Hijri 1445: Muslims mark Islamic New Year

Muslims around the world are marking the start of the Islamic (Hijri) New Year on Wednesday 19 July.

The Islamic year is several days shorter than that of the Gregorian calendar used in many parts of the world — so its first day changes every year.

Though there are no prescribed religious observances for the first day of the new year, it is marked as a public holiday in some Muslim countries.

The first month of the Hijri calendar is Muharram, and the last Dhul Hijjah, when some Muslims perform the Hajj pilgrimage. The start of each month is generally determined by the sighting of the new moon.

The first year of the Hijri calendar corresponds with the Gregorian year of 622 AD. As such, the year according to the Hijri calendar is 1445.

Year one of the Hijri calendar marks when the Prophet Muhammad and his companions travelled from the city of Mecca, where they were experiencing persecution, to Medina. There, an Islamic state would be established. Both Mecca and Medina are in modern-day Saudi Arabia.

This journey is from where the calendar gets the name Hijri, with the word hijrah meaning migration in Arabic.