The Middle East is the birthplace of some of the world’s most ancient calendar systems. While the Western (Gregorian) calendar is now commonly used in daily life throughout the Middle East, several other calendars remain in use, though many of these are restricted to particular religious communities.
The most common calendar in the Arabic-speaking world is the lunar Hijri calendar; a solar version of the same is in use in Iran.
Here are websites offering automatic dates conversion:
- Islamic Philosophy (Gregorian – Islamic)
- IslamiCity (Gregorian – Islamic)
- Iranian Calendar Converter (Iranian – Gregorian – Islamic)
- Afghan Date Converter (Gregorian – Afghan – Julian – Hebrew – Islamic – Iranian – Kurdish)
- Convert a date (Julian – Hebrew – Islamic – Iranian – Kurdish – Afghan – Bahai)
The standard print reference for converting between dates in some of the more common calendars is:
- Wüstenfeld & E. Mahler. Wüstenfeld-Mahler’sche Vergleichungs-Tabellen zur muslimischen und iranischen Zeitrechnung : mit Tafeln zur Umrechnung orient-christlichen Ären. 3rs ed. Wiesbaden: F. Steiner, 1961.
NAMES AND ROMANIZATIONS OF THE MONTH IN VARIOUS CALENDARS:
Islamic | Egyptian | Syrian/Christian| Persian | Tunisian/Algerian | Moroccan | Libyan
ISLAMIC
EGYPTIAN
SYRIAN / CHRISTIAN
PERSIAN
MONTH
DAYS OF THE WEEK
SEASONS
MOROCCAN (TUNISIAN / ALGERIAN)
LIBYAN (OF HISTORIC INTEREST)
TO CONVERT A LIBYAN YEAR TO A GREGORIAN DATE:
Add 632 (the first year of the Libyan calendar is counted from the year the Prophet Muhammad (saas) passed away).
E.g.: 24 Nasir 1369 (add 632) = 24 July 2001
TO CONVERT A LIBYAN MILADI YEAR TO A GREGORIAN DATE:
Add 570 (the year the Prophet Muhammad (saas) was born).
E.g.: 24 Nasir 1430 M (add 570) = 24 July 2000
Last updated: Jan. 2020