THE
ISLAMIC CALENDAR
All
nations used to keep count of years as from a specific epoch.
Whenever there was a highly important event that is known to the
whole world, then people took it as a starting point of an epoch, to
start a calendar. The best way to start a calendar would have been to
date it back to the advent of Hazrat Adam (as) on earth or even start
the calendar as from the deluge in the times of Hazrat Nuh (as), for
these are highly important events in history. But unfortunately, we
do not have exact information on the times when these events
occurred. Therefore, each nation took as starting point a main event/
situation which they witnessed in their own times.
It
has been reported that the descendants of Hazrat Ibrahim (as) began
to count the days/ years as from the day that he was thrown into the
fire. As for the Arabs, they based their calendar on the Year of the
Elephant, and here is its story:
An
Abyssinian, by the name of Abraha built a big cathedral at Sana (in
Yemen) and he had plans to make this construction a greater place of
pilgrimage than Mecca. When the Arabs got to know about this, they
became very angry, and one of them went there and burnt down the
cathedral. When Abraha got this news, he thought about taking revenge
by completely destroying the Holy Ka’aba. He gathered an army which
marched towards Mecca, having an Elephant also at its head. When
Abraha marched along with his army towards Mecca, the sky became dark
and there was a striking, loud noise. A multitude of birds came, and
each of them had stones/ rocks with them which they pelted upon the
army of Abraha, coming close to the army and throwing the stones on
them. Those stones were hard, sharp and were enough to harm/ pierce/
kill them.
It
is in this way that Allah safeguarded His Sacred House, the Holy
Ka’aba. This news spread around the world and the Arabs thus took
this event as a starting point of their epoch. They used to date
their letters and their acts (i.e. documents) as from this year (the
Year of the Elephant as they called it). Even during the times of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), they used this calendar. But it has
been reported that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) used for some of his
writings (i.e. letters), such a date which corresponded to that of
his migration from Mecca to Medina (i.e. the Hegira).
It
is in the times of the caliphate of Hazrat Umar (ra) that the Islamic
calendar was definitely established taking the Hegira as the starting
point of the Islamic Calendar. This happened in the following
circumstances:
Abu
Musa Al-Ashari (ra), who was at that time the governor of Basra wrote
to Hazrat Umar (ra) to inform him that letters from him, the
Commander of the faithful reached them without proper dates. Thus,
they could not determine which letter and instruction to comply with
because of the lack of information concerning the dates [whether the
letters were now obsolete/ void or new]. Abu Musa (ra) therefore
requested the Amir’ul Mumineen
Hazrat Umar (ra) to date his letters. Upon reading this letter,
Hazrat Umar (ra) saw that it was indeed high time to draft a final
calendar and he gathered all knowledgeable people as well as the
Muslim advisors to ask them their opinion on the subject.
Hazrat
Umar (ra) used to based his decisions concerning the Islamic State
after consultation with the companions and other knowledgeable people
in what is called a ‘Shura’.
He always took their opinions before taking his own final decision.
He used to say: “The opinion of a
single person is like a very fine thread [i.e. liable to break]. Two
opinions [ i.e. the opinions of two persons) is like two thread
knotted together. If there are many opinions, it becomes like a solid
rope.”
By
saying this, Hazrat Umar (ra) was referring to those people who are
truly pious, those who base themselves on the teachings of Allah, and
who judge with Taqwa.
He did not meant those kinds of Mullahs like we see nowadays who are
bereft of Taqwa,
for example, in the case of the Ahmadi Muslims whereby there was a
consensus in the Muslim world to decreed such and such as non-Muslim.
This is not done! This is completely unislamic because it is only
Allah Who has the right to judge faith, not the people. When someone
says: “Laa Ilaaha Illallah Muhammadur
Rassullullah” or even “Laa
Ilaaha Illallah”, we do not have the
right to judge his faith, unless Allah Himself sends by way of
revelation or inspiration that such and such person is not a Muslim,
or reveals that such and such is an infidel or hypocrite. The latter
situation is completely different [because Allah is specifically
saying something by way of revelations].
So,
after seeking the opinions of one and all, and pondering over all
these opinions, Hazrat Umar (ra) decided to start the Islamic
Calendar as from the Hegira. By way of explanation, he said: “We
count as from the year which the Messenger of Allah has migrated,
because it is during this year that the power of Islam has been
manifested, truth has become firmer and lies disappeared. There is no
event which happened in the world which is much more important than
this.”
