The Islamic Calendar

The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar is the calendar used to date events in many predominantly Muslim countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic holy days.

It is a lunar calendar having 12 lunar months in a year of about 354 days. Because this lunar year is about 11 days shorter than the solar year, Islamic holy days, although celebrated on fixed dates in their own calendar, usually shift 11 days earlier each successive solar year, such as a year of the Gregorian calendar.

Islamic years are also called Hijra years because the first year was the year during which the Hijra occurred—Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina. Thus each numbered year is designated either H or AH, the latter being the initials of the Latin anno Hegirae (in the year of the Hijra).

The current Islamic Year is 1428 AH.

The Islamic months are named as follows:

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sanctified months of the year. Fighting in this month is looked down upon and is sometimes put to the side in respect for Islam. Since the Islamic calendar is lunar, Muharram moves from year to year when compared with the Gregorian calendar.
The first day of Muharram is the start of the Islamic Year. The Remembrance of Muharram takes place during this month. The Shia Muslims celebrate in a different way in which they commemorate the Battle of Karbala and consider this a month of sadness and mourning. The commemoration reaches its climax on the tenth day of Muharram, known as Ashurah.
This is the day Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad, was killed along with his family members and friends in the Battle of Karbala. This day is also important in other religions. For example, it is related to the Jews as being the time when Moses crossed the Red Sea while escaping from Pharaoh. Sunni Muslims often fast on this sacred day.
The month of Muharram also has traditions which have no support from Islamic teachings. For example, the celebration of the Muslim new year, and the partying and card giving, etc, associated with it is considered to be a bidah and even haraam to all Shia muslims because they feel it is a time to mourn and it is haraam to express any happiness.
Muharram is so called because it was unlawful to fight during this month; the word is derived from the word ‘haram’ meaning forbidden. It is held to be the most sacred of all the months, excluding Ramadan. This month is most sacred to the Shi’a Muslim community and heavy mourning activities on the first ten days of the month are observed by Shi'a Muslims to commemorate the death of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Muhammad. Some Muslims fast during these days but the Shi'a Muslims do not fast as they consider fasting a sign of happiness. The tenth day is called Ashurah, meaning, ‘the tenth’, and it is a day of voluntary fasting. The shia just stop eating and drinking but do not fast till the evening. The Sunni Muslims also fast during Muharram and on the ninth and the eleventh day as recommended by Muhammad during his lifetime. Fasting on the tenth day(ashura) is haram and only Yazid fasted on 10 of moharram in the happines of the death of Imam Hussien.

EXTRA: Fasting During Muharram (According to Sunni Doctrine)
Muhammad was asked: "Which prayer is the best after the obligatory (five daily) prayers?"
He said: "Prayer during the middle of the night."
Muhammad was then asked: "Which fast is the best after the fast of Ramadan?"
He replied: "The (voluntary fasts during the) month of God that you call Muharram."

Safar literally means ‘the void month’. The origin of this word has two theories: the first says that when the pagan Arabs went on their looting expeditions they would leave their houses empty or ‘sifr’ meaning void. The second theory says that the word is derived form the Arabic word for yellow called ‘sufr’: as when it was first named it fell in the time of autumn, hence the derivation the word yellow as all the leaves at that time turned yellow. It is held to be the unluckiest month of the calendar, as in this month Adam was turned out of the Garden of Eden.

Rabi' al-awwal is the third month in the Islamic calendar. Muhammad is considered by Muslmis to have been born on the twelfth of this month, and many Muslims celebrate the Mawlid on this day.

Rabi' al-thani is the fourth month in the Islamic Calendar. It is also known as Rabi`-ul-Akhir.
The name literally means ‘the last month of spring'.

Jumada al-awwal is the fifth month in the Islamic calendar.
We can also find the alternative spelling Jumada al-Ula.
The origin of the word is as follows: the word Jumda, from which the name of the month is derived, is used to denote dry parched land: land devoid of rain, and hence denote the dry months.

