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Setting the Date Format to the Hijri Calendar

Mustafa Mamat
(26 Mar 06)

 

 

One of the things that I love about Mac OS X is the International features. I frequently refer to the Hijri calendar, so much so that I see the need to set my Mac's default date using the Islamic format. In addition to that, I prefer to remember the name of days as mentioned in The Quran such as ‘Jumaat’ and ‘Sabtu’ instead of days named after ancient pagan gods like Freejya and Saturnalia.

Here's how to change the settings:

 

Open System Preferences. (You can do this either by clicking on the icon on the Dock or by selecting it from the Apple Menu.)

Click the International icon.

     
 

In the International window:

  1. Click the Formats tab.

  2. Select the 'Show all regions' box if it isn't already checked.

  3. In the Region pop-up list, select Malay > Malaysia.

  4. Then select Islamic in the Calendar pop-up list.

 
     
 

You can see the results immediately, for example in the Menu bar, Mail and iCal.

Also note that my clock display shows the word ‘Petang’ instead of ‘PM’. I will let you discover for yourself how to change this particular setting. (Hint: refer back to the International window above)

 

  
 

Overall it works fine for most Apple-bundled applications, including iTunes. However, small glitches may occur. For example if you use the ‘View in: Window’ instead of the ‘View in: Men Bar’ option for Date & Time, the month displayed may be incorrect.

  
 
     
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