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Malegaon: As the crescent
appeared over the horizon once again after completing the full
circle November 06 yesterday, it brought along with it, the New Year
for Muslims in the Indian sub continent. Muslims in the Arabian
Peninsula and other parts of the world began the new a day before.
“The new moon that appeared yesterday brought along with it the month
of Moharram al-Haram. The month of
glory and resurgence”, says Rehnuma Tabassum, a student into the
Islamic studies, adding, “Moharram al-Haram is the first month of
the Islamic Calendar, which is based on lunar system."
"With this, the
Islamic Calendar, popularly known as the Hijari Calendar has leaped
into its 1433rd year", she adds.
Elaborating further on the Hijari
Calendar she says, Muslims in their respective
Provinces, following the Arab tradition during those times, were
used to count the days and months – with sighting of the new moon
and counting the days thereafter without following any particular
calendar or dating system as such. The system, however, had its own
disadvantages that began to surface after the Islamic State spread
to new areas.
Rehnuma says, "The Caliph, the Supreme Head of the
Islamic State, was used to issue all the Guidelines and
Pronouncements to the Governors of various Islamic Provinces from Madinah."
“Things were actually working fine.
But confusion arose when contradictory orders started reaching far
away Provinces at the same time. Since these orders were not
carrying any date, it became very difficult for the Governors to
find out which one of the orders was the latest and supposed to be
followed with", she recalls.
To overcome the confusion, Caliph Omar
finally decided to
introduce the Islamic Calendar and asked the people for their opinions and
suggestions on the matter. Consequently various historical events, including the
year when the Prophet was born, the year of the Prophethood, the
time of Migration and the time when the Prophet had died, were
proposed by the people.
“However unanimity surfaced for the
year that coincided with the migration of the Prophet from Makkah as
the commencing year of the Islamic Calendar. For, it was the
migration of Prophet Mohammad (Peace be Upon Him) from Makkah to
Madinah that had resulted Islam nurturing into the new heights and
spreading to the whole Arab lands, and also to the surrounding
States", Rehnuma says quoting from the history.
“Moreover”,
she says, “Moharram al-Haram was also associated with many
historical events and the month has always been considered as one among
the four most respected and sacred months since centuries. These
features only added strength to the selection of Moharram al-Haram
as the first month of the Islamic calendar”.
The Islamic Calendar thus introduced
and adopted more than 1400 hundred years ago, soon became very popular
and also became part and partial of the calendars in every Muslim
household.
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