Islamic New Year

The story behind the day

The Islamic New Year falls on the first of Muḥarram, the opening month of the Hijri calendar. That calendar counts its years from the Hijra, the Prophet's migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, and it is purely lunar, so the new year moves earlier through the seasons by about eleven days each year. Among Sunni Muslims it is a quiet occasion for reflection rather than a feast. For Shia Muslims it opens the days of mourning for Imam Husayn that climax on Ashura.^[1–5]

Origins

The Qur'an says that the number of months ordained by God is twelve, four of them sacred, and Muḥarram, whose name means inviolable, is one of the four. Egypt's Dar al-Ifta states that the Hijra marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, and the Encyclopedia.com entry on the calendar places year one in 622 CE, the year of Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina. The new year recalls the Hijra as the event from which Muslims count their years. Sunni institutions treat it as a time for reflection rather than a feast. Dar al-Ifta urges Muslims to take moral and psychological lessons from the Prophet's journey instead of simply celebrating the new year, and Turkey's Diyanet, in a Friday sermon, treats Muḥarram, the month that marks the start of the Hijri year, as a reminder to observe the commands and prohibitions of God.^{[2, 4, 6–7]}

How it came to be

The second caliph, ʿUmar, is credited with adopting the calendar in his reign, traditionally dated to 17 AH (638 CE), though Dar al-Ifta gives 637 or 638 CE. The year has twelve lunar months of twenty-nine or thirty days, and each month traditionally begins with the sighting of the new moon. Since a lunar year is about eleven days shorter than a solar one, the first of Muḥarram shifts earlier against the Gregorian calendar year after year.^{[3, 8–10]}

How it is kept

a quiet mosque courtyard at dawn, calendar page — A quiet mosque courtyard at dawn, calendar pageIllustration · AI-generated

Sunni Muslims welcome the month with reflection and with fasting. Diyanet advises fasting on the tenth day, ʿĀshūrāʾ, along with the day before it or the day after it, and Dar al-Ifta likewise speaks of the great merit of fasting on Ashura. In Shia communities the first of Muḥarram opens the season of mourning for Husayn, a sequence of rituals that climaxes on Ashura, and in Iran and India the commemorations extend through the first ten days of the month. The new year falls on the same date for both traditions, but its tone differs.^{[5, 11]}

Sources

Each statement above was checked against published sources; the verdict says whether it stood as written, was corrected or was hedged.