Muhammadiyah officially launched the Unified Global Hijri Calendar (UGHC) at Universitas ‘Aisyiyah (Unisa) Yogyakarta on June 25. The calendar is designed to provide a consistent, global Islamic calendar that serves both religious and practical needs for Muslims around the world.
Hamim Ilyas, Chairperson of the Muhammadiyah Council for Religious Opinion and Tajdid, explained that this decision was made after careful deliberation at the council’s 32nd National Conference in February 2024. The calendar, first proposed at the 2016 Istanbul Conference, is considered both religiously valid and scientifically reliable.
As articulated in one of its core theological formulations, Masā’il Khamsah (The Five Foundational Issues), Muhammadiyah defines Islam as “What God has revealed in the Qur’an and what is authentically conveyed in the Sunnah, consisting of commands, prohibitions, and guidance for the betterment of human life in this world and the Hereafter.”
“This definition clearly establishes Islam’s role in guiding toward comprehensive human well-being, material and spiritual, worldly and eternal. Thus, from Muhammadiyah’s perspective, the implementation of UGHC is meant to fulfill this function by offering a calendar that is reliable, universal, enduring, and serving the needs of both worship and everyday human interaction, including economic activities,” said Hamim in his remark.
Hamim emphasized that Muslims today live in every part of the world, and even work in space or under the sea. For this reason, a unified calendar is no longer just ideal but essential.
“Today, Muslims are truly global. For them, a global, predictable calendar is not just ideal. It is necessary,” said Hamim.
To support the calendar’s use, Muhammadiyah has developed several user-friendly tools, including a desktop app, a web version, and an Android mobile app called MASA. Available in Indonesian, Arabic, and English, these tools include a global interactive map to help visualize dates.
Muhammadiyah also hopes that adopting the UGHC will build a stronger sense of time awareness among Muslims.
“Let us reflect sincerely. As a community, are we among those who are at loss (maghbūn) or those who are cursed (mal‘ūn)? Let us instead strive to be a victorious community (rābiḥah), continually progressing in faith, knowledge, and civilization,” said Hamim.
