The
Islamic Hijri Calendar Should Be Used by Muslims
The Islamic calendar is in accordance with Allah's commands,
and it also forms an important part of Islamic history. There
are many verses in the Glorious Qur'an about this calendar and
the system of calculation of months and years. Here are some of
them:
"The number of months in the sight of
Allah is twelve (in a year) so ordained by Him the day He
created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred." (Qur'an
9: 36). The four Sacred Months are: Dhul-Qa'adah,
Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab.
The month of Pilgrimage (Dhul-Hijjah) was a sacred month, in
which warfare was prohibited by Arab custom. The month
preceding (Dhul-Qa'adah) and the month following (Muharram)
were included in the prohibition. In Rajab also war was
prohibited. But if the enemies of Islam broke that custom and
made war in the prohibited months, the Muslims were free also
to break that custom but only to the same extents the others
broke it.
"For Hajj are the months well known. If
any one undertakes that duty therein let there be no obscenity,
nor wickedness, nor wrangling in the Hajj. And whatever good
you do, (be sure) Allah knows it. And take a provision (with
you) for the journey, but the best of provisions is right
conduct. So fear Me, O you that are wise." (Qur'an 2: 197)
"They ask you concerning the New Moons.
Say: They are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the
affair of) people. And for pilgrimage." (Qur'an 2: 189)
"Ramadan is the month in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a
guide to mankind…. So every one of you who is present (at his
home) during that month should spend it in fasting. (Qur'an 2:
185)
"It is he who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon
to be a light (of beauty) and measured out stages for it, that
you might know the number of years and the count (of time)." (Qur'an
10: 5)
"He it is that splits the daybreak (from the dark): He makes
the night for rest and tranquillity, and the sun and moon for
the reckoning (of time)." 3(Qur'an 6:96)
"The sun and the moon follow courses (exactly) computed." (Qur'an
55: 5)
The simplest observation can keep pace with the true lunar
months and lunar year.
The Islamic calendar is purely lunar with 12 months of
alternately 30 and 29 days (the time from one new moon to the
next is 29.53 days), and a year of 354 days (355 in leap year).
This results in the calendar rotating round the seasons in a 30
- year cycle.
The Islamic Calendar was revised by Caliph Omar bin al-Khattab
(Radhiallahu anhu), the second successor of the Prophet
Muhammad [peace be upon him) in the year 17 AH (639 AD). The
new era, "Hijra" is counted as beginning on the day Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) migrated from Makkah to Madinah in 622 AD.
The Islamic lunar months are: 1.Muharram, 2. Safar, 3. Rabi'
al-Awwal, 4. Rabi' al-Akhir, 5. Jumada al-Ula, 6. Jumada al-akhirah,
7. Rajab, 8. Sha'ban, 9. Ramadan, 10. Shawwal, 11. Dhul-Qa'adh,
12. Dhul-Hijjah.
Calculations are made (down to the exact minute) to mark the
birth of moons for years ahead, anywhere in the world. Every
first and last day of the Islamic month can be calculated well
in advance. To decide the first day of the month further
calculation is made to allow possible sighting of the moon.
Unfortunately the Islamic calendar is used less today, even in
some Muslim countries, than the Western (Christian) calendar
which uses for convenience a calendar month with a couple
number of days 30/31, except that Feb has 28 or 29 in 'leap'
year. The Western calendar derives from that of Rome, as
revised by Julius Caesar and Augustus in 46 BC and adjusted in
1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.
Other states only gradually changed from Old Style to 'New
Style': Britain adopted it in 1751, when error amounted to 11
days and 3 September 1752 became 14 September (at the same time
the beginning of the year was put back from 25 March to 1
January).
Russia did not adopt it till the October revolution of 1917.
The assumed date of the birth of Christ is taken as a mark;
events before that date being reckoned backwards from it (BC),
and subsequent events forward from it (AD, Latin anno domino).
The Jews also have their own Jewish calendar which is a complex
combination of lunar and solar cycles, varied by considerations
of religious observance. A year may have 12 or 13 months which
normally alternate between 30 and 29 days. Its beginning is
dated from the Creation (taken as 7 October 3761 BC).
In China both the Western (from 1911) and the local calendars
are in use; the later is lunar, with a cycle of 60 years.
Different people have different calendars, and in this special
issue, we recommend and urge all Muslims, individuals and
organisations, to use the Islamic calendar more often in their
daily affairs, in offices, schools, media etc.