Islamic Holidays and Events for 2008

We have had a number of requests for information on the dates of Islamic holidays and events. As you may be aware, the Islamic calendar, called the Hijra calendar (based on the year of migration of the Muslims from Makkah to Madina) is a lunar-based calendar. As such, the Islamic year is about 354 days long, so the Islamic dates move through the seasons. The official start of every month is with the sighting of the new moon crescent. With advances in astronomy, we are able to calculate those days but when it comes to official events and holidays such as Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr, etc., many communities and Muslim states rely upon the actual sighting, so the dates listed here may not coincide with the actual day the events are celebrated. (For more information on the Hijri calendar, please click here.)