How Eid al-Adha Is Tied to the Hajj Calendar

Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, falls on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Hijri calendar. It is the day after the pilgrims of the Hajj stand at Arafah, so its date follows the pilgrimage calendar in Makkah. By the calculated Umm al-Qura calendar, the next Eid al-Adha is Sunday 16 May 2027 (10 Dhu al-Hijjah 1448 AH), beginning at sunset on Saturday 15 May. The date actually observed depends on when Dhu al-Hijjah is announced to have begun, and local announcements may differ by a day.

Key Takeaways

• Eid al-Adha is 10 Dhu al-Hijjah, the day after the Day of Arafah (9 Dhu al-Hijjah).
• The three days after Eid, 11 to 13 Dhu al-Hijjah, are the days of tashriq, described in hadith as days of eating, drinking and remembering Allah.
• The Hajj happens in one place, so Saudi Arabia's announcement of the month fixes the pilgrims' Arafah day; many communities abroad take their Eid date from it, while others follow a local sighting.
• The sacrifice (Udhiyah) begins after the Eid prayer. Scholars differ on whether its time ends at sunset on the 12th or the 13th.

Where Eid falls in the days of Hajj

Eid al-Adha is not a separate date that happens to sit near the Hajj. It is part of the same sequence of days. Encyclopaedia Britannica's article on Eid al-Adha describes it as marking "the culmination of the hajj (pilgrimage) rites at Minā," while being celebrated by Muslims everywhere.

On the pilgrims' side, Britannica describes the morning of the 10th at Mina in this order: the symbolic stoning of seven pebbles at one of three pillars, then the animal sacrifice, then shaving or trimming the hair, then returning to Makkah. The pilgrimage continues for further days after that.

The Prophet ﷺ gave the 10th its own title during his farewell pilgrimage. In Sahih al-Bukhari 1742, Ibn Umar reports that on the Day of Nahr (sacrifice) the Prophet ﷺ stood between the Jamarat and called it yawm al-hajj al-akbar, rendered on sunnah.com as "the greatest Day."

The sister post on the Day of Arafah covers the 9th in detail, including the fast for those not on Hajj.

The days of tashriq: 11 to 13 Dhu al-Hijjah

The days of tashriq are the three days that follow Eid, the 11th to the 13th. Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta, in its answer on the last date for a valid sacrifice, calls the 13th "the last of the three days following 'Eid," and treats it as ending at sunset.

The Quran tells the pilgrims, in The Clear Quran's translation of Surah al-Baqarah 2:203, "And remember Allah during ˹these˺ appointed days." The same verse says there is no sin on whoever leaves after two days, or on whoever stays longer. In the Ibn Kathir tafsir shown on that page, Ibn Abbas explains the "appointed days" as the days of tashriq, the 11th, 12th and 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah.

The hadith describe these days the same way. In Sahih Muslim 1141a, the Prophet ﷺ says, "The days of Tashriq are the days of eating and drinking." The version in Sahih Muslim 1141b adds "and remembrance of Allah." Imam Muslim placed both under a chapter on the prohibition of fasting on these days.

Remembrance on these days includes saying the takbir (Allahu akbar). Imam al-Bukhari titled a chapter "To say Takbir on the days of Mina and while proceeding to Arafat," and in Sahih al-Bukhari 970 Anas bin Malik says that, while travelling with the Prophet ﷺ from Mina to Arafat on the 9th, some people said the talbiya and others the takbir, and neither was objected to. That report concerns the day before Eid; the chapter title is what links takbir to the days at Mina. The exact wording and timing of the takbir in these days vary between schools, so follow your local mosque's practice.

There is one stated exception. Aisha and Ibn Umar report in Sahih al-Bukhari 1997 and 1998 that nobody was allowed to fast on the days of tashriq "except those who could not afford the Hadi," the sacrificial animal of a pilgrim.

So in practice, Eid al-Adha is a four-day stretch: the 10th, followed by three days of tashriq. Britannica puts it more loosely, saying the festival "typically continues for an additional three or four days."

Why the Saudi announcement matters

The Hajj takes place in one place, on one set of days. Every pilgrim stands at Arafah on the same day, and that day is set by the authorities in Saudi Arabia when they announce the start of Dhu al-Hijjah.

In 1447 AH, Jordan's state news agency Petra reported on 17 May 2026 what Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court announced. Monday 18 May 2026 was the first day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the Day of Arafah would fall on Tuesday 26 May, and Eid al-Adha would begin on Wednesday 27 May. Those dates matched the calculated Umm al-Qura calendar for that year. They do not always: the Umm al-Qura calendar is a calculated civil calendar, and the explainer on the Umm al-Qura calendar shows why an announced month can start a day earlier or later than the printed one.

