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Islamic Calendar

Islamic Calendar

In AD-Din Solution we allow organizations to select the calendar of choice for Islamic date on the Ad-Din prayer time widget. Both are prevalent. we recommend you do your due diligence. The default is Umm al-Qura.

Umm al-Qura

For several decades Saudi Arabia has employed a calculated lunar calendar which is commonly referred to as the “Umm al-Qura calendar”. Many Muslim communities in non-Islamic countries also tend to follow the Umm al-Qura calendar as its use in mosques funded by Saudi Arabia and in modern computer software (it is the default Islamic calendar in the Arabic setting of Microsoft software) becomes more and more prevalent.

Hijri

The Islamic (hijrī) calendar is used by more than a billion Muslims around the world to determine the main days of observance in the Islamic religious year. Although in daily life the Western (Gregorian) calendar is now generally followed, the Islamic lunar calendar has since the days of the prophet Muḥammad regulated the key days in the Islamic year such as the start of the month of fasting (Ramaḍān), the Breaking of the Fast (ʿĪd al-Fitr) and the Day of Sacrifice (ʿĪd al-Adḥā on 10 Dhu ʾl-Ḥijja) during the annual pilgrimage (Ḥajj) at Mecca.

Additional Reference

Umm Al-Qura
Hijri

Achieving 30th Hijri based on the moon sighting:

Overview:
Accurately displaying the occurrence of a 30th Hijri day based on moon sighting is a complex challenge faced by all online Islamic systems. This scenario represents an edge case due to its dependency on precise lunar visibility data, which often varies regionally and lacks a universally standardized solution.

How Ad-Din Conquered This Challenge:
Ad-Din has successfully implemented a solution to address this issue, ensuring compliance with Islamic principles while providing users with reliable and accurate Hijri Date management on various displays. This achievement highlights the platform’s commitment to addressing unique user needs and complex religious requirements.

 

The Issue:

Let's say, today (03-Sep-2024) is Rabi I 1 for the hijri offset value 0, Here is how the hijriadjustment works,

Georgean

Hijri Offset

Month

Note

September 1, 2024

+2

Rabi I 3

 

September 2, 2024

+1

Rabi I 2

 

September 3, 2024

0

Rabi I 1

 

September 4, 2024

-1

Safar 29

Moon committee declared 30th day of Safar

September 5, 2024

-2

Safar 28

 

Hijri Calendar offered by Microsoft do not consist 30th day in common for Safar, Rabi II, Jumada I, Shaban, Shawwal and Zilhijjah. With above offset we can not make the 30th day for these months in Hijri calendar. This is the limitation in Microsoft Library HijriCalendar Class (System.Globalization)

The Microsoft offered code library for Hijri calendar has 12 months with 29 to 30 days each:

GetMonth value

Month

Days in common years

Days in leap years

GetMonth value

Month

Days in common years

Days in leap years

1

محرم (Muharram)

30

30

2

صفر (Safar)

29

29

3

‏ربيع الاول (Rabi I)

30

30

4

‏ربيع الثاني (Rabi II)

29

29

5

جمادى الاولى (Jumada I)

30

30

6

جمادى الثانية (Jumada II)

29

29

7

رجب (Rajab)

30

30

8

شعبان (Shaban)

29

29

9

رمضان (Ramadan)

30

30

10

شوال (Shawwal)

29

29

11

ذو القعدة (Zulkadah)

30

30

12

ذو الحجة (Zulhijjah)

29

30

Dotnet framework is open source. There is not any custom Hijri impelementation available out of the box.

Apps like MuslimPro, Pillars all has same issue. no one solved this programatically.

The Ad-Din Solution for displaying Hijri 30th:

In Ad-Din when a local committee declares the 30th Hijri day for any of these months Safar, Rabi II, Jumada I, Shaban, Shawwal and Zilhijjah, simply check the box for “Display 30th Hijri”, leave the the date offset will switch to -1 automatically, leave it as is. Once the 30th Hijri has elapsed you should uncheck the 30th hijri before the 29th of the month.

image-20241205-002238.png

The Update after sunset setting:

  1. when Display 30th hijri is selected, the offset changes to -1 automatically.

  2. If offset was set to -1 already when selecting Display 30th hijri, system will keep it as is.  

  3. When Display 30th hijri is removed the offset will change to 0 automatically.  

  4. If Display 30th hijri checked on by admin, and the Update After Sunset was set to Yes then system will display the 30th hijri only after the Sunset of the 29th not before. 

  5. If Display 30th hijri checked on by admin, and the Update After Sunset was set to No then system will display 30th hijri only after the 12 midnight of 29th not before. 

 

Ad-Din stands out as a pioneer among online Islamic systems by effectively allowing the 30th Hijri moon sighting edge case, offering a robust solution where others have yet to succeed.

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