The Hijrah Calendar
Praise be to `Allaah, the creator of the universe Who exists without being bound to place or time. May `Allaah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ the greatest of the Messengers. May `Allaah grant us patience, sincerity, humility and the ability to do good.
The new Islamic year is 1443 after the hij-rah (AH – after the migration). The Islamic calendar was started during the Caliphate of ^Umar radiyallaahu ^anhu. The Muslims decided to take the migration (hij-rah) of the Prophet ﷺ from Makkah to Madeenah as a starting point for their calendar. Prior to this the people used to take the incident of the elephant as a reference point for themselves. The incident of the elephant refers to a matter that took place before the Prophet ﷺ was born, when a king called `Ab-ra-hah marched from Yemen with an army that was headed by a large elephant with the intention of destroying the Ka^-bah. However, `Allaah protected the Ka^-bah and destroyed `Ab-ra-hah and his army. `Allaah sent birds that were carrying three stones, one in their beaks and two in their claws. They dropped these stones on the army of `Ab-ra-hah; each stone would enter the head of a soldier and exit from the lower part of the body. It is said that 60,000 soldiers were thus killed. This year became known as the Year of the Elephant (which is said to equate to 570/571 of the Common Era). This was the same year in which the Prophet ﷺ was born. Later, during the caliphate of ^Umar radiyallaahu ^anhu following the advice of ^Aliyy radiyallaahu ^anhu it was decided to take the migration (hij-rah) of the Prophet ﷺ from Makkah to Madeenah as a reference point.
After Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received the revelation (aged 40) the Muslims of Makkah were persecuted for many years, but they remained steadfast in worshipping `Allaah and following the rules of `Islaam. Around 13 years after receiving the first revelation, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was ordered by `Allaah to migrate from Makkah (the city of his birth and the most beloved city to him) to Madeenah. The Prophet ﷺ migrated out of obedience to the orders of `Allaah and not out of fear or a desire for money or some other worldly gain.
The order of `Allaah came after the non-Muslims of Makkah had decided to kill the Prophet ﷺ. The non-Muslims agreed to select one man from each of their different tribes with the aim of jointly stabbing the Prophet ﷺ. They decided to do this so that the tribe of the Prophet ﷺ would not be able to fight all the other tribes to take revenge. That night the Prophet ﷺ told ^Aliyy to lie in his bed under a sheet. The Prophet ﷺ then went outside and threw some soil at the non-Muslims which by the power of `Allaah prevented them from seeing him. He ﷺ walked past them and left Makkah along with his companion `Aboo Bakr radiyallaahu ^anhu. Next morning, when the non-Muslims realised what had happened they set out to hunt the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ along with `Aboo Bakr entered a cave in Mount Thawr (around 5 miles SE of `Al-masjidul-Haraam). A group of non-Muslims managed to track them down to the cave. However, `Allaah made a tree appear, a bird form a nest at the entrance to the cave and a spider make a web. When the non-Muslims arrived at the cave they stopped because they said to themselves, ‘Nobody can be inside this cave because this bird’s nest and spider’s web must have been here for a long time’. Hence, `Allaah protected the Prophet ﷺ and `Aboo Bakr. Thus we are currently around 1443 lunar years after this event. The first month of the year is called Muharram and 1443 started on Monday the 9th August 2021.
Makkah to Madeenah
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received the revelation in Makkah and was ordered to teach and spread the religion. The Messenger of `Allaah ﷺ would walk among the pagan Arabs during their seasonal gathering and he would tell them, ‘O people! Say ‘There is no God but `Allaah’ and you will prosper’. The Prophet ﷺ urged justice, charity and noble manners, forbidding wrong, transgressions, evil and oppression. A number of people accepted the faith like `Aboo Bakr, ^Umar, ^Uthmaan, ^Aliyy, Khadeejah and Bilaal, radiyallaahu ^anhum, but most others clung to their disbelief and started to harm the Prophet ﷺ and his companions. During this early period of oppression in Makkah, around eighty companions migrated to Ethiopia (Habashah) from Makkah, among them ^Uthmaan ibn ^Affaan and Ja^-far ibn `Abee Taalib, may `Allaah raise their ranks. During this early period some of the great companions, such as Sumayyah and her husband Yaasir, were killed due to remaining firm to their belief in the religion of `Islaam.
The leaders of Makkah said to `Aboo Taalib, ‘Tell your nephew that if he wants position and fame we will make him our dignitary and we will not do anything without consulting him. If he wants wealth we will grant it to him until he becomes the richest among us and if he is seeking to be a king, we will give him a crown to reign over us.’ Upon this `Aboo Taalib went to the Messenger of `Allaah ﷺ and presented these offers to him in exchange for leaving the call to `Islaam. The greatest Prophet ﷺ told him, ‘Uncle, by `Allaah if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left to abandon this mission, I would not abandon it until `Allaah grants me victory or I die for its sake.’ During the Hajj season the Messenger of `Allaah ﷺ met a group of inhabitants of the city of Yath-rib.
He ﷺ called them to `Islaam and they accepted the faith. When they became many, `Allaah ordered the Muslims to migrate to Yath-rib. The Muslims thus emigrated from their hometown, leaving behind them their families, monies, homes, and lands for one thing only, which was seeking a reward from `Allaah. In addition to this sacrifice, the Muslims bravely accepted to take a dangerous journey through the deserts of Arabia to another city hundreds of miles away where they would be strangers.
On a Monday in Rabee^ Al-`Awwal (the 3rd month of the Islamic calendar), the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Yath-rib and was received by the believers with joy. People saw the arrival of the Messenger of `Allaah ﷺ as a good tiding. The Messenger ﷺ renamed Yath-rib, ‘Al-Ma-dee-nah `Al-Mu-naw-wa-rah’ (the Illuminated City) and established ties of brotherhood between the Mu-haa-jirs (the Immigrants) and the indigenous population whom he called the `An-saar (the Supporters). The `Ansaar shared their monies and homes with their brothers the Mu-haa-jirs for the sake of `Allaah. The Muslims date their lunar calendar according to this honourable migration (Hijrah).
The Prophet ﷺ united the warring tribes among the Arabs and made them one nation under the banner of taw-heed, i.e. the worship of `Allaah alone without likening Him to the creation. During the call of the Prophet ﷺ to `Islaam, many people embraced the religion including non-Arabs (such as Sal-maan `Al-Faa-ri-siyy), Christians (such as `As-ha-mah `An-Na-jaa-shiyy) and Jews (such as ^Abdullaah ibn Salaam).
During the day, on Monday 12th of Rabee^ Al-`Awwal in the 11th year after the hij-rah, the Messenger of `Allaah ﷺ died and was buried in Madeenah under the place where he passed away. This was in the room of his wife, Lady ^Aa-`i-shah, may `Allaah raise her rank.