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Purification of Arab’s Lunar Calendar in the Early of Islamic Era
By admin | December 20, 2008
After the Arab people embraced Islam and united under the leadership of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), then Allah SWT commands the Islam People to use a purely lunar calendar with the elimination of nasi’ month. This is listed in the Holy Koran, the Surah At-Taubah Verse 36-37:
“The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year)- so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred: that is the straight usage. So wrong not yourselves therein, and fight the Pagans all together as they fight you all together. But know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.
Verily the transposing (of an intercalation month) is an addition to Unbelief: the Unbelievers are led to wrong thereby: for they make it lawful one year, and forbidden another year, in order to adjust the number of months forbidden by Allah and make such forbidden ones lawful. The evil of their course seems pleasing to them. But Allah guides not those who reject Faith.”
With the revelation of God, the Prophet Muhammad ordered that Islamic calendar no longer depended on the sun’s position. Although the names of Muharram month to Dzulhijjah are still used, the months, each year, shifts from season to season. Therefore Ramadan (”burning”) does not always occur in the summer and Jumada al-Awwal (”frozen first”) does not always occur in the winter.
Why it should be a purely lunar calendar? This is because Islam is not a religion for only Arab communities in the Middle East alone, but for all mankind in various area of the earth who have various geographic locations and seasons. It is not fair if, for example, Ramadan (fasting month) is set according to the solar system or lunisolar calendar, as there will be a community of Islam in an area who will always fast in summer or in winter. Conversely, with a pure lunar calendar, the people of Kazakhstan or Muslim in London will have to do 16-hour fasting in the summer, but they break their fast in every 4 p.m. in the winter. The Muslim, who is fulfilling the religious Hajj pilgrimage, will once sense the hot of `Arafah in the summer, and at others sense the cold of Mecca’s air in winter.
Topics: Science & Technology >< Sains & Teknologi, Social & History >< Sosial & Sejarah | No Comments »
