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Preface by Dr. Syed Muhammed
We
realize time because we live. And we measure our time through two
objects of nature, the sun and the moon. We mark one day from the
non-stop flow of Time with sunrise. Every time the sun rises only to
mark the end of one day and the beginning of another. A Day is further
divided into nights and days, hours, minutes and seconds. The natural
division of a day as indicated in the Qur'aan is through the
declinations of the sun.
Subuh, pre-sunrise prayer, is the first
prayer, thus we do not have to define a day in any other terms once
more nor is there any problem in finding out when it starts and ends.
When does the day begin? Our five time prayers tell us this. The first
prayer is Subuh. Thus the day begins at Subuh Sadik. The day neither
begins with sunrise as was believed by most till the introduction of
the International Date Line, nor at sunset. Obviously the last prayer
of the day is Esha.
The week begins on Sunday even according to
the Islamic Calendar. After the Hijra when the Islamic Calendar came
into being, Sunday continues to be the first day.
According to
Arabic grammar while listing nouns the masculine is said first and then
the feminine. Thus we have the expression 'Lail wa Nahar' night and
day. This does not mean that night comes before the day. In fact one
Ayath of the Qur'aan states categorically 'Valallaylu saabiqunnahaari'
(36:40) “the night is not the forerunner of the day”. This strengthens
the argument that the day begins with the daybreak.
The seven
days of a week too receive sanction in the Traditions. We need not
re-fix it. The Monday morning sun rises to give birth to a new week and
after the passing of seven days, the sun rises the following Monday to
mark the end of one week and the beginning of another. No natural
phenomenon marks the beginning or end of a week. The next higher unit
of time is the month. The movement of the moon marks the birth of a
month. After the brief conjunction or Amavasai a part of the moon is
visible to a part of the Earth. It may be day to others and so they
cannot see the short-lived crescent or their land may not come under
the visibility angle. However, the fact remains that the month is born.
The crescent waxes and becomes a full moon. Then it wanes till it
disappears totally. The plain of rotation of the moon, which is five
degrees slanted, does not allow the shadow of the moon fall on Earth at
every conjunction or Amavasai. And when the three come in a line and on
the same plane the shadow of the moon falls on the earth and an eclipse
occurs. Conjunction marks the end of one month and gives birth to a new
one. Similarly the time taken for the earth to go one full circle
around the sun is one Solar year. In lunar terms, the end of twelve
months marks the beginning of a Lunar year. A Solar year has 365.2422
days. A Lunar year has 354.3671 days. However the Qur'aan does not
approve of measuring the year depending on the sun. The Qur'aan orders
mankind to use the Lunar year, which is free of errors, which will be
explained in due course.
The point very casually made first,
i.e., “After the brief conjunction, eclipse or Amavasai a part of the
moon is visible to a part of the Earth” is what is explained through
this book. There is much darkness around this fact. There is less light
and more heat generated in this area. It is hoped that this book will
throw some light for people willing to see the truth.
As the
beginning of a month depends upon days and birth of the crescent, it is
important that we know the day on which the crescent would be born.
According to a popular Tradition the Muslims have been asked to look
for the crescent and confirm its presence on the western horizon before
starting the fast of the month of Ramadan and before ending it. While
some understand “see” [Ru'yah] literally to mean see it with the eyes,
some others take it metaphorically to mean, “Know”. The Author is a
strong advocate of the latter interpretation. He quotes many traditions
to substantiate his stand. His argument that the exact time of the
birth of the crescent can be calculated well in advance lends validity
to his interpretation. In fact, he has been calculating the movement of
the moon before every month of Ramadan, Idul fithr and Idul Adha. He
has worked out a calendar for many years backwards and forwards.
Through this achievement he has not only given a very practical
interpretation to a very basic Tradition on the lunar calendar but also
impressed upon the educated the importance of learning this science.
For those who do not have time and means to learn this he gives a
series of simple formulae to confirm the dates of the lunar calendar.
The
time of the moonset and sunset is given in leading newspapers. In order
to find out the date of the Lunar month we will have to deduct the time
of the sunset from that of the moonset and divide the remainder by
forty-eight. There are also simple ways of doing this by looking at the
shape of the moon and its position on the sky at a particular time. The
author argues that at least the Ulema should learn this in order to
lead the community in the right path. Today nearly everyone is ignorant
of a science, which our forefathers had mastered. He gives us simple
rules like the lunar calendar cannot have 30 days consecutively more
than thrice except as a freak and 29 days more than twice. By applying
these we can avoid mistakes in our Hilal observations.
