According to the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islam, today, Friday 29th of July, 2022 is the 30th day of Dhulhijjah, 1443AH which marks the end of the 1443 Hijrah calendar and the beginning of another calendar (1444H).

Below is the history of how the Islamic Calendar came into existence.

First established in the year 622 AD, the Islamic calendar consists of 12 lunar months, totaling 354 or 355 days per year.

In most countries, the calendar’s main use is now in determining the dates of religious events, such as Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and the holy month of Ramadan. However, several countries, such as Saudi Arabia, use it as an official calendar.


The Hijra

The first year of the Islamic calendar marks the “Hijra” (migration) of Islam’s prophet Muhammad in 622 AD from his birthtown, Mecca, to Yathrib, currently called Medina.

The event holds special significance for Muslims, as it was after Hijra that Islam gained many followers.

According to Muslim tradition, Prophet Muhammad fled Mecca after God warned him of an assassination plot against him. The prophet only told his closest companions, Abu Bakr and Ali, of his plan to escape.

After a miraculous nocturnal escape from the tribe of Quraysh, Prophet Muhammad and his companion Abu Bakr hid in a cave outside Mecca. With a bounty on his head, the prophet stayed in the cave for three days before resuming his journey to Yathrib.

After the Hijra, Prophet Muhammad gained more supporters and Islam began to expand on a large scale in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as in Persia and Africa.

Pre-Islamic calendar
Muslims began using the Islamic calendar in the 17th year after the Hijra, approximately seven years after Prophet Muhammad died.

Prior to the establishment of the Islamic calendar, Muslims used a lunar calendar, with similar month appellations as the Islamic one. However, they did not numerically track years and only referenced them based on the occurrence of major events.


The most famous example of the years’ names is “A’am al-Fil” (The year of the elephant), which coincided with 571 AD and is commonly known as Prophet Muhammad’s birth year.

The year’s name derives from the story, mentioned in the Quran, of Abraha, a Christian ruler of Yemen. He marched upon Mecca with a large army, including war elephants, intending to demolish the Kaabah—Islam’s most sacred site.

However, according to the story, the elephants refused to destroy the holy site and a flock of birds dropped clay stones on the army to protect Mecca.

Establishment of the Islamic calendar

Muslims established the Islamic calendar under the reign of the second Muslim Caliph, Umar Ibn al-Khattab. The main reason behind the establishment of the calendar was the unprecedented expansion of the Islamic Caliphate, pushing Muslims to adopt a unified calendar for counting years.

Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab suggested the adoption of the Hijra as the start of the Islamic calendar, which all the prophet’s companions approved.

Another suggestion for the beginning of the Islamic calendar was the year Prophet Muhammad received his first revelations, in approximately 610 AD. However, the companions preferred the first option because the Hijra represented the actual birth of an Islamic nation.

When establishing the Islamic calendar, the companions had different opinions about what the first month should be. Many suggested the month of Safar, as it was the month when Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Yathrib.

In the end, they agreed on the month of Muharram because it comes right after the Hajj season—one of the most important annual rituals for Muslims.

Difference with the Gregorian calendar

Hijri years are 354 days, eight hours, and 48 minutes long—the duration it takes the moon to circle the Earth 12 times. This makes the Islamic calendar 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar Gregorian calendar.

The difference in duration makes the Islamic and Gregorian calendars unsynchronized. The two calendars mark a new year on approximately the same day only once every 33 years.

The difference also gradually pushes the Islamic calendar closer to the Gregorian calendar year-wise. While 622 years separated the two calendars at the establishment of the Islamic calendar, today, only 578 years separate them.

Through its over 14 centuries of existence, the Islamic calendar has documented wars and truces, births and deaths, and celebrations and mournings across the Muslim world. Today, in a multicultural context, it coexists with the civil calendar and connects Muslims with their eventful history and most sacred rituals.

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/08/316090/1442-hijri-new-year-tracing-the-roots-of-the-islamic-calendar/

On a related topic created a year ago, our dear Brother Rashduct4luv advised we should be acquainted with the Islamic calendar and not to be a "Ramadan Muslim" - a Muslim who knows only Ramadan as the Hijrah month.

We should try and be a Muslim as Allah says:

O you who believe! Enter perfectly in Islam (by obeying all the rules and regulations of the Islamic religion) and follow not the footsteps of Shaitan (Satan). Verily! He is to you a plain enemy. (Al-Baqarah 2: 208).

Below are the months in the Hijrah calendar in sequential order

1.Muharram
2.Safar
3. Rabi al-awwal
4. Rabi al-thani
5. Jumada al-awwal/ Jumada al-Ula
6.Jumada al-thanni
7.Rajab
8.Sha'aban
9.Ramadan
10.Shawwal
11.Dhul-Qa'da
12.Dhul -Hijjah

Try and memorise them!

Lukgaf:
On a related topic created a year ago, our dear Brother Rashduct4luv advised we should be acquainted with the Islamic calendar and not to be a "Ramadan Muslim" - a Muslim who knows only Ramadan as the Hijrah month.

We should try and be a Muslim as Allah says:

O you who believe! Enter perfectly in Islam (by obeying all the rules and regulations of the Islamic religion) and follow not the footsteps of Shaitan (Satan). Verily! He is to you a plain enemy. (Al-Baqarah 2: 208).

Below are the months in the Hijrah calendar in sequential order

1.Muharram
2.Safar
3. Rabi al-awwal
4. Rabi al-thani
5. Jumada al-awwal/ Jumada al-Ula
6.Jumada al-thanni
7.Rajab
8.Sha'aban
9.Ramadan
10.Shawwal
11.Dhul-Qa'da
12.Dhul -Hijjah

Try and memorise them!

It is of no use in Nigeria and world at large, so no need of memorizing it

Today is another friday.

Allah Akbir

See as dem dey hide comments, shame no allow dem leave comments

Wrong
Does it also mean Christianity is still stuck in 1st century because thats was when it starred?

Educate yourself and stop displaying ignorance here. There are different calendars out there but for the tyrant you are everyone must be forced to use the christian Gregorian calendar.
It's only when it comes to islam you start behaving like a rabid dog
The Chinese new year is different from your Gregorian but you dont have an issue with that
Ethiopians use a calendar different from Gregorian but it's only islamic calendar that gives you a hard on.

Now know this and know peace....the whole world cant be christians..... there will always be other religions .

Thank God almighty the Muslims don't use the names of idols as their months unlike some believers that claim the believe in God but their months are names of big-big idols

E Ku odun o. Happy New Year. Christian brothers let us comport ourselves o, because the vawulence is too much here.

Must the Christian comment,how is this thread affecting them?
Very soon Una go dey shout say dem dey kill Una whereas you invade and insult people's religion first....
Thee thread is for Muslims and they are not complaining ,so why the headache con dey affect Una
Christians are just violence in nature and dem Sabi cry

Happy JUMAAT day and Islamic New year in advance