Verily,
the Hegira was a great turning point for the mission of the Holy
Prophet (pbuh) and a revolution in Islam. Islam was by then
constituted into a community with a sole leader. At Mecca, it
struggled, with passive resistance, but at Medina it became active
and was organized into a religious society. So, with the Hegira began
a new era in the history of Islam.
As
for the number of months in the Islamic year, the Islamic Calendar
constitutes of twelve months. This number has been fixed by Allah
Himself, whereby He says in the Holy Qur’an:
“Verily,
the number of months with Allah is twelve months (in a year), so was
it ordained by Allah on the Day when He created the heavens and the
earth; of them four are Sacred.”
(Surah At-Tauba 9 : 36).
These
four months are Dhul-Hijjah
et the months which comes before it and after it, i.e., Dhul-Qaddah
and Muharram.
The fourth one is Rajab,
which comes just before Shabaan and Ramadan.
The
names of the months in the Islamic Calendar are: Muharram, Safar,
Rabi’ul Awwal, Rabi’ul Aakhir, Jamadul Awwal, Jamadul Aakhir,
Rajab, Shabaan, Ramadan, Dhul-Qaddah, and Dhul-Hijjah.
The
names of those months were changed from their initial pre-islamic
names. For example, the first month was called ‘Mortammar’
and the second month was called
‘Nardjizah’.
We
should also know that each of these months is a reminder of a past
event or situation which happened in those different months. Some
examples:
-
Muharram which means ‘sacred’, was thus called because fighting and wars were forbidden in this month.
-
Rabi which means ‘spring’, was thus called because this season lasted during the difficult months of Rabi.
-
Ramadan which means ‘heat’, because during this month it was usually hot.
-
Dhul-Hijjah which means ‘pilgrimage’. It was thus called because it was the month of pilgrimage.
An
important point about the Islamic Calendar is the fact that it is a
lunar-based calendar, and not a solar-based one. Almighty Allah says
in the Holy Qur’an :
“They
ask you about the new moons. Say, ‘They are measurements of time
for the people and for Hajj.’”
(Al-Baqara 2 : 190).
And
moreover Allah says : It is He
who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and
determined for it phases - that you may know the number of years and
account [of time]. Allah has not created this except in truth. He
details the signs for a people who know.
(Yunus 10: 6).
Thus,
the month of Muharram is the first month of the Islamic Calendar and
it is among the four sacred months which Almighty Allah has mentioned
in the Qur’an. Almighty Allah show His kindness and pours down His
blessings in abundance. We do begin a new year but as seasons are of
no account in Islam, we do not celebrate the New Year [we do not
consider it as a festivity]. There is only two festivals in Islam:
Eid-ul-Fitr
and Eid-ul-Adha.
The
other nations celebrate [their] New Year. But what should a Muslim do
during the New Year (i.e. be it the Islamic one, and the
International one)? He should give thanks to Allah Who has bestowed
upon him the opportunity by His grace to meditate of his own
existence and to reflect on the future. Just like people worry about
the profits which their enterprise shall reap, and they prepare an
appraisal and statement of accounts every year so that they can take
a decision for the future (of the enterprise/ company), or like the
results at the end of a school year when the stakeholders (school
staff, parents etc.) look at these to determine who among the
students shall go to higher classes and who are those who shall
repeat classes, likewise, a believer must also make an appraisal of
all his deeds during the past year and ponder over what he shall do
in the future.
We
should recall that each passing minute during the day and night is
leading us close to death. Pray that Allah may enable us all to
meditate on our past deeds, and to learn from past mistakes so that
we may act well today as well as in the future.
I
tell you a truth, that there is 700 commandments in the Holy Qur’an
and if someone tries to put into practice those commandments, then he
shall definitively find opened for him the true and perfect path, and
verily this perfect path which has been created for him is the Qur’an
[the path of the Qur’an shall be opened for him]. He should
therefore study the Holy Qur’an closely and lead his life according
to it just like the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) led his life
as per the Qur’an. Establish between you and the Qur’an an
unbreakable love, and trust and love it for therein lies your
salvation. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
----Extracts from the Friday Sermon of 14 September 2018 (04 Muharram 1440 AH) delivered by Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.