Jumada al-thani is the sixth month in the Islamic Calendar.
It is also known as Jumaada-ul-Akhir and Jumada-l-Akhra.
This is the sixth month of the islamic calendar. The origin of the word is as follows: the word Jumda, from which the name of the month is derived, is used to denote dry parched land: land devoid of rain, and hence denote the dry months.

Rajab is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of Rajaba is "to respect", which is where the word Rajab has been derived from.
Rajab denotes ‘the honoured month’. This month was held in great esteem by the pagan Arabs and like Muharram it was a month during which fighting was forbidden.

Sha'aban is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar.
This is the months of ‘separation’, so called because the pagan Arabs used to disperse in search of water. On the fifteenth night of this month falls the Shab-i-Barat: ‘The Night of Records’; some people think that on this night Muhammad told his followers that Allah records all the deeds that the humans have to perform for the next year. However, there is no Quranic or Hadith evidence to support this.

Ramadan is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar.
This is the months of ‘separation’, so called because the pagan Arabs used to disperse in search of water. On the fifteenth night of this month falls the Shab-i-Barat: ‘The Night of Records’; some people think that on this night Muhammad told his followers that Allah records all the deeds that the humans have to perform for the next year. However, there is no Quranic or Hadith evidence to support this.

EXTRA:

On 02 Ramadan, Torah was bestowed on Moses. (As claimed byShi'a Islam)

On 10 Ramadan, Khadija, Wife of Muhammad died.

On 12 Ramadan, Bible was bestowed on Jesus. (As claimed by Shi'a Islam)

On 15 Ramadan, Hassan ibn Ali son of Imam Ali was born and Sayyid Muhammad Alawi Al Maliki died

On 17 Ramadan, Battle of Badr was won by the Muslims.

On 18 Ramadan, Psalms was bestowed on David. (As claimed by Shi'a Islam)

On 19 Ramadan, Imam Ali was injured by sword.

On 21 Ramadan, Imam Ali died.

On 23 Ramadan, Qur'an was bestowed on Muhammad. (In accordance with Shi'a Islam; according to Sunni Islam the date is 27th of Ramadan)

Laylat al-Qadr (The Night of Destiny) is observed during one of the last five odd numbered days of the month. The Qur'an states that this night is better than a thousand months. This is often interpreted as praying throughout this night is rewarded equally with praying for a thousand months. Millions of Muslims spend the entire night in prayer. According to Shi'a Islam this night is 19th or 21st, or 23rd of this month.but according to Sunni Sect this night is 21, 23, 25, 27 or 29.

Shawwal is the tenth month on the Lunar Islamic calendar. The first day of Shawwal is Eid ul-Fitr. There are also six days of fasting during Shawwal which, together with the Ramadan fasts, are equivalent to fasting "perpetually" (according to Sahih Muslim). Usually, this is taken to mean the whole year Islam online . It is a common misconception that the six days of fasting must be undertaken on consecutive days, as there are no hadith that support or stipulate this.
Shawwal means ‘lift or carry’; so named because she camels would be carrying a fetus at this time. Muhammad married the daughter of his commander in chief Abu Bakr, Aisha, in this month. The first day of this is celebrated as Id-ul-Fitr.

Dhu al-Qi'dah is the eleventh month in the Islamic calendar. It can also be known as Thou al-Qi`dah.
The meaning of the word is ‘Master of Truce’ as the pagan Arabs did not conduct war during this month.

Dhu al-Hijjah is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic Calendar. It is also known as Thou al-Hijja.
This is a very sacred month in the Islamic calendar, marking the end of the year. It is in this month in which the Hajj Pilgrimage takes place.
"Dhu al-hijjah" literally means ‘Lord of the Pilgrimage.’ It is during this month that pilgrims from all around the world congregate at Mecca to visit the Kaaba. The Hajj is performed on the eighth, ninth and the tenth of this month. Eid ul-Adha, the ‘Festival of the Sacrifice,’ is held on the tenth day.

Of all the months in the Islamic calendar, Ramadan is the most important. Between dawn and sunset, Muslims are supposed to abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse in accordance with the Ramadan holiday that lasts throughout the entire month of the same name.