Although Hijama can be done throughout the year, it is best and most beneficial to have hijama performed on the ‘Sunnah Days.

Sunnah dates may be calculated ahead of time and are approximate. They cannot be an exact science because Muslims still analyze the actual sighting of the moon on these days. Thus, dates may vary from calendar to calendar and from country to country due to different time zones. Therefore, Hijama people can get confused about exact Sunnah dates and even days, saying they want to book on the precise Sunnah dates.

It is important to remember that the Islamic day starts after Maghrib, so what we consider to still be Monday on the Gregorian Calendar/day, will have become Tuesday according to the Islamic calendar/day after Sunset.

According to Traditional Islamic Medicine (TIM), The “Sunnah week” is defined as the 3rd week of the lunar month when it is the RECOMMENDED best time to have Hijama done ie; it is after the full moon when the moon is waning and decreasing in size. That is when we book the Sunnah days of the 17th, 19th and 21st of the LUNAR calender.

So Hijama Nation advises that it is fine to book any appointments during this “Sunnah week”, to avoid clashings of times from the Muslim calender/times and UK times.

The second best RECOMMENDED time to have Hijama done is the second week of the lunar month, DURING the actual full moon. Other than this, it is still acceptable to have Hijama done at any other time, if a person is sick or there is a medical emergency, injury, pain and so on.

Hijama Therapy is more beneficial when perfomed during the daytime between fajr and maghrib.

Source Hijama Nation

Narrations

Below are some narrations of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) mentioning the best time to have Hijma performed:

Narrated Anas (radiyallahu anhu), that the Prophet (sallahu alaihi wasallam) used to get treated with cupping on the two jugular veins and the upper part of the back. He used to get treated with cupping on the 17th and 19th and the 21st. (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 2051)

Narrated Anas ibn Malik (radiyallahu anhu) that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: Whoever wants to be treated with Cupping let him search for the 17th or the 19th or the 21st. And do not let your blood become hyperaemic (becomes excessive/boil/rage) so that it kills you. (Sunan ibn Majah 3486)

Narrated Abu Hurairah (radiyallahu anhu) that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: Whoever gets treated with Cupping on the 17th and 19th and the 21st will be cured from every illness. (Sunan Abu Dawud 3861)

Dates

Following the reasoning of above and to the best of my knowledge, I have listed the “Sunnah Week” which is the 3rd week of the lunar month based on the moon calendar in UK. The 2nd column is based on the Lunar dates on Saudia Arabia moon sighting obtained from http://www.makkahcalendar.org/en/ . Subject to moon sighting.

Source for dates below : https://www.al-habib.info/islamic-calendar/ummulqura/islamic-calendar-ummulqura-2021-ce.htm

17th or the 19th or the 21st

January

1st, 3rd and 5th and 30th

February

1st and 3rd

March

1st, 3rd and 5th – and 30th

April

1st, 3rd and 29th

May

1st, 3rd, 29th, 31st

June

2nd, 27th , 29th

July

1st, 27th, 29th

August

25th, 27th, 30th

September

24th, 26th, 28th

October

23rd, 25th, 27th

November

22nd, 24th, 26th

December

21st, 23rd, 25th

Please remember that each new Islamic day starts at sunset – Maghrib. 

*These dates are based on Saudi Arabia moon sighting. Dates may differ by a day or 2 depending on the local moon sighting.

For specific local Sunnah Hijama Dates you can:

You can also check on https://moonsighting.com/

Preferred / Best Days

Since the ahadith that state the preferred or disliked days of the week to perform cupping has been declared weak ahadith, and there are no days that have been made Haram or Halal to perform cupping, Hijama Nation supports the view of performing Hijama on any day of the week.

Therefore, it can be concluded that Hijama can be performed upon any day, as the ahadith specifying otherwise are not substantiated. Even according to Imam Ahmad’s opinion of preferred and disliked days of the week for Hijama, he never said, any days were forbidden for Hijama or it must be performed on certain days only.