Hijri Calendar: Difference between revisions

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==Origins==
==Origins==
The Islamic lunar calendar is the same calendar that was used by the [[Pagan Origins of Islam|pre-Islamic pagan Arabs]], as it refers to the lunar months by the same names and sanctifies the very four of the twelve months that were considered sacred by Arabs in the pre-Islamic period.
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''' was in fact a practice where 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>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 2011, page 21.</ref> Whatever the case, this too was prohibited by the Islamic lunar calendar.
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.


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==Challenges==
==Challenges==


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