The point
that is to be highlighted is that we neither know the science of the
lunar calendar nor are we conscious of this ignorance. Far from making
an effort to learn this science we pretend to know it. The disease that
we are ignorant of our ignorance is to be remedied through this book.
It is only when we know the scope of this subject that we realize how
little we know. This in-turn would either make us interested in this
subject or at least dissuade us from taking our own stand based on our
smatterings when we are faced with the situation of having to fix a
date.
The question of deciding or rather knowing the right date
is very important in Islam because a series of duties become incumbent
on Muslims on certain months and dates. What is regularly done in a
month or even a date is not done on other months and dates. The most
common example for this is eating and fasting. It is only after knowing
when the month of Ramadan begins does a Muslim stop eating during the
day.
The celebration of Eid ul Fitre too is linked with the
appearing of the crescent of the Shavval, the tenth month of the
Islamic calendar. One should not fast on the first day of this month
but celebrate Eid instead. Similarly one should not fast on the day
previous to the first day of Ramadhan, i.e., on the last day of
Sha'baan. These days are the bones of contention in the Islamic world.
When the month is calculated right, there is great confusion among the
Muslims. Missing a day in a month would amount to a day's difference
for months together in a calendar.
The Lunar calendars published
in India and the same published in Saudi Arabia give at least three
different dates for a day anytime in a year. While this difference,
which is not ignorable, does not attract the attention of the common
man and thereby does not affect his religious life during most months,
it becomes the topic of discussion for the entire Islamic world at
least twice, once during the beginning of the month of fasting and once
more during the celebration of Idul Fitr. The problem is equally
serious on the eve of the month of Haj, Dulhaj the last month of the
Islamic calendar. However, as mere celebration of Idul Adha is involved
to most of the people the difference in the Day of celebration
throughout the world do not strike them as significant because all of
them celebrate on the same date. This is because they do not know the
significance of Day and Date.
The author takes strong objections
to the confusion in dates created by false Hijra calendars. The
argument that the crescent of the first day should be physically seen
with the eyes the night following the 29th is held strongly by both the
learned “Ulema” and the common man alike. The question of seeing the
crescent does not arise the night following the 30th of a month. While
one people belonging to one school of thought wait till they see the
crescent to begin the month, others either go by calculations like
Saudi Arabia or accept the sighting in any part of the world. Thus the
latter's month often begins early. The author is a strong advocate for
both calculating and accepting the earliest sighting in the world.
There
are two problems involved here. First of all, not all accept the fact
that another must accept the sighting of one country. As sight follows
from the East, a group may accept the sighting of the crescent in an
eastern country. Although the same group accepts the fact that the
crescent that is not visible in the local sky may be visible in a
neighboring country that is to its west within a few hours. Accepting
this possibility does not convince them that the month is born for
their country too. They are willing to believe that the month that has
started in a neighboring country has not started in theirs! They
believe that the new month need not start on the same day throughout
the world. To them it can be Shaban in one country and Ramadan in
another or Ramadan in one country and Shawwal in another. They do not
even consider this a sin. What is worse sometimes is that there are
three dates in the world. One country delays by not one day but two in
accepting the arrival of the new month. The problem does not end here,
but the error continues not only throughout the month but also in
determining the sighting of the crescent for the following month. Thus
the error is perpetuated from year to year.
The consequence is
the existence of not two but three lunar calendars in the Muslim world.
The Muslims consider certain days special and certain others normal on
the basis of the calendar that is printed and circulated in their
society. Finally it is both the Ulemah and the false Hijra calendars
printed without caring to verify the dates with the objects on the sky
which are responsible for retaining the people in a month that has
passed and delaying them from entering into the next month promptly.
The
interesting phenomenon here is that usually the Muslim world is behind
time and not ahead of it. If one section is ahead of time another
behind and the rest on time the problem would have been still more
difficult to solve. Now it is only a matter of convincing the late
entrants to enter on time. The first task before us is to explain the
concept of time to the people.
The time difference that exists
from country to country is obviously because of the rotation of the
earth. It anticipates sunlight-day and avoids sunlight-night. However
this hour difference does not result in two different twenty-four hour
days. It may be that Friday has started in Fiji and it is Thursday in
Samoa. But the time difference between both these points is less than
twenty-four hours. In fact the maximum time difference between two
distant places on earth is twelve hours. Perhaps this is the only
existing time difference on earth. If the crescent of Ramadan is
visible in the sky in some part of the Earth or if the crescent of
Ramadan is born in the sky but not visible anywhere on Earth, it is
Ramadan for the whole world. The simple logic is that there is only one
day/date on Earth, only one month on earth and one year on earth. As
the Moon is the clock that shows the date to the inhabitants of the
Earth, it cannot show two dates and consequently two months at the same
time. The question of three days sounds highly fantastic and it
ridicules the very idea of a calendar. The people of the Earth must be
reminded of this basic fact.
