When does Rajab start in 2026?

How this date is set

This date is set by the Islamic lunar calendar, not the Gregorian one. Rajab is the seventh month of the twelve Hijri months, and each Hijri month runs 29 or 30 days, beginning with the birth of the new moon. Twelve lunar months make a year of 354 or 355 days — about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian year — so the same Islamic date lands about 11 days earlier each Gregorian year.

The Gregorian date shown is the Umm al-Qura calculation: the official Islamic calendar of Saudi Arabia, built from astronomical calculation of the new moon, and the calendar this site's Hijri calendar converter uses. Other communities wait for the new crescent to be seen with the eye, or follow a different country's announcement — so the day your community actually observes can sit a day either side of the estimate. Because the Islamic day begins at sunset, the date begins the evening before the Gregorian day shown.

Rajab sits between Jumada al-Akhirah and Sha'ban: Rajab, then Sha'ban, then Ramadan. Counting from 1 Rajab gives roughly two lunar months — 59 or 60 days — until Ramadan begins, which is why mosques and families watch its start when planning the Ramadan ahead.