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Islamic Calendar: Identity of the Ummah
Every
nation has its own calendar through which it calculates
time, special events and occasions peculiar to its history
and civilization. Hence, nations with different
civilizations and religions would hardly adopt the same
system of calendar. It was the highly-ranked religious men
of each nation who calculated the months and dates of its
calendar year. This was the case with the Roman calendar,
the Jewish and the Persian one.
It
was the members of the Sanhedrin [The highest judicial and
ecclesiastical council of the ancient Jewish nation] who
calculated the months and days of the Jewish calendar. The
pontiffs in the Roman civilization calculated their
calendar, and the Magis calculated theirs. Pope Gregory XIII
instituted the Gregorian Calendar as a revision of the
Julian one in order to correct the dates of significant
religious occasions (primarily Easter) and to prevent
further drifts taking place in the dates.
Muslims
also have their own calendar. The Muslim calendar, based
purely on lunar cycles, was first introduced by the second
Caliph, `Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with
him). He (may Allah be pleased with him) refused to adopt a
system of dating, which was peculiar to any other nation and
wanted to introduce a system specifically for the Muslim
nation. Hence, he decided to take the great event of Hijrah
as the starting point for the Muslim calendar. Hence, the
beginning of the Muslim calendar is indicated by faith, and
was pure, and free of the contamination afflicting other
systems where the months took on the names of idols they
worshipped.
Taking
the cycles of the moon as signs of the beginning of the
months of the Muslim calendar was a product of divine
guidance. No one was [or still is] to interfere in the
number or names of the months of that calendar or decide
when leap years occur and so on. Allah, the Almighty says: [He
it is Who made the sun a shining brightness and the moon a
light, and ordained for it mansions that you might know the
computation of years and the reckoning. Allah did not create
it but with truth; He makes the signs manifest for a people
who have knowledge.]
(Yunus 10:5)
According
to this verse, the article 'it' in 'ordained for it
mansions' refers to the moon ['mansions here refers to the
stages or cycles of the moon]. This indicates that it is
Allah, the Almighty Who designated the cycles of the moon to
be the criterion upon which people can calculate time.
Allah, the Almighty has also designated how many months
there are in the year. He, the Almighty, says: [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: that is the straight
usage. So wrong not yourselves therein, and fight the Pagans
all together as they fight you all together. But know that
Allah is with those who restrain themselves.]
(At-Tawbah 9:36)
Moreover,
there is reference in the Qur'an to some months and days,
such as Ramadan, Friday and Saturday. The names of the rest
of the months were referred to in the Sunnah.
The
Muslim calendar remained in use (on the political level)
throughout the Muslim world until the Muslim countries were
occupied by foreign colonial countries and the Muslims began
to lose their identity. The Muslim caliphate then collapsed
at the hands of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who issued a decision
to the effect that the Gregorian calendar was to replace the
Muslim one. Henceforth, the Gregorian calendar has been in
use (on the political level) throughout the Muslim world.
In
conclusion, it is high time to take the Islamic calendar
into consideration and be unified in determining the
beginnings and ends of lunar months in order to keep the
unity of the Muslim Ummah. As all acts of worship are based
on this calendar such as the beginning of the month of
Ramadan, the day of `Arafah, etc. Likewise, Islamic events
are based on the Islamic calendar such as the two `Eids
(Al-Fitr and Al-Adha).
*Arabic
Copyediting Unit Head at www.islamonline.net
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