Islam:

A) Islam is the religion preached by the Prophet Muhammad in the 600’s A.D. Islam is an

Arabic word that means surrender or submission. God is called Allah, which means The

God. A person who submits to Allah and follows the teachings of Islam is called a

Muslim.

Muhammad was born in about 570 A.D. in the Arabian city of Mecca. Muslims believe

that in about 610, he began to receive revelations from Allah that were transmitted by the

angel Gabriel. They were assembled in a book called the Quran (ku Ran), which is

sometimes spelled Koran. The Koran and the Sunna (SOON uh), the example of the

words and practices of Muhammad, make up the foundation of Islamic law.

The central concept of Islam is tawhid (taw HEED), the oneness of Allah. For Muslims,

there is one Allah who is lord of the universe. People owe worship and obedience to

Allah. In relations with humanity, Allah is the lawgiver, judge, and restorer of life after

death.

B) The formal acts of worship are called the Five Pillars of Islam. They provide the

framework for all aspects of a Muslim’s life. The pillars consist of shahada, or an act of

bearing witness, prayer, almsgiving, fasting and a pilgrimage to Mecca.

There are three historic divisions in Islam. The great majority of Muslims belong to the

Sunni (SOON ee) division. They follow a traditional and widely held interpretation of

Islam. Some Sunnis follow a strict approach to religion. The next largest division is the

Shia (SHEE ah), whose members are called Shiites. The Kharijites make up the

smallest division of Islam.

The Islamic Calendar

The Islamic calendar is based on lunar months, which begin when a thin new crescent moon is actually sighted in the western sky after sunset within a day or so after the New Moon. The month is either 29 days or 30 days. There are 12 months in an Islamic year, which is either 354 days long or 355 days long, compared to (Gregorian) civil calendar year of 365 or 366 days. Since the Islamic Lunar year has 12 lunar months, it is on an average, 11 days shorter than the (Gregorian) civil year, the Islamic year shifts earlier in each civil year by about 11 days. The 12 months of the Islamic calendar are:

1. Muharram
2. Safar
3. Rabi' al-Awwal
4. Rabi' al-Thaani
5. Jumada al-Ooola (also known as Jumada al-Awwal)
6. Jumada al-Ukhra (also known as Jumada al-Thaani)
7. Rajab
8. Sha'ban
9. Ramadan
10. Shawwal
11. Dhu al-Qa'dah
12. Dhu al-Hijjah

Shown in bold are those months considered holy. The four known “sanctified” months differ from Ramadan in that they were specifically termed as holy for the simple reason that their sanctity was even accepted by the pagans of Mecca.

The Islamic (Hijri) calendar year is usually abbreviated A.H. in Western languages from the latinized "Anno Hegirae" or more commonly known as "After Hijrah."

It was during the Messenger Muhammad's last pilgrimage in the 10^th year of Hijrah (10^th year of his migration from Mecca to Medina), that the decision to introduce a purely lunar Islamic Calendar was made..

Although, the Islamic calendar was introduced in the Christian Era of 632 AD by the Muhammad, the beginning of the Islamic era for the count of Islamic years was considered and discussed during 639 AD, the time of the 4^th year of the Caliphate of Umar who declared that the most important event in establishing the roots of Islam in Medina is Hijrah (Messenger's migration from Mecca), therefore it became the epoch of the era which happened in 622 AD. The actual starting date for the Islamic Calendar was chosen (on the basis of purely lunar years, counting backwards) to be the first day of the first month (1^st Muharram) of the year of the Hijrah. However, the era between 1^st year to 10^th year of the Hijrah was not following this Islamic Calendar; instead the prevailing practices of various kinds of intercalation was followed in Arabia at that time. Different tribes were following different intercalations, so there was no uniform calendar. Accordingly, first day of Muharram, 1 A.H. as practiced in Arabia corresponded either April 18 or May 18, 622 C.E. (Julian calendar). However, if one wants a theoretical starting date for Islamic calendar (on the basis of purely lunar months without intercalation, counting backwards) then the first day of the first month i.e. 1^st Muharram, 1 A.H. corresponds to July 16, 622 C.E.

The earliest date of Islamic calendar for which a Julian calendar date is exactly known is 9^th Dhu al-Hijjah, 10 AH, which corresponds to March 6, 632 C.E. (Friday), when the Messenger Muhammad  performed his last and farewell pilgrimage to Mecca.