Lunar Hijri Calendar: Difference between revisions

The lunar hijri calendar was the official calendar of the Muslim countries prior to the first world war (1914-1918 CE). In [[Iran]], the lunar hijri calendar was replaced by the solar hijri calendar in Farvardin 11th, 1304 SH/ [[March 31]], 1925,<ref> Ḥāʾirī, ''Rūz shumār-i shamsī'', p. 7.</ref> and the same change was made in [[Afghanistan]] in 1301 Sh/1922.  

The lunar hijri calendar begins its count from the year the Prophet (s) emigrated from Mecca to Medina. However, there is disagreement as to when this year was chosen as the beginning of the Muslim calendar. According to some reports, the decision was made during the caliphate of [['Umar]] in 17/638 or 18/639.<ref>Miskawayh, ''Tajārub al-umam'', vol. 1, p. 413.</ref> According to these reports [[Abu Musa al-Ash'ari]] wrote a letter to Umar complaining about the lack of fixed dates on the letters he received from Umar, which made him confused about the order of the letters.<ref>Miskawayh, ''Tajārub al-umam'', vol. 1, p. 413; Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 2, p. 388.</ref> Thus, Umar established a council to set a starting point for the Muslim calendar.<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 2, p. 388; Ibn Kathīr, ''al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya'', vol. 3, p. 207.</ref> In this council, three dates in the Prophet's (s) life were suggested: the beginning of his mission, his demise, and his emigration.<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 2, p. 389.</ref> The latter suggestion put forward by [[Imam Ali (a)]] was accepted and set as the starting point of the Muslim calendar. <ref>Yaʿqūbī, ''Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī'', vol. 2, p. 145; Masʿūdī, ''Murūj al-dhahab'', vol. 4, p. 300.</ref>

According to another view, it was the Prophet (s) himself who set the year of his emigration as the starting point of the Islamic calendar,<ref>See: Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 2, p. 388.</ref> because in some texts dating back to the time of the Prophet (s), such as the text of the pact between the Prophet (s) and the [[Christians]] of [[Najran]]<ref>Subḥānī, ''Sayyid al-mursalīn (s)'', vol. 1, p. 610.</ref> and the Prophet's written advice to [[Salman al-Farsi]], the Hijri dates are written.<ref>Subḥānī, ''Sayyid al-mursalīn (s)'', vol. 1, p. 609.</ref>

The lunar hijri year starts with the month of Muharram and ends with Dhu l-Hijja.<ref>See: Masʿūdī, ''Murūj al-dhahab'', vol. 2, p. 188-189.</ref> This is because the lunar year of the Arabs before Islam began with Muharram<ref>Masʿūdī, ''Murūj al-dhahab'', vol. 2, p. 189.</ref> and thus the second caliph decided to choose the same month as the first month of the year in the Muslim calendar and rejected the suggestion of choosing Ramadan as the first month.<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk'', vol. 2, p. 389.</ref>  

[[Al-Sayyid b. Tawus]], a prominent Shi'a scholar of the seventh/thirteenth century, also held that based on the practice of a great number of past scholars and their books, the month of Ramadan is the beginning of the lunar hijri year. However, he thought it was probable that the month of Ramadan could be the first month of the religious year and the month of Muharram the beginning of the ordinary year. <ref>Ibn Ṭāwūs, ''Iqbāl al-aʿmāl'', vol. 1, p. 4-5.</ref>

The lunar hijri year contains twelve months,<ref>See: Masʿūdī, ''Murūj al-dhahab'', vol. 2, p. 188-189.</ref> with each month containing twenty-nine or thirty days. However, whether a given month contains twenty-nine or thirty days is determined based on moon phases and therefore is not fixed.<ref>ʿAbdullāhī, ''Muʿarrifī-yi du taqwīm-i dāʾimī-yi jadid gāhshumārī-hā-yi hijrī shamsī wa hijrī qamarī'', p. 734, note. 2.</ref> Nevertheless, in conventional lunar hijri calendars, the odd months are considered thirty days and the even months twenty-nine days. The last month in leap years is always thirty days.  

According to [[Ali b al-Husayn al-Mas'udi]], a historian of the fourth/tenth century, the Arabs of the [[Age of Ignorance]] would add one month to the lunar year in every three years, and this is what the [[Quran]] calls "nasīʾ" and criticizes. <ref>Masʿūdī, ''Murūj al-dhahab'', vol. 2, p. 189.</ref>

* [https://www.sustg.com/saudi-arabia-switches-to-gregorian-calendar/ Saudi Arabia Switches to Gregorian Calendar]. Accessed: 2024/02/22.

* Granville Freeman. ''Taqwīm-hā-yi Islāmī wa Masīḥī wa jadwal-hā-yi tabdīl-i ānhā bi yikdīgar''. Translated to Farsi by Firiydūn Badrihʾī. ''Taḥqīqāt-i kitābdārī wa iṭṭilāʿrisānī-yi dānishgāhī'' 2 (1374 Sh).

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