What is the significance of the Muslim calendar

The Muslim calendar is also called "hijra" or "hijrat". Therefore, quite often when using the Muslim chronology, they say: such and such or such a year of the Hijra. This is an Arabic word, which means tearing something apart, separating the soul from the body, parting, but more often it has the meaning "to move from place to place." In the Islamic tradition, the word is taken not so much from the Qur'an as from the hadeeth, that is, the statements of the Prophet Muhammad.

Like many terms that are worshiped in Islam and used in the interpretation of theology, the Muslim calendar or the Hijriath has a historical and symbolic meaning - that is why its first year serves as the beginning of the Islamic calendar. The historical significance of this term is that the word "hijrat" traditionally denoted the migration of Muslim communities led by a prophet from Mecca to Medina (which is often called Ansara) when they were forced to flee from persecution by the pagans there. History also says that the people of Ansara happily met the first heralds of the new faith and shared with them all that they had.

That is why 622 marks the beginning of a new Islamic era and is considered the first year of the hijr, that is, the resettlement of communities. In connection with this, the use of the term "hijrat" in the sense of "the flight of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina", widespread in Russian literature, is incorrect, since it is believed in Islam that the Prophet moved to Medina, fulfilling the will of God to spread Islam, and not to save own life. In addition, the Muslim calendar symbolizes the departure of man from sin, and the desire and even the obligation to spread faith, and the duty to overcome difficulties. The fact is that the concept of "hijrat" has a figurative meaning, which really means "flight", but it is about the believer's flight from everything that is forbidden by God or harms others.

The history of the introduction of the hijrat is connected with many beautiful stories, in particular, testifying to the mutual attraction and consent between Muslims and Christians during the time of the Prophet and his first followers. So, for example, one of the significant migrations, thanks to which the Muslim calendar arose, was committed by the Muslim community in Christian Ethiopia. The pagan rulers of Mecca sent an embassy there with a request to return the refugees to their homeland, and they even sent gifts to the Ethiopian emperor. But he decided to first talk with the Muslim community. Muslims told him that before they were idolaters, despised the poor, unwanted daughters buried in the sand alive. And after the sermons of the Prophet, they decided to believe in the One God, to do good deeds, not to do evil to others, to help the poor and protect women and the offended, and then they began to be persecuted. The emperor shed tears and said that he would never return them to his homeland. He even stated that they are free to practice their faith in Ethiopia, because the source of the sermon of the Prophet and Savior (Jesus Christ) is one and the same.

In 637, when the caliph Omar ruled, the event of the hijrat (resettlement) began to be considered the beginning of a new era, and the month when it happened (Muharram) - the first month of the year for the new calendar. Although the first day of this month is actually a new year for the Muslim calendar (رأس السنة الهجرية), but there are no special ceremonies for the celebration of this day. The first day of the first year for such a calendar corresponds to July 16, 622.

The year of the Islamic calendar also consists of twelve months, it is based on the lunar calendar, and all major holidays are calculated from it. This means that the months are calculated from one new moon to the next and consist of either 29 or 30 days. Thus, it appears that the Muslim lunar calendar divides the year by 354 days. In connection with this, the beginning of the year is shifted every 11 days.