About Makkah Islamic Calendar

This website wants to shed a new light on the Islamic Calendar for Makkah. This very practical problem has impact on the lives of millions of pilgrims across the world because the date of the Hajj, or the great annual pilgrimage, depends on an accurate Islamic calendar. Modern astronomical methods make it quite possible to establish an accurate Islamic calendar for Makkah decades in advance.
Our work enlarges upon the traditional Islamic idea of beginning the new month when the first crescent is observed in the evening sky, as reported by two reliable witnesses. The concept of extended visibility is introduced as defined by the visibility on land to the west of Makkah between sunset and the early morning prayer in Makkah at each birth of the new moon. Any visibility of crescent to the west of Makkah, before the morning prayer in Makkah, is considered as visibility at Makkah itself. The concept of extended visibility permits the use of plotted crescent visibility curves in order to predict the visibility of the early crescent to a high degree of accuracy. We have also published photographs of the early crescent in our Photo Gallery section which validates concretely the accuracy of our hypothesis. Please click Makkah Islamic Calendar to read more.