Islamic New Year

Today Muslims all over the world celebrate the New Year Day of Hijrah (migration) which reminds Muslims of the Hijrah of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) from Mecca to Medina in the year 622 C.E. The Hijri calendar was instituted some time in the reign of Caliph Omar (634-644 C.E.). Islam has a calendar based on the revolutions of the Moon. Thus, it is only 354 days long. Islamic New Year is celebrated on the first day of Muharram, the first Islamic month. Compared to Western calendars, the Islamic year goes 11 days backwards every year. (So, in 2005 on the Western Calendar, the New Year is February 10.).

There are 12 months in the Islamic Calendar:
1-Muharram ["Forbidden" - it is one of the four months during which time it is forbidden to wage war or fight]
2-Safar ["Empty" or "Yellow"]
3-Rabia Awal ["First spring"]
4-Rabia Thani ["Second spring"]
5-Jumaada Awal ["First freezing"]
6-Jumaada Thani ["Second freezing"]
7-Rajab ["To respect" - this is another holy month when fighting is prohibited]
8-Sha'ban ["To spread and distribute"]
9-Ramadan ["Parched thirst" - this is the month of Islamic daytime fasting]
10-Shawwal ["To be light and vigorous"]
11-Dhul-Qi'dah ["The month of rest" - another month when no warfare or fighting is allowed]
12-Dhul-Hijjah ["The month of Hajj" - this is the month of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, again when no warfare or fighting is allowed]

The marking of the beginning of the New Year is usually quiet, unlike New Year's celebrations associated with other calendars. Muslims gather in mosques for special prayers and readings. A major part of the holiday is the telling of the Hijrah, Muhammad's flight from Medina to Mecca, a turning-point in Islamic history that allowed the community to prosper, grow, and develop. Muslims also reflect on the passing of time and their own mortality.

Nowadays, some Muslims also began using this day to send greeting cards and celebrate New Year. In Tunisia, a North African country, people will mark this event by cooking special dishes. Two days before the New Year the main dish will be CousCous with dried beans and smoke-drired lamb meat.On New Year's Day families will cook another dish called Meloukhia, a dark greenish sauce with meat so that the New Year will bring fertility, hope and prosperity.