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Hijri Calendar: Difference between revisions
→Qur'an: Added in a Quran verse on the moon used for timekeeping and holy pilgrimage, as well as two YouTube videos which cover this subject and their issues in depth.
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Prophet [[Muhammad|Muhammad's]] hijra ("flight" or "migration") from [[Mecca]] to [[Medina]] in 622 AD marks the beginning of the '''Islamic lunar calendar''' (also known as the '''Hijri''' or '''Arabic Calendar'''). Thus, the Islamic calendar dates have the suffix '''AH''' (After Hijra). The [[Islam|Islamic]] lunar year (354 or 355 days) is between 10 and 12 days shorter than the "Western" or "Christian" Gregorian solar year (365 or 366 days)<ref>Syed Khalid Shaukat - [http://www.missionislam.com/knowledge/calendar.htm What is Islamic Calendar] - MissionIslam</ref>, and so cycles through the seasons.<ref>[http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-information-center/calendars Introduction to Calendars]. United States Naval Observatory. Retrieved 15 January 2009.</ref><ref>[http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html Calendars] by L. E. Doggett. Section 2.</ref><ref>The international standard for the representation of dates and times, ISO 8601, uses the Gregorian calendar. Section 3.2.1.</ref> The Islamic calendar is used in conjunction with the Gregorian calendar in some parts of the Muslim world, and is almost always referenced in relation to Islamic rituals (like the [[Hajj]]) and festivals (like [[Eid al-Adha]]), as it is with the Islamic calendar that these event correlate. | Prophet [[Muhammad|Muhammad's]] hijra ("flight" or "migration") from [[Mecca]] to [[Medina]] in 622 AD marks the beginning of the '''Islamic lunar calendar''' (also known as the '''Hijri''' or '''Arabic Calendar'''). Thus, the Islamic calendar dates have the suffix '''AH''' (After Hijra). The [[Islam|Islamic]] lunar year (354 or 355 days) is between 10 and 12 days shorter than the "Western" or "Christian" Gregorian solar year (365 or 366 days)<ref>Syed Khalid Shaukat - [http://www.missionislam.com/knowledge/calendar.htm What is Islamic Calendar] - MissionIslam</ref>, and so cycles through the seasons.<ref>[http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-information-center/calendars Introduction to Calendars]. United States Naval Observatory. Retrieved 15 January 2009.</ref><ref>[http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html Calendars] by L. E. Doggett. Section 2.</ref><ref>The international standard for the representation of dates and times, ISO 8601, uses the Gregorian calendar. Section 3.2.1.</ref> The Islamic calendar is used in conjunction with the Gregorian calendar in some parts of the Muslim world, and is almost always referenced in relation to Islamic rituals (like the [[Hajj]]) and festivals (like [[Eid al-Adha]]), as it is with the Islamic calendar that these event correlate. | ||
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|''Rabī‘ ath-ākhar'' | |''Rabī‘ ath-ākhar'' | ||
|رَبِيع ٱلْآخَر | |رَبِيع ٱلْآخَر | ||
|the | |the last spring | ||
| | | | ||
|- | |- | ||
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|''Jumādá al-ākhirah'' | |''Jumādá al-ākhirah'' | ||
|جُمَادَىٰ ٱلْآخِرَة | |جُمَادَىٰ ٱلْآخِرَة | ||
|the | |the last of parched land | ||
| | | | ||
|- | |- | ||
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==Origins== | ==Origins== | ||
There is some academic debate regarding the exact nature of the calendars used by the [[Pagan Origins of Islam|pre-Islamic pagan Arabs]] and there is a lack of epigraphic (inscription) evidence for central Arabia in particular, but it is known that they used a number of calendars in parallel, both lunar and lunisolar (in the latter, a leap month is inserted every few years).<ref>Ibrahim Zein and Ahmwed el-Wakil (2021) [https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/1/42 On the Origins of the Hijrī Calendar: A Multi-Faceted Perspective Based on the Covenants of the Prophet and Specific Date Verification], Religions, 12(1), 42, doi:10.3390/rel12010042</ref> The Quran itself refers to four of the twelve months that were considered sacred by Arabs in the pre-Islamic period. | |||
