When Is the Islamic New Year, and What Is Its Significance?

New Year’s might conjure up a cold winter day, but for Muslims who follow the lunar-based Islamic calendar, the new year can arrive during any season. Rather than simply representing a fresh start, the Islamic New Year preserves a foundational moment in the religion’s history.

The holiday marks the year in which the Prophet Muhammad fled from Mecca to escape religious persecution in A.D. 622. This migration is known as the Hijra (also spelled Hegira).

In the United States, the Islamic New Year begins on the evening of Monday, June 15, 2026, with Tuesday, June 16, 2026, marking the first full day of the year. The precise timing is dependent on the sighting of the waxing crescent moon, which can sometimes be delayed by factors like weather.

According to the Islamic calendar, the holiday falls on Muharram 1, 1448. Muharram, which means “the sacred,” is one of four holy months. As the first month of the Islamic calendar, Muharram begins the new year.

Islamic New Year, like Lunar New Year, does not follow the Gregorian calendar, which designates January 1 as the new year. Dates of the lunar-based calendar are set by the phases of the moon. Each sighting of the waxing crescent moon begins a new month and is significant for timing Islamic events and festivals.

Established in A.D. 639, the 12-month lunar calendar determines Muslim holidays, like Ramadan and Eid al-Adha, as well as anniversaries of Muhammad. Each month is 29 to 30 days long, meaning the Islamic calendar, or the Hijrī, has 354 or 355 days per year. Because this is shorter than the solar-based Gregorian calendar, which lasts just shy of 365.25 days, the Islamic New Year falls about 10 to 12 days earlier each year on the Gregorian calendar. The holiday occurs during every season over a 33-year cycle.

The Islamic New Year is a public holiday in many Muslim countries, but there are no traditional celebrations or over-the-top parties like those that might come to mind when the clock strikes midnight on January 1. Instead, the new year is celebrated with reflection, worship and prayer. That continues throughout the month of Muharram when some Muslims fast, follow a vegetarian diet or mourn. People often spend the day making religious resolutions or performing sadaqah, the Arabic term for voluntary charity, which can include donations, acts of service or simple good deeds. In some places, Muslims welcome the new year with parades.