HISTORY OF CALENDER Purpose of the Gregorian calendar was to regulate the cycle of Christian holidays; its acceptance in the non-Christian world was initially not at issue. But as international communications developed, the civil rules of the Gregorian calendar were gradually adopted around the world. Christian leaders temporarily replaced January 1 as the first of the year with days carrying more religious significance, such as December 25 (the anniversary of Jesus’ birth) and March 25 (the Feast of the Annunciation); Pope Gregory XIII reestablished January 1 as New Year’s Day in 1582. The Gregorian calendar was first adopted in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain in 1582. The Gregorian reform consisted of the following changes: 10 days were dropped in October 1582. New rules were set to determine the date of Easter. The rule for calculating Leap Years was changed to include that a year is a Leap Year if: The year is evenly divisible by 4; If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year, unless; The year is also evenly divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year. The Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 CE, was a solar calendar with months of fixed lengths. Every fourth year an intercalary day was added to maintain synchrony between the calendar year and the tropical year. It served as a standard for European civilization until the Gregorian Reform of +1582. Caesars calendar was normally 365 days long but included an extra day (a leap day) every four years to account for the extra one- quarter of a day. Only a few countries were ready or willing to change to the new calendar in 1582. Other countries later joined the fray over the following centuries. Roman Catholic Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands switched by 1584; Hungary changed in 1587; Denmark and Protestant Germany switched by 1704; Great Britain and its colonies changed in 1752; Sweden changed in 1753; Japan changed in 1873 as part of Meijis Westernization; Egypt changed in 1875; Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Turkey all changed between 1912 and 1917; the Soviet Union changed in 1919; Greece switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1928; and finally, China changed to the Gregorian calendar after their revolution of 1949! LEAP YEAR Problem with solar calendar is that it has 365 days and 1/4th day extra (365 days 5 hours 49 minutes 12 seconds). So after every 4 years 366 days ie, leap year occurs. What do A.D., B.C., C.E., and B.C.E. stand for? Years before the birth of Christ are in English traditionally identified using the abbreviation B.C. (Before Christ). Years after the birth of Christ are traditionally identified using the Latin abbreviation AD (Anno Domini, that is, In the Year of the Lord). Some people, who want to avoid the reference to Christ that is implied in these terms, prefer the abbreviations BCE (Before the Common Era or Before the Christian Era) and CE (Common Era or Christian Era). ISLAMIC CALENDER The Islamic calendar is a purely lunar calendar in which months correspond to the lunar phase cycle i.e., based on moon. As a result, the cycle of twelve lunar months regresses (go back to same season) through the seasons over a period of about 33 years. For religious purposes, Muslims begin the months with the first visibility of the lunar crescent after conjunction. Each month begins in principle with the first sighting of the lunar crescent after the New Moon. This is particularly important for establishing the beginning and end of Ramadan. Because of uncertainties due to weather, however, a new month may be declared thirty days after the beginning of the preceding month. The seven-day week is observed with each day beginning at sunset. For Example Juma begins at sunset on Thursday and ends at sunset on Friday. Years of twelve lunar months are reckoned from the Era of the Hijra, commemorating the migration of the Prophet and his followers from Mekkah to Madina. Caliph Umar(R) is credited with establishing the Hijra Calender in A.H. 17 and first month being the month of Muharram. QUR’AN The teachings of Islam is completed, now we can’t add anything. As Allah said: This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islaam as your religion… Qur’an.Surah al-Maa’idah 5:3 Whoever seeks a religion(a way of life) other than Islaam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers. Qur’an.SurahAal ‘Imraan 3:85 HADITH The believers should fear Allah, and stay away from copying or imitating a pagan culture, rites or rituals and should take no part in it whatsoever. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: He who copies any people, is one of them. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever imitates (copies) a people is one of them.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4031; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood and Musnad Ahmad vol. 2:50. Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4649: Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, Allahs Messenger (saws) said, He does not belong to us who imitates other people!” The scholar Ibn Taymiyyah once wrote that it is part of the goal of the shariah to distinguish those people who follow the straight path from all other people. A look at the Quraan and the hadith of the Prophet (saw) will show us that we Muslims are not supposed to imitate or be blind followers of any other peoples. We have our own unique guidance and this is what we must turn to. There are different hadith that clearly state that we are supposed to be different from the Jews, Christians, Romans, Persians, Magians, polytheists, people of jaahiliyyah, bedouins who had not embraced Islaam completely and so forth.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 08:21:19 +0000
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