When was Jamal Khashoggi Born, and When Was his Birthday?

Mick West

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Metabunk 2018-10-14 08-55-13.jpg

Various users on social media are pointing out different dates for Jamal Khashoggi's date of birth and birthdate. His passport lists 22 Jan 1958, but a a twee from his fiancée, Haticr Cengiz, says she was planning a birthday party for him on Oct 13.


The reason for some confusion here seems to be the use of the Islam Hijrah calendar, which is a lunar calendar, and drifts ten days from the regular 365 day calendar.

Kashogi's birthdate is 1-7-1377 in the Hijrha, as seen in his passport (assuming it's real)
Metabunk 2018-10-14 11-13-18.jpg

You can convert this with any number of online calculators:
Metabunk 2018-10-14 09-07-08.jpg

The current Hijri year is 1440, and the 13-oct-2018 is 2-2 (Safar) -1440

So 1-7-1440 (his hypothetical "Hijri birthday") is September 18, 2018, nearly a month before the planned Oct 13 party.

Update - I'm told that prior to 1975 in Saudi Arabia birth records were not kept, and all Saudi's born before then have their birth date listed as 1/7/13**AH. So 1/7 (22 Jan) is NOT his actual birthday.

Via Twitter:
hi there; i noticed that you are interested in Jamal's birthday. let me say something about birthdays in my country! all saudi born before 1975 the Saudi government registered their DOB in hijri as 1/7/13**AH ... because at that time the government does not have records! so do not be confused

and as you mention in your blog; Saudies celebrates their BD any time and sometimes twice and most of the time they don't celebrates! it's not common to do so
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And:

Source: https://twitter.com/rtaibah/status/1051522624541609985


Hence it seems likely that Oct 13 was his actual birthday.
 
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However in the NYT yesterday, Oct 13, Hatice Cengiz specifically says:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/opinion/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia-fiancee-mbs-murder.html
Today is Jamal’s birthday. I had planned a party, inviting his closest friends to surround him with the love and warmth that he had missed. We would have been married now.
...
If he is dead, and I hope that is not the case, thousands of Jamals will be born today, on his birthday. His voice and his ideas will reverberate, from Turkey to Saudi Arabia, and across the world. Oppression never lasts forever. Tyrants eventually pay for their sins.
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The date in Wikipedia is based on this article.
 
your title says "when was jk born, and when was his birthday"

are those not supposed to be the same day? I'm confused.
 
The day on which he was born is an individual day in history, like 22 jan 1958. A birthday is a day of a year on which you celebrate your birth. The point being that if he celebrated his birthday according to the Hijri calendar, then the days would not be the same in the Gregorian calendar (it would change every year)

I think I got it. each year his birthday as far as our calendar moves 10 days. so his birthday is 630 days after jan 22. right?
 
your title says "when was jk born, and when was his birthday"

are those not supposed to be the same day? I'm confused.

The day on which he was born is an individual day in history, like 22 jan 1958. A birthday is a day of a year on which you celebrate your birth. The point being that if he celebrated his birthday according to the Hijri calendar, then the days would not be the same in the Gregorian calendar (it would change every year)

I think I got it. each year his birthday as far as our calendar moves 10 days. so his birthday is 630 days after jan 22. right?

Sounds about right.
 
Here's an article discussing how most Saudis over 50 years old have birthdate of 1/7. Basically because there were no accurate birth certificates before 1975

https://www.alarabiya.net/ar/saudi-today/2015/04/20/اليوم-1-7-ميلاد-غالبية-السعوديين-وموعد-تقاعدهم-.html

(Google Translation)

Today marks the first of the month of Rajab, the date recorded for the majority of Saudis in the date of birth, the same day that most of the employees of the state to retire.

This date comes in the birth of Saudis, especially those who are older than 50 years, where the date is written with the beginning of the middle of the year AH before the spread of birth certificates, which determine the date of birth accurately day and hour.

The civil status with the beginning of the issuance of the national identity of the Saudis before about that period in the middle of the year is the Hijri date of birth of most Saudis whose birth dates are unknown
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