Islamic calendar
From Mw
The Islamic calendar, also known as the hijri calendar (Arabic: التقويم الهجري at-taqwīm al-hijrī), is the lunar calendar used in Islam. It differes from the Gregorian calendar in that follows a lunar year system, and not and not the earth's rotation around the sun. Thus, it is 10 to 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, and each month is 29 or 30 days (making the year start and end at different times each year). Another difference between the two, is that rather than starting the year of Jesus' birth, it starts on the year of the Prophet's 
hijra from Mecca to Medina. The months of the year used to be manipulated by the Arabs before Islam, which the Qur'an prohibited.
The Islamic calendar, along with many other civilisations such as in China, and India have a lunar based calendar, as opposed to the solar based calendar
Contents |
[edit] Names of the months
The names used by the Islamic calendar were used before the advent of Islam.[citation needed]
- Muharram ul Haram (or shortened to Muharram) محرّم
- Safar صفر
- Rabi' al-awwal (Rabi' I) ربيع الأول
- Rabi' al-akhir (or Rabi' al-thani) (Rabi' II) ربيع الآخر أو ربيع الثاني
- Jumada al-awwal (Jumada I) جمادى الأول
- Jumada al-akhir (or Jumada al-thani) (Jumaada II) جمادى الآخر أو جمادى الثاني
- Rajab رجب
- Sha'aban شعبان
- Ramadan رمضان
- Shawwal شوّال
- Dhu al-Qi'dah ذو القعدة
- Dhu al-Hijjah ذو الحجة
[edit] Names of the days of the week
- yaum al-ahad يوم الأحد
- yaum al-ithnayn يوم الإثنين
- yaum ath-thalatha' يوم الثُّلَاثاء
- yaum al-arba`a' يوم الأَرْبعاء
- yaum al-khamis يوم الخَمِيس
- yaum al-jum`a يوم الجُمْعَة
- yaum as-sabt يوم السَّبْت
[edit] Adoption by Umar
One day Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari, the governor of Basra at the time, sent a letter to Umar Ibn Al Khattab complaining that the ordinances, instructions, and that letters from the Caliph were undated and therefore gave rise to problems linked to the sequence of their implementation.
Because of this and other similar problems of undatedness, Umar convened an assembly of scholars and advisors to consider the question of calendar reforms. The deliberations of this assembly resulted in the combined opinion that Muslims should have a calendar of their own. The point that was next considered was from when should the new Muslim calendar era begin.
Some suggested that the era should begin from the birth of Prophet Mohammad , while others suggested that it should begin from the time of his death. `Ali suggested that the era should begin from the date the Muslims migrated from Mekkah to Al Madinah, and this was agreed upon.
The next question considered was the month from which the new era should start. Some suggested that it should start from the month of Rabi` al-Awwal, some from Rajab, others from Ramadan, others from Dhu al-Hijja. `Uthman suggested that the new era should start from the month of Muharram because that was the first month in the Arabic calendar at that time. This was agreed upon. Since the Migration had taken place in the month of Rabi` al-Awwal, two months and eight days after the first of Muharram that year, the date was pushed back by two months and eight days, and the new Hijri calendar began with the first day of Muharram in the year of the Migration rather than from the actual date of the Migration.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
