The Islamic calendar, which is based purely on lunar cycles, was introduced in 638CE by Umar bin al Khattab, who was a close Companion of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the second Caliph of Islam. Umar did it in an attempt to rationalize the various, at times conflicting, dating systems used during his time.He consulted his advisers on the starting date of the new Muslim chronology. It was finally agreed that the most appropriate reference point for the Islamic calendar was of Hijra, which chronicles the divinely ordained migration of the Holy Prophet and his Companions from Makkah to Madinah on September 20, 622CE. For this reason, the Islamic calendar is known as the Hijra calendar.
The actual starting date for the Hijra calendar was chosen (on the basis of purely lunar years, counting backwards) to be the first day of the first month (1 Muharram) of the year of Hijrah. Thus 1 Muharram, 1AH, corresponds to July 15, 622CE. A Hijra year is usually abbreviated AH in Western languages from the Latinised Anno Hegirae.
Hijrah is the central historical event of early Islam. It led to the foundation of the first Muslim city-state, a turning point in Islamic and world history. To Muslims, the Hijra calendar is not just a sentimental system of time reckoning and dating important religious events, e.g. Siyaam (fasting) and Haj. It has a much deeper religious and historical significance.
It is a unique aspect of the Islamic Era that it did not start with the victories of Islamic wars, or with the birth or death of the Holy Prophet, or the Revelation of the Holy Quran. It starts with Hijra or the sacrifice for the cause of Truth and for the preservation off the Revelation. It was divinely inspired selection. Allah wanted to teach man that struggle between Truth and Evil is eternal. The Islamic year reminds Muslims every year not of the pomp and glory of Islam but of its sacrifice, and prepares them to do the same.
The Islamic year consists of full twelve lunar months cycle, taking 354 days. Each new year in the Islamic calendar thus falls 10 or 11 days earlier according to the 364 day solar calendar. The 12 months of the Islamic year are:
- Muharram
- Safar
- Rabi’ al-Awwal (Rabi’ 1)
- Rabi’ al-Thani (Rabi 2)
- Jumada al-Ula (Jumada I)
- Jumada al-Akhirah (Jumada II)
- Rajab
- Sha’ban
- Ramadan
- Shawwal
- Dhu al-Qa’dah
- Dhi al-Hijjah
The Islamic calendar divides times into cycles 30 years long. During each cycle, 19 years have the regular 354 days, and 11 years have an extra day each. (notice that number 19 is mentioned in verse 30 in the Quran in Sura 74 (7+4=11), so 19, 30, 74 (7+4= 11) are all there in the solar system designed by the same God who put number 19 in verse 30 of sura 74.) It is also interesting to know that the sun, the moon and the earth all align in the same relative position once every 19 years. The western convention in designating Islamic dates is thus by the abbreviation AH, which stands for the Latin Anno Hegirae, or ‘Year of the Hijrah’.
CONVERSION
To roughly convert an Islamic calendar year (AH) into a Gregorian equivalent (A.D./C.E.), or vice versa, use one of the following equations.
- AD = 622 + (32 / 33 x AH)
- AH = 33 / 32 x (AD – 622)
The most important dates in an Islamic year are:
- 1 Muharram (first day of the year)
- 27 Rajab(Isra and Mairaj)
- 1 Ramadhan (first day of fasting)
- 17 Ramadhan (Battle of Badr)
- Last 10 days of Ramadhan (which include Lailatul Qadar when the Holy Quran was revealed)
- 1 Shawwal (Eid Al-Fitr)
- 10 Dhul-Hijjah (Eid ul Adha)
In establishing the new Islamic calendar, the Caliph Omar relied on several passages of the Holy Quran, including the following ones:
“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 straight usage. So wrong not yourselves therein, and fight the Pagans all together as they fight you all together. But know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves. Verily the transposing (of a prohibited month) 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 adjust the number of months forbidden by Allah and make such forbidden ones lawful”
(Al-Taubah 9V. 36-37)
“It is He who made the sun to be shining glory and the moon to be alight (of beauty), and measured out stages for her; that you might know the number of years and the count (of time).”
(Al-Yunus 10V. 5)
As the Islamic world runs on lunar time, the calendar slips back 11 days for every year, and special days important in the life of every Muslim travel all around the year. Thus, the months have no permanent relation to the seasons. For instance, the fasting month of Ramadhan (the ninth month of the Islamic calendar) may occur in winter, summer, spring or autumn, making a complete cycle every 33 Gregorian years.