Introduction
The Android version of the Hijri Calendar Widgets (v1.1) is now live on the Google Play Store. See decription below for more details.
Google Play Store Description
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How to add ICOUK Hijri Widgets to Android Phone: https://youtu.be/2YRvwNZvAGQ (from v1.1.0).
The Islamic Crescents Observation for the UK (ICOUK) Hijri Calendar Widgets are based on verified Moon Sighting reports by the human eye (Muhaqaq Ruyat Al-Basari), which makes it a unique product of its kind. It will automatically synchronise the dates in the background on a regular basis with our database servers via the Internet (using ICOUK Hijri Date API) but it will continue to work off-line when there is no internet connection. There are two Widgets provided, one for the Daily Hijri date (which is fixed to the device date) and the other one for the Monthly Calendar (which changes with the forward/reverse buttons).
The Widgets also provides future monthly dates based on predicted moon sighting (Imkan Al-Ruyat) for planning purposes (e.g. holiday and travel bookings), but the dates are synchronised on the 29th lunar date of each month (or refreshed on-demand) if it differs from the predicted month start dates. The predicted dates have been tested over 10 years (since 2008) by the ICOUK observers and have been found to be highly accurate with actual sighting dates, so it is an excellent planning tool, too.
Even though by default the Hijri Dates are based on actual Moon Signing in the UK to Morocco region, it can be used from outside this Region and hence the Widgets can be adjusted with the local Hijri calendar with up to +/- 2 days differences. In the vast majority of the cases, only +/- 1 day adjustment will be sufficient to make the App usable effectively throughout the whole world (since it is based on the centre of the world map), so there should not be any need to use a local calendar-based App by travellers from the UK/Morocco region to other countries.
The above adjustments will allow it to easily match it with the Saudi Dating System (Ummul Qura) or with Moon Sighting news from the Southern Hemisphere. It is provided in both the English and the Arabic languages to meet the demands of most users.
The summary of the Widget features are provided in the following list:
- Hijri dates are based on verified moon sighting reports by the human eye
- All the Hijri dates and settings are synchronised with online servers
- Future Hijri dates are provided based on predicted sightings (Imkan Al-Ruyat)
- Both the Hijri and the Gregorian dates are provided on the same calendar
- Past and future monthly calendars can be easily viewed with navigation buttons
- Day and Month Adjustments are provided for users from outside the UK
- Hijri dates and help-texts can be viewed in both English and Arabic languages
- Islamic Holidays and Events will appear on the relevant Hijri date as reminders
- The Fore and Background colours can be adjusted to match the device theme/wall-paper
- Daily and Monthly Hijri dates can be used separately (with the Day Adjust displayed)
We have provided ample help-text in English and Arabic to make it easier for you to get the best use of our ICOUK Hijri Calendar Widgets. If you have any difficulties using it, please contact us before leaving any negative comments. Your positive feedback ratings will encourage us to add more useful features in the future versions (such as daily prayer times), InShaAllah.
How to use the Widget
The following function descriptions refer to the numerical labels on both the Hijri Calendar Widgets (Daily and Monthly Dates) shown in Figure 1 and 2 below. The No. 1 - 3 refers to Daily Date widget and No. 4 - 15 refers to the Monthly Calendar widgets.
 Figure 1 |
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 Figure 2 |
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Adjust Day and Month
The Adjust Month setting is only enabled for when a non-ICOUK Adjust Day option (i.e. ICOUK +/- 1) is chosen, e.g. when using the Widgets from outside the UK. It will let you change the Hijri month length from 29 to 30 days and vice versa (if applicable) from the default ICOUK setting.
See example calendar below for adjusting the ICOUK Hijri Calendar to the Saudi Ummul Qura calendar setting for Rajab (Month 7) to Dhul Hijjah (Month 12).
Day and Month Adjust for UK & Saudi Arabia 1439
| Month No | Day Adjust | ICOUK | Month Adjust | Shift Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | ICOUK+1 | (0) | 30 (30) | 30-days left shift |
| 8 | ICOUK+1 | (0) | 29 (29) | 29-days left shift |
| 9 | ICOUK+1 | (0) | 30 (29) | 29-days left shift |
| 10 | ICOUK+0 | (0) | 29 (30) | 01-day right shift |
| 11 | ICOUK+1 | (0) | 29 (29) | 29-days left shift |
| 12 | ICOUK+1 | (0) | 30 (29) | 29-days left shift |
Note: if the Adjust Day and Month does not update the calendar automatically, simply click on the left (<) and right (>) arrows a few times. To revert back to ICOUK setting, simply click on the Refresh button, as explained in the setting description (13) in the previous section.
Synchronising Widget Dates with Actual Moon Sighting
The Islamic lunar months are 29 or 30 days long. Traditionally, actual moon sighting activities take place after the sunset of 29th lunar date. If verified sighting reports are received then the new month starts from the next day, otherwise, the month is completed as 30 days.
The predicted dates (Imkan Al Ruyat) used in the ICOUK Hijri Calendar Widgets are highly accurate, but on rare occasion, the Widget dates may not match with actual moon sighting decisions. This may happen in borderline cases due to undetermined factors (e.g. Zones of Uncertainty).
Therefore, on every 29th lunar date, the Widgets will try to Auto-Refresh the calendar data from the ICOUK Hijri database via the Internet before 12 midnight of the UK local time. If the Widget is unable to contact the web service, it will display a warning message on the bottom of the calendar (“No network connection. Please reconnect and refresh data”) for the user to manually refresh the data (see screenshot on the right). It will also replace ICOUK (✓) with a red question mark (?). See the setting description (13) in the previous section how to manually refresh the calendar data.
It is important to note that the Auto-Refresh function is not valid for those using the Widgets from outside the UK. They must wait until 12-midnight of the UK local time (e.g. after 3 am in Saudi Arabia) before manually refreshing the calendar data and then adjusting the dates for the new month to the local calendar using Adjust Day and Month options (if necessary).
Reasons for changing the Hijri date at Midnight
According to Islamic tradition, the Hijri date is effective from sunset to sunset. However, since the geographical location of the UK is above 48° latitude, which causes sunset to be very late during the summer months (i.e. 9:30 pm - 10 pm), leaving the Hijri date to change at 12-midnight is more prudent as it enables sufficient lead-time to carry out actual moon sighting, verification and decision-making process before updating the results on the ICOUK website database (for remote devices).
Furthermore, the website services are less resource-hungry at midnight than at early evenings, which helps the shared servers provide a more efficient service to many thousands of devices accessing the online database. It is also less confusing for new users to have both the Gregorian and the Hijri dates change at the same time.
Reasons for the start day of the week from Sunday
The names of the week in Arabic are: Sunday (الأحد), Monday (الإثنين), Tuesday (الثلاثاء), Wednesday (الأربعاء), Thursday (الخميس), Friday (الجمعة) & Saturday (السبت).
The first day of the week being a Sunday (Yawm Al-Ahad, the First day) is also from the Tafsir of the Quran (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Quran 7:54).
Hence, the Islamic week starts on a Sunday (i.e. not Friday) and ends on a Saturday (the seventh day of the week, as mentioned in above Tafsir). Therefore, the ICOUK Hijri calendar uses Sunday for the start of the week (in both Arabic and English). Note that the day name on the calendar has been abbreviated for space limitation reasons (i.e. to work on small devices).
If you have any comments regarding the above article, please email us via our on-line Contact Us form.