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Ashura date finder

Find the estimated date of Ashura for any year, with the ninth and eleventh of Muharram beside it so either fasting pairing can be read off.

Which years

Defaults to the next Ashura

How many years

Calendar reckoning

Tabular variant
Shift the result, in days

If the calendar where you are reads a day ahead of what this gives, set +1. The shift applies to every date the tool produces.

These dates are calculated, not announced

Islamic months begin on the sighting of the new crescent, announced locally. A converted date comes from a fixed arithmetic calendar instead, so it can differ from the observed one by a day in either direction, and countries differ from each other.

Saudi Arabia’s official Umm al-Qura calendar is a third scheme again. It is published as a table rather than derived from a formula, so it is not computed here.

Enter a Hijri year and the dates appear here.

The tenth of Muharram

Ashura falls on the tenth day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic year. Its position in the calendar is settled; what moves is where it lands on the Gregorian one. Because a lunar year runs about eleven days shorter than a solar year, the date shifts earlier every year and works its way round the seasons over roughly thirty-three.

Why this tool shows three days

Most people looking up Ashura are working out which days to fast, and that is a question with more than one answer in practice. Fasting the ninth alongside the tenth is the pairing most commonly described. Fasting the tenth together with the eleventh is also reported and followed.

So the tool gives the ninth, the tenth and the eleventh, and leaves the choice alone. It is not the place to settle which pairing is preferable; it is the place to find out what dates they fall on.

One day, two observances

Ashura is kept as a fast by many Muslims. For Shia Muslims it is a day of mourning marking the killing of Husayn at Karbala, and fasting is not the observance. The dates are the same either way, which is all this tool provides.

How the date is worked out, and how far to trust it

Muharram is dated here from the tabular Islamic calendar, fixed arithmetic, which is what lets a date be given years ahead. The month in use begins when the new crescent is sighted and is announced locally, so a converted date can sit a day either side of the observed one, and countries differ from each other.

There is one saving grace in this particular case. Because the days of interest are consecutive, a one-day error moves the whole set rather than breaking the relationship between them: the ninth is still the day before the tenth. If your local announcement puts Muharram a day from this calculation, the shift control moves every date on the page together.

Why the first of Muharram is shown

Because everything else is counted from it. Ashura is the tenth day of the month, so if the month starts a day late, Ashura does too. Seeing where the month begins makes it obvious which way the whole set will move if the announcement differs.

Questions

When is Ashura?
The tenth of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic year. That position is not in dispute. Where it falls on the Gregorian calendar changes every year, moving about eleven days earlier each time, because the lunar year is shorter than the solar one.
Should I fast the ninth and tenth, or the tenth and eleventh?
Both pairings are followed. Fasting the ninth alongside the tenth is the one most commonly described, and fasting the tenth with the eleventh is also reported and practised. This tool gives all three dates so that either can be used, and does not rank them. That is a question for someone qualified to answer it, not for a date calculator.
Why is the ninth called Tasua?
Tasua simply means the ninth, as Ashura means the tenth. The names are the day numbers within Muharram.
Is Ashura a day of fasting or a day of mourning?
It depends who you ask, and this tool takes no position. Many Muslims keep it as a fast. For Shia Muslims it is a day of mourning commemorating the killing of Husayn at Karbala, and fasting is not the observance. The dates given here are the same either way.
How accurate are these dates?
They are conversions from a fixed arithmetic calendar, so expect them to be within a day of the announced date and to differ between countries. Because the point of the tool is a pair of consecutive days, a one-day error shifts the whole pairing together rather than splitting it, but the local announcement is still what settles it.
Why does Muharram matter for the date?
Because Ashura is counted from the start of it. If Muharram begins a day later than the calculation assumed, Ashura and both of its neighbouring days move with it. That is why the tool shows the first of Muharram too, and why the shift control moves every date on the page together.

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