October 24, 2014 was رأس السنة (ra’s al-sana, the first day or “head” of the year) in the Islamic or هجرية (hijrī) calendar.
it is called هجرية (hijrī) in Arabic because the first day of the Islamic calendar commemorates الهجرة (al-hijra, the migration) of محمد (Muḥammad) from Mecca to Madina. This took place in 622 AD, by the Gregorian calendar.
Like in the Gregorian calendar, there are twelve months in the Islamic calendar:
مُحَرَّم (Muḥarram, meaning “sacred” or “forbidden.” It is one of the sacred months when fighting was forbidden in pre-Islamic Arabia).
صَفَر (Ṣafar)
رَبيع الاوَّل (Rabīʿ al-Awwal)
رَبيع الثاني (Rabīʿ al-Thānī)
جُمادى الأولى (Jumādā al-Ūlā)
جُمادى الثانية (Jumādā al-Thāniyah)
رَجَب (Rajab)
شَعبان (Shaʿbān)
رَمَضان (Ramaḍān, the fasting month for Muslims)
شَوّال (Shawwāl)
ذو القَعدة (Dhū al-Qaʿdah)
ذو الحِجّة (Dhū al-Ḥijjah, “of Hajj”‘it is the month when Muslims perform الحج, al-Ḥajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca).
The months of the Islamic calendar do not correspond neatly to those in the Gregorian calendar because they are based on phases of القمر (al-qamar, the moon), rather than solar cycles. A year in the Islamic calendar is eleven to twelve days shorter than a solar year, so important events like the fasting month of رمضان (Ramaḍān) occur in different seasons in different years.
