Islamic Date

Book Id: WPLBN0003467394
Format Type: PDF eBook :
File Size:
Reproduction Date: 2014

Title:	Islamic Date
Author:
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Sacred Texts, Islam, Jewish Date
Collections:	Sacred Texts
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	Internet Sacred Text Archive (ISTA)


Citation APA MLA Chicago Islamic Date. (n.d.). Islamic Date. Retrieved from http://www.self.gutenberg.org/

Description
Description: The starting point for the Islamic calendar was fixed at the date of the new moon during the first lunar month in the year in which Mohammed and his followers left Mecca for Medina (the Hegira). The abbreviation A.H. stands for 'Anno Hegirae' (Latin for the Year of the Hegira). The Hegira (which is actually pronounced Hijra) is often translated as 'the flight'; however this translation has been questioned by Islamic scholars; it probably means 'to break off from the relations or abandon one's own tribe.' The Hegira is believed to have occured on 20 September 622 C.E. The Islamic calendar was created in 639 C.E. (A.H. 17) by the Second Caliph 'Umar ibn Al-Khattab (592-644 C.E.). The civil epoch (the zero date for the Islamic calendar) is July 16, 662 C.E., when the new moon was first visible in Arabia in the first lunar month (it actually became new the day before). The day begins at sunset in the Islamic calendar. The Islamic calendar is strictly based on lunar cycles. For this reason, each year is about 11 days short of a solar year. Hence the start of each month will be different from one year to the next. The Islamic calendar is used to determine important religious holidays such as the start and end of Ramadan. Therefore the date of these festivals rotate backwards through the solar year. This has been attributed to the fact that the Islamic calendar originated in the desert regions close to the equator. Seasonal differences are not as marked as in higher latitudes. Therefore it was less important that holidays synchronize with the solar year.