Outside Saudi Arabia, communities take one of two broad approaches to Eid al-Adha:

• Follow the Hajj in Makkah. The Fiqh Council of North America, in its answer on when Muslims should celebrate Eid al-Adha, concluded that Eid al-Adha follows "the Day of Hajj as announced in Makkah." It adds that the European Council for Fatwa and Research reached the same conclusion. On this view, Eid is the day after the pilgrims' Arafah, wherever you live.
• Follow the local month. The same page notes that other Muslims celebrate on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah according to their local lunar date. On this view, the month starts with a local or regional sighting, and the 10th is counted from there.

The two approaches give the same date in many years and differ by a day in others. Which to follow is a question for qualified scholars and your local mosque, not for a calendar. The broader question of local and global sighting is covered in the post on global vs local moon sighting.

The start of the month matters before Eid as well. In Sahih Muslim 1977e, Umm Salama reports the Prophet ﷺ saying that whoever sees the crescent of Dhu al-Hijjah and intends to sacrifice should refrain from cutting his hair and nails. Anyone keeping that practice needs to know which evening the month began.

The Udhiyah window

The Udhiyah (also called qurbani) is the animal sacrifice offered for Eid al-Adha by those who are able. Its time is tied to the Eid calendar at both ends.

When it starts

The sacrifice begins after the Eid prayer, not at dawn and not at the start of the Islamic day the evening before. In Sahih al-Bukhari 5545, the Prophet ﷺ says, "The first thing we will do on this day of ours, is to offer the ('Id) prayer and then return to slaughter the sacrifice." He adds that an animal slaughtered before the prayer is "just meat he presented to his family" and not counted as the sacrifice.

When it ends

Scholars differ on the last day. Dar Al-Ifta's answer linked above states that, according to several of the Companions and Successors, the last date is sunset on the 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the final day of tashriq. It names this as the view of the Shafi'is, an opinion among the Hanbalis, and the view chosen by Ibn Taymiyya. The same answer recommends slaughtering before sunset on the 12th "to avoid differing with the majority of scholars."

So a household can plan with a simple rule: the window opens after the Eid prayer on the 10th, and the deadline held by the majority of scholars, which Dar Al-Ifta recommends meeting to avoid disagreement, is sunset on the 12th. Whether the 13th is also valid depends on the school or scholar you follow.

What the sacrifice is for

The Quran links the sacrifice to remembrance and to feeding others. Surah al-Hajj 22:28 speaks of pronouncing Allah's name over the animals on appointed days, eating from them and feeding the very poor. Surah al-Hajj 22:37, in The Clear Quran's translation, says, "Neither their meat nor blood reaches Allah." Britannica notes the common practice of dividing the meat into three portions: for the poor, for relatives and friends, and for the household.

A worked example: Dhu al-Hijjah 1448 (May 2027)

These are calculated Umm al-Qura dates from the site's converter. Each Islamic day begins at sunset on the evening before the Gregorian date shown.

Read against the Udhiyah rules above, the sacrifice window on these dates opens after the Eid prayer on Sunday 16 May. It runs at least until sunset on Tuesday 18 May, and on the 13th-day view until sunset on Wednesday 19 May.

If Saudi Arabia announces that Dhu al-Hijjah 1448 begins a day later than calculated, every row moves one day later: Arafah would be Sunday 16 May and Eid Monday 17 May. If it begins a day earlier, every row moves one day earlier: Arafah would be Friday 14 May and Eid Saturday 15 May. A community that follows its own local sighting would shift by its own announcement instead. Either way, the gaps between the days stay the same, because they are counted from the first of the month.

Common questions

Is Eid al-Adha always the day after Arafah?

By definition, 10 Dhu al-Hijjah is the day after 9 Dhu al-Hijjah. Whether your local Eid falls on the day after the pilgrims' Arafah depends on whether your community follows the Makkah announcement or its own start of the month, as described above.

Why does Eid al-Adha move each Gregorian year?

The Hijri year is about 11 days shorter than the solar year, so Eid al-Adha comes roughly 11 days earlier each Gregorian year. The calculated dates show it: 27 May in 2026 and 16 May in 2027. Britannica notes that, because of the lunar calendar, the Hajj and Eid al-Adha "may occur during any season of the year." The post on why Islamic dates move each year explains the arithmetic.

Plan the next Eid al-Adha

Open the Eid al-Adha page for the calculated date in the coming years, and the Dhu al-Hijjah 1448 calendar to see the Day of Arafah, Eid and the days of tashriq on one grid. For a different year, the date converter turns any 10 Dhu al-Hijjah into a Gregorian date.

Mark those dates as provisional. When Saudi Arabia announces the start of Dhu al-Hijjah, or your local mosque announces its own, update the Eid prayer, the sacrifice booking and any family plans together, so they all move by the same day.