What you should know about the Islamic calendar

This article of mine was published by the New Nigerian newspaper on the first of Muharram two decades ago. I have reproduced it here verbatim. Read well.

What you should know about the Islamic calendar

The first day of every Muharram marks the beginning of another Islamic calendar year. The Islamic year has twelve months, viz. Muharram, Safar, Rabiul Auwal, Rabiut thani, Jumada al-auwal, Jumada atthani, Rajab, Sha’ban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Dhul Qa’dah and Dhul Hijjah. These months are, according to the Holy Qur’an, the ones recognized by Allah (SWT). Allah 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 right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein…” (Q9: 36)

The four sacred months mentioned in this verse of the Holy Qur’an are Muharram, Rajab, Dhul Qa’dah and Dhul Hijjah. It is in these months that attacking an enemy is prohibited and acts of sins committed attract more sin than if committed in other months. War is prohibited in these months because it is the command of Allah that peace should reign, especially during and around the Hajj period. Thus three consecutive months were sanctified, the month of hajj itself, the month before it and the month after it. This would enable all pilgrims travel to and from the Holy land and observe their rites without any feeling of insecurity. The other sacred month is placed in the middle of the year so that Muslims who wish to observe Umrah can do so with maximum feeling of security.

The use of twelve lunar months and sanctification of some is an old practice of the arabs and can be traced to the time of Ibrahim (AS). While the pagan arabs agreed on the sanctity of some months however, there were differences among them about the number and names of the months. Few of them had eight sacred months in which no war could be fought but the majority accepted four months as sacred. All of these agreed on Dhul Qa’dah, Dhul Hijjah and Muharram but disagreed on which between the seventh and ninth months should be called Rajab and therefore considered sacred like the other three. While the tribe of Mudar considered the seventh month as sacred and called it Rajab, the tribe of Rabi’ah called the ninth month Rajab and considered it sacred.

Another practice of the pagan Arabs concerning the sacred months was the transposition of the sanctity of Muharram between it and Safar. In one year they will consider Muharram as sacred and in another they will transfer its sanctity to the month of Safar so as to get an unfair advantage over an enemy who was not prepared to fight in the sacred month of Muharram. The Holy Qur’an condemns this practice in Surah attaubah. Allah says:

“Verily transposing is an addition to unbelief. The unbelievers are led to wrong thereby; for they make it lawful one year and forbidden another year, in order to agree with the number of months forbidden by Allah and make such forbidden ones lawful. The evil of their course seems pleasing to them. But Allah guides not those who reject faith.” (Q9:37)

The pagan arabs also intercalated a month in every three years for the lunar year to correspond to the solar one thus avoiding the travelling of the months around the seasons.

These pagan practices were put to a stop by the Messenger of Allah (SAW) who said at Minna in his farewell pilgrimage:

“Verily time has turned around and today it is like it was the on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth and verily the number of months is twelve. Of them four are sacred – the first of them is the Mudar’s Rajab which is in-between Jumadah and Sha’ban and Dhul Qa’dah, Dhul Hijjah and Muharram.”

Islam thus fixed the Islamic year as a purely lunar year of twelve definite months each of either twenty nine or thirty days depending on the actual appearance of the moon. The months also move around the seasons.

There is wisdom in letting the months move around the seasons. An example is in the fasting month. If Ramadhan were restricted to the summer for example, many Muslims who cannot spend few hours without drinking or eating during the hot season due to sickness or nature will be permanently deprived of observing this pillar of Islam throughout their lives. If, on the other hand it were permanently placed in the winter, the well to do Muslims would not know what their poor brothers and sisters encounter during the difficult seasons of the year which is one of the lessons of Ramadan fasting.

While the names of some of the months could be associated with arab culture and tradition, others got their names from the seasons in which they fell by the time they were named. Muharram got its name from the Arabic word ‘harrama’ which means to prohibit or sanctify. It is perhaps named so in order to make its sanctity undisputable. We have already said that pagan arabs sometimes transferred its sanctity to Safar in order to get an undue advantage over an enemy.

Safar got its name from the word ‘safira’ which means to vacate or become empty. This is because in most cases the Arabs used to leave their homes vacant in this month and proceed on journeys having to do with trade or war. The names of Rabiul auwal and Rabiut thani have to do with the Arabic word ‘rab’ or building. They are so named because of the utilization of this period by the Arabs to build houses. Jumadah I and II got their names from the Arabic word ‘jamuda’, i.e. to solidify or freeze. The two months period coincided with the winter during which time water freeze up due to cold weather condition.

Rajab got its name from the word ‘rajjaba’ which means to extol or regard. This is because the Arabs always respected this month. Sha’aban got its name from the Arabic word “tasha’aba”, i.e. to scatter or move in different directions. This was a month of battles for the Arabs and they used to scatter in different directions in attack.

Ramadan got its name from the word ‘ramdha’ or heat. This month was associated with hot weather. Shawwal originated from the word ‘shala’ which means to raise. The Arabian camel had the habit of raising its tail to nocturnal visitors. This month is associated with that habit. 

Dhul qa’ada got its name from the word ‘qa’adah’, which means to sit down. The Arabs used to sit away from battle fields in this month. Dhul hijjah was named so because of the observance of pilgrimage in that month.

The pre-Islamic Arabs had no organized system of year-naming. Years were sometimes named by certain events that occurred in them. This practice continued up to the early days of Islam when as a matter of policy the second caliph Umar bn Al-Khattab introduced the hijra style of dating. In this method of dating, which is the one accepted by the entire Muslim Ummah, year-naming began with the year the Messenger of Allah (SAW) migrated from Makkah to Madinah. The migration actually took place in Rabiul auwal of that year.