Interesting Facts to Know About Islamic New Year

The New Year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.

Melody Beattie

The New Year brings along new hopes, goals, and aspirations. And then the whole year passes fulfilling dreams and achieving the desired goals. The Islamic New Year, also called Al-Hijra will begin on the evening of 10^th September 2018. It is the first day of Muharram, which is the first month in the Islamic lunar calendar. The Islamic New Year begins with the first sighting of the new moon so the date may vary with location. It falls on a different day each year, as the Gregorian and Islamic calendars are not synchronized in the same manner.

Further, we are sharing with you some interesting facts about the Islamic New Year.

The Islamic New Year has been observed this way since 622 AD. This year was chosen because it is the year when Prophet Mohammad migrated from Mecca to Medina to escape religious oppression.
Their migration from Mecca to Medina is called Hijra in Arabic.
The Islamic calendar was not actually used until 638 AD. It came in use after Abu Musa Ansari complained to officials in Basrah that correspondence lacked dates. After that, it is decided to start counting the Islamic era from the time of the Hijra.
The Islamic calendar has 12 months but only 354 days. On leap years, one day is added to the 12^th month, giving it 30 days.
The Islamic New Year is an official holiday in some Muslim countries usually celebrated with religious events.
The Islamic year is shorter than the Gregorian calendar. There is a difference of 578 years between both the calendars, which will tally in 20,874 AD.
The Islamic New Year starts with Muharram followed by Safar, Rabi al-awwal, Rabi Althani, Jumada al-awwal, Jumada al-thani, Rajab, Shaban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Dhul Qadah, and Dhul Hijjah.
The word Muharram means forbidden during which Muslims fast and pray as they might during Eid al-Fitr. It is also seen as the period of self-reflection.
Muharram marks the anniversary of the battle of Karbala, when Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad’s Imam Hussein was killed.
The 9^th and 10^th days of Muharram are known as the days of Ashura. The 10^th day of Muharram holds great importance for both Muslims and Jews as on this day Allah saved Prophet Musa and his people from the pharaoh’s army.
The first four months of the Islamic year are considered highly sacred that starting the war during these months is forbidden.