The Four Sacred Months in Islam: Which They Are, Why, and Their 1448 Dates

The Quran says that four of the twelve months are sacred, but does not list them by name. The Prophet ﷺ did, in his sermon during the farewell pilgrimage. Knowing which months they are — and why they matter — gives the Islamic year a shape: a long sacred season around the turn of the year, and a single sacred month in the middle.

The four months

The sacred months, al-ashhur al-hurum (الأشهر الحُرُم), are:

1. Dhul-Qa’dah — the 11th month
2. Dhul-Hijjah — the 12th month
3. Muharram — the 1st month
4. Rajab — the 7th month

Three run consecutively, straddling the end of one Hijri year and the start of the next. Rajab is alone, three months later in the year.

The evidence

The Quran

“Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the register of Allah from the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred. That is the correct religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them.” (9:36)

The verse establishes three things: the year is twelve months, four are sacred, and wrongdoing in them is particularly to be avoided.

The hadith

In the farewell pilgrimage, the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Time has returned to its original form, as on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth. The year is twelve months, of which four are sacred: three consecutive — Dhul-Qa’dah, Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram — and Rajab of Mudar, which comes between Jumada and Sha’ban.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 3197; Sahih Muslim 1679)

The phrase “Rajab of Mudar” is a clarification. The tribe of Rabi’ah placed their “Rajab” differently; the Prophet ﷺ confirmed the placement used by the tribe of Mudar, between Jumada al-Akhirah and Sha’ban.

Why these months were sacred

The sacred months long predate Islam. In pre-Islamic Arabia they were a period of truce: tribes laid down arms so that pilgrims could travel to Makkah safely for Hajj in Dhul-Hijjah, with a month either side for the journey there and back. Rajab, in the middle of the year, served the lesser pilgrimage (‘umrah) and trade.

Islam confirmed the months and their sanctity, and abolished the practice of shifting them (nasi’), which had allowed tribes to swap a sacred month for an ordinary one when war was convenient (9:37).

What sacredness means in practice

Wrongdoing is graver

The clearest instruction in the verse is: “do not wrong yourselves during them”. Classical commentators, including Ibn Kathir, explain that while sin is always sinful, it is more serious in the sacred months — just as it is more serious in a sacred place — and good deeds are correspondingly more rewarded. Qatadah is reported as saying that wrongdoing in the sacred months is greater in sin than at other times.

Fighting

In the early period, initiating fighting in the sacred months was forbidden (2:217). Scholars differ on whether this prohibition remains: the majority hold it was later abrogated with regard to warfare in general, while others hold it still applies to initiating hostilities. All agree that the months remain sacred in their status and that injustice in them is especially serious.

Encouragement to worship

There is no special obligatory worship tied to the sacred months as a whole. Instead, each contains well-known occasions:

• Dhul-Qa’dah: the month of travel towards Hajj; the Prophet ﷺ performed most of his ‘umrahs in Dhul-Qa’dah.
• Dhul-Hijjah: the first ten days, the Day of Arafah (9th), Eid al-Adha (10th) and the days of Tashreeq.
• Muharram: “the month of Allah”, in which voluntary fasting is especially recommended (Sahih Muslim 1163), and the day of Ashura (10th).
• Rajab: a sacred month in which general worship is encouraged. Scholars caution that there is no authentic hadith specifying particular prayers or fasts because it is Rajab, beyond the general merit of the sacred months.

Dates of the sacred months in 1448 and 1449 AH

All dates are on the Umm al-Qura calendar; local sighting can shift each by a day.

Month	Begins	Ends	Key dates
Rajab 1448	10 December 2026	8 January 2027	27 Rajab (commemoration of Isra and Mi’raj): 5 Jan 2027
Dhul-Qa’dah 1448	8 April 2027	6 May 2027	—
Dhul-Hijjah 1448	7 May 2027	5 June 2027	Arafah 15 May; Eid al-Adha 16 May 2027
Muharram 1449	6 June 2027	4 July 2027	Ashura 15 June 2027
Rajab 1449	29 November 2027	28 December 2027	—

Notice the “sacred season” from 8 April to 4 July 2027 — nearly three months in a row.

The sacred months in early Islamic history

Several events in the Prophet’s life are tied to the sacred months, and they show how seriously the early community treated them.

The Nakhlah expedition (Rajab, 2 AH). A small party of Muslims sent to gather information near Nakhlah, between Makkah and Ta’if, clashed with a Quraysh caravan on what may have been the last day of Rajab. The Quraysh accused the Muslims of violating a sacred month. The Quran responded in 2:217: “They ask you about fighting in the sacred month. Say: fighting in it is a grave matter — but obstructing people from the path of Allah… and expelling its people from the Sacred Mosque are graver in the sight of Allah.” The verse affirmed the sanctity of the month while placing the Quraysh’s own conduct in perspective.

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (Dhul-Qa’dah, 6 AH). The Prophet ﷺ set out for ‘umrah in the sacred month of Dhul-Qa’dah, with sacrificial animals and without arms for battle, signalling peaceful intent. The resulting treaty with Quraysh, though it looked unfavourable at the time, is described in the Quran as “a clear victory” (48:1).

The ‘umrah of fulfilment (Dhul-Qa’dah, 7 AH). Under the terms of the treaty, the Muslims returned the following year — again in Dhul-Qa’dah — to perform the ‘umrah they had been prevented from completing.

The farewell pilgrimage (Dhul-Hijjah, 10 AH). The Prophet’s sermon at this pilgrimage gave the hadith that names the four sacred months and fixed the calendar in its final form.

A practical plan for each sacred month

Because the four months fall at very different points in the year, they make natural checkpoints. One way to use them:

Month	Practical focus
Rajab	Two months before Ramadan: make up missed fasts, set a Quran reading plan, settle debts and disputes.
Dhul-Qa’dah	Plan for Dhul-Hijjah: arrange your qurbani early, plan which of the first nine days you can fast, and book leave around Eid.
Dhul-Hijjah	The first ten days: extra dhikr (takbir, tahmid, tahlil), charity and fasting — especially the Day of Arafah if you are not on Hajj.
Muharram	A fresh start to the year: voluntary fasting, especially the 9th and 10th (Ashura).

None of this is a special obligation of the sacred months; it is simply a way of honouring the instruction “do not wrong yourselves during them” by doing more good in them.

Common misunderstandings

“Ramadan is a sacred month.” Ramadan is the most blessed month for fasting and the month of revelation, but it is not one of the four hurum. The hadith lists them explicitly.

“Rajab has a special prayer or fast.” Several practices associated with Rajab — such as a special prayer on the first Thursday night (salat al-ragha’ib) — are based on reports that hadith scholars have judged fabricated or very weak. Voluntary fasting in Rajab is fine as part of general fasting; it is the claim of a specific Rajab-only reward that scholars question.

“Nothing can be done in the sacred months.” Marriages, travel, business and ordinary life all continue. What changes is the weight of one’s conduct: a reason to be more careful and more generous.

Using the sacred months well

Many Muslims treat the sacred months as natural checkpoints in the year:

• Rajab as an early reminder that Ramadan is about two months away — time to make up missed fasts and build habits.
• Dhul-Qa’dah as preparation for the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah.
• Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram as the high point of the year: Arafah, Eid, the new Hijri year and Ashura in close succession.

You can follow where you are in the year on the Hijri date today page, and see each month’s dates on the Hijri calendar 1448.