Definition
In the actual year when the migration took place, there was already a functioning Lunar calendar with named months. However, this calendar did not number the years, so for example, 570, the year Prophet Muhammad and Ammar ibn Yasir were born, was called "The Year of the Elephant". The year of the Hijra, 622-23 CE in the Julian Calendar, was named "The Permission to Travel".
Seventeen years later, the developers of the Islamic calendar chose that year as the year to start counting from: " first year of the Hijra, 1 Annum Hegirae (Anno Hegirae when annum is declined in the ablative/locative case, as it is in "in the year of the Hijra"; cf. Anno Domini), abbreviated 1 AH. The first day of 1 AH corresponds to July 16, 622, denoted as "1 Muharram 1 AH".
The Hijra is celebrated annually on the 8th day of Rabi I, about 66 days after the 1st of Muharram, the first day of the Muslim year. Many writers confuse the first day of the year of the Hijra with the date of the migration to Medina itself, erroneously stating that the Hijra occurred on 1 Muharram AH 1 (or July 16, 622),. In fact however, 1st of Muharram was April 18 in 622 while the Prophet left Mecca on June 21, arrived at Quba on June 28, and entered Medina on July 2 in the year 622.
Read more about this topic: Hijri Year
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