Moharrum

Here it starts another year, 1431 as per Hijri Calendar. A very quick fact about the Hijri calendar, its a lunar calendar and has 355 days as against Gregorian calendar of 365 1/4 days. And which will make me 37 yr old when I am 36 yr old as per Gregorian calendar...paradox of calendars :-).

Anyways, this post of mine is to just put somethings in perspectives. To start with I am going to list down all the months in the Hijri calendar and also before that the when and how this calendar started. It started when Prophet Mohammad did Hijrat (moved) from Mecca to Medina, i.e. when he shifted to Medina.

List of months -

1. Moharrum-ul-Haram
2. Safar-ul-Muzaffar
3. Rabi-ul-Awwal
4. Rabi-ul-Aakhar
5. Jumadil-Ula
6. Jumadil-Ukhra
7. Rajab-ul-Asab
8. Shaban-al-Karim
9. Ramadan-al-Moazzam
10. Shawwal-al-Mukarram
11. Zilqadatil-Haram
12. Zilhajjatil-Haram

Yes so year starts with Moharrum and its happiness everywhere for the arrival of new year. Then comes the 10th Moharrum also know as Ashura, it is this day which generally finds place in the Gregorian calendar. Its not a festival, its time to pray to Allah other than the routine prayers, its time to ask for forgiveness, its time to remember Imam Hussain (grandson of Prophet Mohammed) who attained martyrhood this day for Prophet's prosphecy, for Islam. All Shia's around the globe remember his sacrifice and pray to Allah for forgiveness and pledge for refraining from all evils in the coming year and the remaining life.

This is brief is the importance of 10th Moharrum in hijri calendar and Moharrun in Gerogorian calendar.

Since I have started this, I might as well write 2 lines about other events which are placed in Gregorian calendar as well.

Next is Milad-un-Nabi, which the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed, its celebrated on 12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal, 3rd month of the year.

Then is Ramadan, the 9th month of the year, also called as month of Allah. Muslims all around the globe observe fasts and pray to Allah month long. End of which calls for the celebrations and is called Eid-ul-Fitr, its the first day of the month Shawwal-ul-Mukarram.

Eid-ul-Adha which comes under the month of Haj, when millions of pilgrims gather at Mecca to perfrom the rituals of Haj, this is the month of Zilhajjatil-Haram and the Eid falls on 10th day of this month and its the last month of the year.

Though there are few more important days on this calendar, one of which is birth anniversary of Maula Ali (13th of Rajab-ul-Asab), this is celebrated by Shites across the globe.

Guess thats a brief summary of the Hijri Calendar and the dates which it shares with Gregorian Calendar.

I am not sure how much of it makes any sense to anyone reading it for the first time, but I will try and write about each of the important festivals in this calendar observed worldswide and would avoid any controversy by refraining from sensitive topic, which believe me are many. By sensitive I mean the topics sensitive within Islamic world, not the outside of it.