Hijri Table (the Hijri Calendar Nama Uses)

The Hijri calendar cannot be calculated with a formula the way the Gregorian one can. Whether a month has 29 or 30 days depends on the official calendar each country publishes (in Saudi Arabia, Umm al-Qura). So Nama does not guess. It converts dates using a table you enter: one Gregorian date where the calendar starts, then the length of every Hijri month from there on. That table is the Hijri Table.

Until at least one Hijri Table exists, nothing in Nama can produce a Hijri date. Anything that needs one fails with You can not use hijri dates because hijri files are not configured.

What depends on it

• Hijri dates in printed text and messages. The Tempo expression $asHijriString converts a date through this table (see Tempo). How the result is written (the order of day, month and year, and the separator) is set on Global Config's General tab.
• Real estate contracts and installment plans kept in Hijri. When Dates in hijri is ticked on a rent contract, or Work With Hijri Dates on an installment plan, every due date is stepped through this table. See Leases kept in the Hijri calendar.
• Eltezam. Every date sent to the ministry is converted to Hijri, including old birth and hiring dates. See Eltezam setup.

The table has to cover every date you will convert: the oldest birth date you send to Eltezam and the last installment of your longest Hijri contract.

The screen

Field	What to put in it
Greg StartDate	The Gregorian date of the first day of Muharram of the start year.
Hijri Start Year	The Hijri year that begins on that date.
Previous	Empty on the first table. Fill it only on a table that continues another one (see below).
Details grid: Year, Month, Days Count	One line per Hijri month, in order, with the number of days that month has in the official calendar.

Only the Days Count column and the start date take part in the conversion. Nama counts forward from Greg StartDate, month by month, adding each line's days. The Year and Month columns are checked to make sure no month is skipped or repeated, but the conversion does not read them. So the first line must be month 1 of the Hijri Start Year, and every month after it must be listed.

When you add a line, the grid fills in the next year and month for you, so you only type the days.

Example

Suppose you need dates from the start of 1446 AH onward. 1 Muharram 1446 fell on 7 July 2024.

1. Open Hijri Table, give it a code such as 1446-1450.
2. Greg StartDate = 07/07/2024, Hijri Start Year = 1446, Previous empty.
3. In Details, enter line 1: Year 1446, Month 1, and the days of Muharram 1446 from the official calendar. Add a line; it fills Year 1446, Month 2, and you type the days of Safar. Continue to month 12, then on to 1447 month 1, and so on, as far ahead as you need.
4. Save. From now on, 7 July 2024 converts to 1 Muharram 1446, and every date after it is counted through your month lengths.

Changes take effect immediately; no restart is needed.

Extending the calendar later

You do not have to rewrite the table when it runs out. Create a second Hijri Table and set its Previous to the first one. Its first line must continue straight on from the first table's last line. For example, if 1446-1450 ends at 1450 month 12, the new table starts at 1451 month 1. A continuing table needs no start date or start year of its own; it takes over where its previous one ended. You can chain as many tables as you like, but:

• only one table may have Previous empty (the start of the chain), and
• no two tables may name the same table as their Previous.

To reach further back in time (Eltezam's old birth dates are the usual reason), you cannot put a table in front of the first one. Instead, edit the first table: move Greg StartDate and Hijri Start Year back to the new starting Muharram, and add the earlier months at the top of its grid.

Messages you may see

Message	Why	What to do
You can not use hijri dates because hijri files are not configured	No Hijri Table exists.	Create one that covers the dates you need.
This date exceeds the provided hijri range: followed by the date, for example This date exceeds the provided hijri range: 15/3/2031	The date falls after the last month in the chain.	Add a continuing table, or more lines to the last one.
The provided date is before configured hijri calendar	A Hijri date outside the table (before its start or after its last month) was converted to Gregorian.	Extend the table back or forward, as described above.
There is already a table without previous year: {0}	You saved a second table with Previous empty.	Set Previous to the table this one continues.
The relationship between {0} and {1} is not correct	A continuing table's first line does not follow on from its previous table's last line.	Start the new table at the month right after the last month of its previous table.
Theis table apeared as previous moe than one: {0}	Two tables name the same table as their Previous.	Point one of them at the correct table.
The year must be {0} / The month must be {0}	A line skips or repeats a month.	Correct the line to the year or month the message names.
Invalid month number {0} — «رقم شهر غير صحيح {0}»	A month outside 1 to 12.	Fix the month.
Invalid days count {0} — «عدد أيام غير صحيح {0}»	A days count that is not a plausible month length.	Enter 29 or 30, as the official calendar gives.

Apart from the last two, these messages have no Arabic text and appear in English on Arabic screens too.