Muslims could travel from Mumbai port to Jeddah by ship to perform the annual pilgrimage as early as next year.
The Hajj season will begin in August, when hundreds and thousands of Muslims will embark on a pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah from India and other countries around the globe. The annual Hajj quota was significantly increased to 1.70 lakh people by the Saudi Arabia government for Indian muslims.
However, there have been concerns related to the subsidy given to Hajj pilgrims by the government on the air fares. As the fear of increased Hajj costs might worry some potential Hajis (a person who has been to Mecca as a pilgrim), a PTI report on Wednesday brings relief.

The Meaning of ‘Umrah
The word ‘umrah in common speech "visit", but in the Shari’ah it means paying a visit to the Bayt Allah alHaram (the Sacred House of God, i.e. the Holy Ka'bah) in a specific form.
The Kinds of ‘Umrah
The ‘Umrah is of two kinds: the first which is performed independently of the Hajj (called al‘Umrat almufradah almustaqillah ‘an alHajj), and the second kind which is performed in conjunction with the Hajj (al‘Umrat almundammah ila alHajj). The al‘Umrat almufradah, the independent ‘Umrah, all the five legal schools agree, can be performed at all times of the year, though it is meritorious to perform it during the month of Rajab according to the Imamiyyah, and in Ramadan according to the four Sunni schools.