Topic: Other days of the Islamic calendar
How does India mark Other days of the Islamic calendar?
मिलाद-उन-नबी (Milad-un-Nabi / Id-e-Milad)
- Local date
- August 26, 2026
- When is it?
- The 12th day of Rabiul Awal in the Islamic calendar; the date is included in the central government's annual gazetted holidays.
The Prophet's birthday is known in India as Milad-un-Nabi or Id-e-Milad and likewise appears in the central government's gazetted holidays — 26 August 2026, a Wednesday. Indonesia's falls on 25 August, one day earlier. A single day's difference of this kind comes from how each country determines and announces the sighting of the moon, not from anyone miscalculating. Indian observance includes recitation and sermons at mosques, jaloos processions, and the distribution of food, with the larger processions in Hyderabad and Old Delhi. Note that India's holiday system has two tiers, compulsory gazetted and restricted; Milad-un-Nabi sits in the first, the tier on which offices nationwide close.
मुहर्रम (Muharram / Ashura)
- Local date
- June 15, 2027
- When is it?
- The 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar (Ashura), not the 1st day of that month; the date is included in the central government's annual gazetted holidays.
India's annual list of central government gazetted holidays contains a holiday called Muharram, but it does not mean the first of the month. It marks the tenth day, Ashura — 26 June 2026, a Friday. That is a full ten days after the 16 June that Indonesia observes: the same lunar month, different days, not a calendrical discrepancy. For Shia communities Ashura mourns the martyrdom of Husayn at Karbala, and tazia processions and mourning assemblies are held across India; Sunni observance leans toward fasting. India lists it as a compulsory closed holiday, so central government offices shut for the day.
What is this topic?
Beyond Ramadan and the two Eids, the Islamic calendar carries several more days: the New Year on 1 Muharram, Ashura on 10 Muharram, the Prophet's birthday, and Isra Mi'raj. Of the seven places compared here, only Indonesia and India put any of them on the official calendar — and the two do not mark the same day. Indonesia takes 1 Muharram; India's gazetted "Muharram" is the tenth, Ashura, a full ten days later in 2026. Their Mawlid dates fall a day apart. How the date is fixed, and by whom, tells you more than the date itself.
Sources and dates
Dates follow local time zones, calendars, and official notices. Check the source when a date is estimated or locally variable.