However, there were some changes made: whereas the pre-Islamic Arabs allowed a practice ''Nasi'<nowiki/>'' whereby they would either choose a different set of four months to deem sacred or move about holy festivals to a more appropriate seasons (since the lunar calendar cycles through the seasons), the Islamic calendar system prohibited this practice.<ref>The Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd edition, Index, p. 441.</ref><ref>Muḥammad al-Khuḍarī Bayk (1935). ''Muḥāḍarāt tārīkh al-Umam al-Islāmiyya''. '''2''' (4th ed.). Al-maktaba al-tijāriyya. pp. 59–60.</ref> Some scholars suggest that ''Nasi''' | However, there were some changes made: whereas the pre-Islamic Arabs allowed a practice ''Nasi'<nowiki/>'' whereby they would either choose a different set of four months to deem sacred or move about holy festivals to a more appropriate seasons (since the lunar calendar cycles through the seasons), the Islamic calendar system prohibited this practice.<ref>The Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd edition, Index, p. 441.</ref><ref>Muḥammad al-Khuḍarī Bayk (1935). ''Muḥāḍarāt tārīkh al-Umam al-Islāmiyya''. '''2''' (4th ed.). Al-maktaba al-tijāriyya. pp. 59–60.</ref> Some scholars suggest that ''Nasi''' refers to the practice whereby the pre-Islamic Arabs used to occasionally add an "intercalary" month in order to move religious festivals into more lucrative business seasons, rather than simply shifting the date of these festivals, though this is uncertain.<ref>Hideyuki Ioh [https://brill.com/view/journals/arab/61/5/article-p471_1.xml The Calendar in Pre-Islamic Mecca] Brill.com, 2014</ref><ref>al-Biruni (tr. C. Edward Sachau (1879). ''"Intercalation of the Ancient Arabs", The Chronology of Ancient Nations''. London: William H. Allen, 1000/1879. pp. 13–14, 73–74.</ref><ref>Bonner, Michael (2011). "Time has come full circle": Markets, fairs, and the calendar in Arabia before Islam" in Cook, Ahmed, Sadeghi, Behnam, Bonner, et al. The Islamic scholarly tradition : studies in history, law, and thought in honor of Professor Michael Allan Cook. Leiden; Boston: Brill</ref> Whatever the case, this too was prohibited by the Islamic lunar calendar. | ||
''<nowiki/><nowiki/><nowiki/>'' | ''<nowiki/><nowiki/><nowiki/>'' | ||
==Challenges== | ==Challenges== | ||
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The Qur'an describes the "sacred" months (''shar al-haram'', sometimes translated as the "holy" or "prohibited" - that is, sanctified - months): | The Qur'an describes the "sacred" months (''shar al-haram'', sometimes translated as the "holy" or "prohibited" - that is, sanctified - months): | ||
{{Quote|{{quran|2|194}}|A sacred month is for a sacred month; these sacrednesses are in retaliation. Whosoever then offereth violence unto you, Offer violence unto him the like of his violence unto you, and fear Allah, and know that Allah is with the God-fearing.}}{{Quote|{{quran|2|217}}|They question thee (O Muhammad) with regard to warfare in the sacred month. Say: Warfare therein is a great (transgression), but to turn (men) from the way of Allah, and to disbelieve in Him and in the Inviolable Place of Worship, and to expel His people thence, is a greater with Allah; for persecution is worse than killing. And they will not cease from fighting against you till they have made you renegades from your religion, if they can. And whoso becometh a renegade and dieth in his disbelief: such are they whose works have fallen both in the world and the Hereafter. Such are rightful owners of the Fire: they will abide therein.}}{{Quote|{{quran|5|2}}|O ye who believe! Profane not Allah's monuments nor the Sacred Month nor the offerings nor the garlands, nor those repairing to the Sacred House, seeking the grace and pleasure of their Lord. But when ye have left the sacred territory, then go hunting (if ye will). And let not your hatred of a folk who (once) stopped your going to the inviolable place of worship seduce you to transgress; but help ye one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one another unto sin and transgression, but keep your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is severe in punishment.}}{{Quote|{{quran|5|97}}|Allah hath appointed the Ka'bah, the Sacred House, a standard for mankind, and the Sacred Month and the offerings and the garlands. That is so that ye may know that Allah knoweth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, and that Allah is Knower of all things.}}The Qur'an references the day of ''al-Jumu'ah'' (Friday) as it mentions the Friday Prayer: | {{Quote|{{quran|2|194}}|A sacred month is for a sacred month; these sacrednesses are in retaliation. Whosoever then offereth violence unto you, Offer violence unto him the like of his violence unto you, and fear Allah, and know that Allah is with the God-fearing.}}{{Quote|{{quran|2|217}}|They question thee (O Muhammad) with regard to warfare in the sacred month. Say: Warfare therein is a great (transgression), but to turn (men) from the way of Allah, and to disbelieve in Him and in the Inviolable Place of Worship, and to expel His people thence, is a greater with Allah; for persecution is worse than killing. And they will not cease from fighting against you till they have made you renegades from your religion, if they can. And whoso becometh a renegade and dieth in his disbelief: such are they whose works have fallen both in the world and the Hereafter. Such are rightful owners of the Fire: they will abide therein.