Islamic Occasions, Islamic Calendar, Muslim Calendar, Lunar Calendar,Hijri Calendar, Islamic Months

In the name of Allah, the beneficent the merciful
Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar also called the Hijri calendar
isthe calendar used to dateevents in many predominantly Muslim
countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day
on which to celebrate Islamic holy days or other Islamic Occasions.
Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar is based on the Glorious Qur'an
and its proper observance is a sacred duty for Muslims. Almighty Allah
says in the Glorious Qur'an:
The number of months inthe sight of Allah is twelve (in a year) - so
ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth ...
(GloriousQur'an 9:36)
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. Allah did not create this
exceptin truth and righteousness. And He explains His signs in detail,
for those who understand. (Glorious Qur'an 10:5)
They ask thee (O Muhammad) concerning the New Moons. Say: Theyare but
signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the affairs of) men and for
pilgrimage ... (Glorious Qur'an 2:189)
Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar is a lunar calendar having twelve
lunar months in a year, the beginnings and endings of which are
determined by the sighting of the crescent moon (new moon). Theselunar
months (lunations) are based on the motion of the moon, and because 12
synodic months is only 12 x 29.53=354.36 days.
Therefore the Islamic calendar is consistently about eleven days
shorter than a tropical year or solar year. Islamicholy days, although
celebrated on fixed datesin their own calendar, usually shift eleven
days earlier each successive solar year, such as a year of the
Gregorian calendar or Christian calendar.
Muslims do not adjust their Islamic year by adding an extra month, as
the Jews do to keep their lunar calendar in synch with the seasons.
Hence the months of the Muslim Islamic year do not relate to the
seasons which are fundamentally related to the solar cycle. This means
that important Muslim festivals, which always fall in the same Hijri
month, may occur in different seasons. For example, the Hajj and
Ramadan can take place in the summer as well as the winter. It is only
over a 33-year cycle that lunar months take a complete turn and fall
during the same season.
As we already know the Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar is derived
from the phases of the moon, the Fasting month of Ramadanfalls a
little earlier each year. The effect of this is to balance out the
discrepancy between Fasting in the northern and the southern
hemispheres. It is often thought that in certain parts of the globe
the fast will be easier than in others, for the length of the day, as
well as its temperature, varies from season to season and from land to
land. But Ramadan, creeping forward at a rate of about eleven days in
each solar year, ensures that wherever one may be on the planet, the
fast will fall sometimes in winter and sometimes in summer. Similarly
although in high latitudes the days can be long, there is no heat. A
balance is thus obtained, so that Fasting is similarlyefficacious all
over the world.
Although new moons may be calculated quite precisely, the actual
visibility (by a human observer's eye) of the crescent is much more
difficult to predict. It depends on many factors such as weather, the
optical properties of the atmosphere or atmospheric pollution, the
altitude of the moon at sunset and its closeness, the quality of the
eyesight of the observer, the location of the observer and etc. It is
therefore very difficult togive accurate information in advance about
when a new month will start.
Furthermore, some Muslims depend on a local sighting of the moon,
whereas others depend on a sighting by authorities somewhere in the
Muslim world. Bothare valid Islamic practices, but they may lead to
different starting days for the months.
Islamic years are called asHijra (Hijrah) years, these Hijra (Hijrah)
years are counted since the Hijra (Hijrah), which is when the Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh)migrated from Makkah to Madina (formerly known as
Yathrib) approximately July 622 CE. Thus each numbered year is
designated either H or AH, the latter being the initials of the Latin
Anno Hegirae (in the year of the Hijra).
All the events of Islamic history, especially those which took place
during the life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and afterwards are
quoted in the Hijri calendar era.Hijra (Hijrah) of the Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) is an important turning point for the Muslim
community. After the emigration, the Muslims were able to organize and
establish the first real Muslim "community," with social, political,
and economic independence. Life in Madina allowed the Muslim community
to mature and strengthen, and the people developed an entire society
based on Islamic principles.
It is indeed, a unique occasion to ponder that the Islamic Era did not
start with the victories of Islamic wars, nor with the birth or death
of the prophet (pbuh), nor withthe Revelation itself. It starts with
Hijra, or the sacrifice for the cause of Truth and for the
preservation of the Revelation. It was a divinely inspired selection.
Allah wanted toteach man that struggle between Truth and Evil is
eternal. The Islamic year reminds Muslims every year not of the pomp
andglory of Islam but of its sacrifice and prepares them to do the
same.
Hence, Muslims do not traditionally "celebrate" the beginning of a new
year, but we do acknowledge the passingof time, and take time to
reflect on our own mortality. The Islamic year begins on the first day
of Muharram with the remembrance of great sacrifice of Imam Hussain
(pbuh), the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) on the land of
Karbala for the sake of Truth.
The Islamic (Hijri) year consists of twelve (purelylunar) months:
*. First Month of Islamic calendar: Muharram al-Haram(Moharam,
Moharram) - Fighting is prohibited
*. Second Month of Islamic calendar: Safar al-Muzaffar- A Time of Mourning
*. Third Month of Islamic calendar: Rabi al-Awwal(Rabi-ul-Awwal, Rabi
Awwal, Rabi Awal)
*. Fourth Month of Islamic calendar: Rabi al-Thani(Rabi-us-Sani, Rabi-ul-Akhir)
*. Fifth Month of Islamic calendar: Jumada al-Awwal(Jamadi-ul-Awwal,
Jamadi Awwal)
*. Sixth Month of Islamic calendar: Jumada al-Thani(Jamadi-us-Sani,
Jumada al-Akhir)
*. Seventh Month of Islamic calendar: Rajab al-Murajab- Fighting is prohibited
*. Eighth Month of Islamic calendar: Sha'ban al-Moazzam(Shaaban, Shaban)
*. Ninth Month of Islamic calendar: Ramadan
al-Mubarak(Ramadhan,Ramazan, Ramzan)
*. Tenth Month of Islamic calendar: Shawwal al-Mukarram(Shawal, Shawwaal)
*. Eleventh Month of Islamic calendar: Dhu al-Qa'dah(ZiQa'ad, Zul
Qadah) - Fighting is prohibited
*. Twelfth Month of Islamic calendar: Dhu al-Hijjah(ZilHaj, Zul
Hijjah) - Fighting is prohibited
Due to different transliterations of the Arabic alphabet, other
spellings of the Islamic months are possible.