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By
Magda Azzam |
09/10/2003 |
(They
ask thee, (O Muhammad), of new moons. Say: They are fixed seasons for mankind
and for the pilgrimage… )
(Al-Baqarah
2:189)
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A
crescent moon on the third night of the lunar month
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The
Islamic or Hijri calendar is based on a lunar month of 29 to 30 days, with the
day starting at sunset.
The
new moon announces the arrival of a new month, but due to differences in the
weather (rain and fog, et cetera) that may prevent a clear view of the moon, or
due to great distances between countries, the start of a new month is
neither definite nor conclusive. Therefore scientists have developed a number of
norms to help predict when the first sighting of the crescent moon will be, but
there will be small discrepancies between countries when determining the birth
of the crescent heralding the month of Ramadan and the first day of the
following month, indicating the end of the fast.
The
Islamic year consists of twelve months: (1) Muharram, (2) Safar, (3) Rabi`
Awwal, (4) Rabi` Thani, (5) Jumada Awwal, (6) Jumada Thani, (7) Rajab, (8)
Sha`ban, (9) Ramadan, (10) Shawwal, (11) Dhul- Qi`dah, (12) Dhul- Hijjah.
The
most important dates in the Islamic calendar are: 1 Muharram (Islamic New
Year); 10 Muharram (Day of `Ashura’); 27 Rajab (Israa’ and Mi`raj); 1 Ramadan (first day of the month of fasting); the last ten
days of Ramadan, which include (Laylat Al-Qadr);
1 Shawwal (`Eid Al-Fitr); 8 - 10 Dhul-Hijjah (Hajj);
9 Dhul-Hijjah (Day of `Arafah); 10 Dhul-Hijjah (`Eid Al-Adha). However, the
dates of some of these events, such as that of Laylat Al-Qadr and the Prophet
Muhammad’s journey of Israa’ and Mi`raj, have not been conclusively
specified, and there has been some uncertainty about the exact date of the
event.
Four
of the twelve months are sacred: Rajab, Muharram, Dhul-Qi`dah, Dhul- Hijjah). In
the pre-Islamic period, raids among the Arab tribes were forbidden and hunting
was halted during these months. Islam inherited and approved this practice.
Fighting (killing) is prohibited during these sacred months except in
self-defense.
Since
the Islamic calendar is lunar, its year is 10 or 11 days shorter than the
Gregorian year. This means that Muslim months fall in different seasons. For
example, Ramadan and Hajj can fall in the summer as well as in the winter. It
takes about 33 years for the Islamic dates to rotate through the solar seasons.
The
dating of the Islamic years was introduced by the second caliph, `Umar ibn
Al-Khattab, in 638 CE (16 AH) in an attempt to circumvent all the various
conflicting dating systems used during his time. After consulting his
companions, he set the Hijrah—the flight of the Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him) from Makkah to Madinah—as the most appropriate reference to the
new Islamic era. The Hijrah, historically speaking, is the central event of
early Islam, the turning point in Islamic history that led to the foundation of
the first Muslim state.
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