}}{{Quote|{{quran|5|2}}|O ye who believe! Profane not Allah's monuments nor the Sacred Month nor the offerings nor the garlands, nor those repairing to the Sacred House, seeking the grace and pleasure of their Lord. But when ye have left the sacred territory, then go hunting (if ye will). And let not your hatred of a folk who (once) stopped your going to the inviolable place of worship seduce you to transgress; but help ye one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one another unto sin and transgression, but keep your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is severe in punishment.}}{{Quote|{{quran|5|97}}|Allah hath appointed the Ka'bah, the Sacred House, a standard for mankind, and the Sacred Month and the offerings and the garlands. That is so that ye may know that Allah knoweth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, and that Allah is Knower of all things.}}The Qur'an references the day of ''al-Jumu'ah'' (Friday) as it mentions the Friday Prayer: | ||
{{Quote|{{quran|62|9}}|O ye who believe! When the call is heard for the prayer of the day of congregation, haste unto remembrance of Allah and leave your trading. That is better for you if ye did but know.}} | {{Quote|{{quran|62|9}}|O ye who believe! When the call is heard for the prayer of the day of congregation, haste unto remembrance of Allah and leave your trading. That is better for you if ye did but know.}}The phases of the moon are listed for timekeeping and holy pilgrimage (hajj): | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|189}}|They question you concerning the new moons. Say, ‘They are timekeeping signs for the people and [for the sake of] hajj.’...}} | |||
===Hadith=== | ===Hadith=== | ||
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We were along with Umar between Mecca and Medina that we began to look for the new moon. And I was a man with sharp eye- sight, so I could see it, but none except me saw it. I began to say to 'Umar: Don't you see it? But he would not see it. Thereupon Umar said: I would soon be able to see it (when it will shine more brightly). I lay upon bed. He then made a mention of the people of Badr to us and said: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) showed us one day before (the actual battle) the place of death of the people (participating) in (the Battle) of Badr and he was saying: This would be the place of death of so and so tomorrow, if Allah wills. Umar said: By Him Who sent him with truth, they did not miss the places (of their death) which Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had pointed for them. Then they were all thrown in a well one after another. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) then went to them and said: O, so and so, the son of so and so; O so and so, the son of so and so, have you found correct what Allah and His Messenger had promised you? I have, however, found absolutely true what Allah had promised with me. Umar said: Allah's Messenger, how are you talking with the bodies without soul in them. Thereupon he said: You cannot hear more distinctly than (their hearing) of what I say, but with this exception that they have not power to make any reply.}} | We were along with Umar between Mecca and Medina that we began to look for the new moon. And I was a man with sharp eye- sight, so I could see it, but none except me saw it. I began to say to 'Umar: Don't you see it? But he would not see it. Thereupon Umar said: I would soon be able to see it (when it will shine more brightly). I lay upon bed. He then made a mention of the people of Badr to us and said: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) showed us one day before (the actual battle) the place of death of the people (participating) in (the Battle) of Badr and he was saying: This would be the place of death of so and so tomorrow, if Allah wills. Umar said: By Him Who sent him with truth, they did not miss the places (of their death) which Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had pointed for them. Then they were all thrown in a well one after another. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) then went to them and said: O, so and so, the son of so and so; O so and so, the son of so and so, have you found correct what Allah and His Messenger had promised you? I have, however, found absolutely true what Allah had promised with me. Umar said: Allah's Messenger, how are you talking with the bodies without soul in them. Thereupon he said: You cannot hear more distinctly than (their hearing) of what I say, but with this exception that they have not power to make any reply.}} | ||
== External links == | |||
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFy-JBAD27E Part 29: Moonsighting] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgM-CkC9eQI Part 30: Calendar out of Sync] - ''islamwhattheydonttellyou164 - YouTube videos'' | |||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
[[Category:Ritual]] | |||
[[Category: | [[Category:Pre-Islamic Arabia]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Paganism]] | ||
[[Category:Sacred history]] | |||
[[Category:Shariah (Islamic Law)]] | |||