The Islamic calendar employs the Hijri era whose epoch was retrospectively established as the Islamic New Year of AD 622. During that year, Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathrib (now Medina) and established the first Muslim community (ummah), an event commemorated as the Hijra. In the West, dates in this era are usually denoted AH (Latin: Anno Hegirae, "in the year of the Hijra") in parallel with the Christian (AD) and Jewish eras (AM). In Muslim countries, it is also sometimes denoted as H[1] from its Arabic form (سَنة هِجْريّة, abbreviated هـ). In English, years prior to the Hijra are reckoned as BH ("Before the Hijra").[2]

The current Islamic year is 1439 AH. In the Gregorian calendar, 1439 AH runs from approximately 21 September 2017 to 10 September 2018.[3][needs update]