Hajj days calculator

Six days, fixed in the Islamic calendar

Hajj runs from the 8th to the 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah. That much never moves. What moves is where those days land on the Gregorian calendar, about eleven days earlier each year, because the lunar year is shorter than the solar one.

This tool converts them so you can see the dates, the weekdays, and how far off they are. It is a calendar, not a manual.

What each day is called

The 8th is Yawm al-Tarwiyah, when pilgrims move out to Mina. The 9th is Yawm Arafah, the standing that the Hajj turns on, followed by the night at Muzdalifah. The 10th is Yawm al-Nahr, Eid al-Adha, associated with the stoning of the largest pillar, the sacrifice, shaving or shortening, and the tawaf of ifadah. The 11th to the 13th are the days of Tashriq, spent in Mina.

Those are descriptions of what each day is associated with, not instructions. What is obligatory, what is recommended, in what order things may be done and what a missed step requires all differ between the schools, and none of it belongs in a date calculator.

Five days or six

Pilgrims who leave Mina before sunset on the 12th, rather than staying for the 13th, are doing something long recognised and with conditions attached to it. Both days are listed here and the difference is noted rather than settled. In practice a great many people’s Hajj runs five days.

Why the dates are an estimate

Dhu al-Hijjah begins on a sighting announced in Saudi Arabia, and the Hajj follows that announcement wherever the pilgrim has come from. These dates are converted from a fixed arithmetic calendar instead, so they can sit a day either side.

This is also the reason Eid al-Adha sometimes falls on a different day at home than it does for the pilgrims: many countries use their own local sighting for the rest of the year but follow the Saudi announcement for the Hajj. When the two diverge, so do the dates, and which day those not on Hajj should observe the fast of Arafah on is itself something people differ over.

Planning a trip around this

The six days are the Hajj itself, not the length of the journey. Pilgrims are generally in Makkah for some days beforehand, and many travel on to Madinah afterwards, so a package typically runs two to three weeks. Use these dates to find the right window and take the exact days from whoever you are travelling with.