What is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar?

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

It is one of the four sacred months in Islam, during which warfare was traditionally prohibited in pre-Islamic Arabia and Islamic tradition. The month begins the Islamic year, but its start moves through the solar calendar because the Islamic calendar is based on lunar months of about 29 or 30 days.

Muharram is especially significant for different Muslim communities for different reasons. The tenth day, known as Ashura, is associated with fasting in Sunni tradition and with the commemoration of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali at Karbala in Shia Islam.

Muharram is not the month of the obligatory fast; that is Ramadan, the ninth month. Dhu al-Hijjah, the twelfth month, contains the annual hajj and Eid al-Adha.