Another major doubt in the minds of
the people is with the possibility of predicting the movement of the
Moon. Once you accept that like the Sun, the moon too moves in a
definite orbit following the laws of its Creator you will accept the
calculations made about the movements of the Moon. One wonders how the
same mind that agrees with the fact that the Sun's movements can be
calculated for many years in advance disagrees with the fact that the
moon's movements can also be calculated for many years in advance.
There is a reason for this contradiction. The common man does not
follow the existing solar calendar just because he is convinced with
it. He follows it just because there is only one of its kinds. And how
is it that there is only one solar calendar and not two or three as is
the case with the lunar calendars? The first point is that it is
midnight twelve (in London) and twelve noon at the Date line that marks
the beginning of a day. Any other happening in the sky does not mark
the end of a day and the beginning of a new one. That the Sun has to
rise and set to mark every day is taken for granted. Obviously the time
can be clearly checked wherever the sun is seen on earth.
The
duration of each month is found even in nursery rhymes. Thirty days
hath September April June and November. And all the rest have thirty
one excepting February alone which has only eight and a score till leap
year brings in one day more. Giving a certain number of pre-fixed days
to each year does not mean that year is exactly that long only. The
difference in time, which we miss to tabulate in our solar calendars,
shows its unpleasant shadows in terms of days lost. When we look at the
history of the Gregorian calendar we learn that it was altered more
than once with a view to synchronizing the dates that the calendar
shows and the dates that the Sun shows. Thus in 8 BC Augustus Caesar
altered the Julian calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. He
wanted to give 31 days to August, a month named after him, instead of
the original 30 days. As 10 days had to be dropped from it in 1582 this
calendar was renamed Gregorian calendar in memory of Pope Gregory XIII.
As the length of a day in the solar calendar is not the same, the
length of a month and a year too are not the same. Thus the speed of
the rotation of the earth is not a perfect guideline to measure the
length of a day.
The Sun is not a dependable calendar that can
be used by man who has to record history too. But the Sun is an
effective watch to show the time of the day, nothing less, nothing more.
How
about the Moon? It is a perfect calendar as already pointed out. We can
depend on it. We can work it backwards to arrive at the exact days of
historical events. We can calculate forwards to know the time of Moon
set and Moonrise. And this is enough to tell us when the month will
begin. As the movement of the Moon follows certain rules, it is a
matter of finding out these rules. The author has tabulated a calendar
that goes backwards and forwards through centuries. Further we can
calculate the exact day and date of any event in history through a
simple method. This calculation tallies with the known dates and days
in Islamic history. For example the agreed fact in Islamic history is
that the Holy Prophet (saw) gave his historical talk to more than one
lakh companions on the 9th day of Zul Haj, the last month of the
Islamic calendar. We can work back to confirm this. However when we
work backward, the false calendars miss a day or two.
One need
not be shocked at the fallible nature of the solar calendar. In fact,
we are bound to err and we are destined to keep changing our calendar
if we base it on the Sun. The Sun is not meant to be a calendar. We get
this startling truth from the Qur'aan.
When the companions of
the Holy Prophet (saw) asked the Prophet (saw) how the moon changed the
phases, the Holy Prophet (saw) replied that it was a calendar. His
answers provide clues to so many questions unsolved by our scientists
up to the first man landing on the Moon and even now. When Allah (swt)
Himself has called the Moon a calendar, can there be any defect in this
calendar?
The present interpretation of the various traditions
of the Holy Prophet (saw) that has resulted in two lunar calendars, as
against the true one, should clearly be a gross misinterpretation.
There can neither be more than one lunar calendar nor can any other
object that has not got Allah's sanction as a calendar considered one.
Thus Allah (swt) has not called the Sun a calendar but He has called
the Moon. And the fact that a Calendar has got Allah's sanction demands
our consideration in that and it alone has to be accepted as the point
of our time reference.
The case is different with the Moon. It's
rising that is, visibility is a problem on the first day if the sky is
not clear and not within the visibility angle. The concession given by
Allah (swt) is that when one cannot decide the first crescent on the
29th night one should complete 30. This is the only thing possible.
However, when one observes the Moon regularly for many years the
seemingly unpredictable movement of the moon becomes predictable as
said in the Qur'aan: (55:5)
The argument has come one full
circle. The writings of the author should be more meaningful to the
beginners of this discipline against the background of what has been
said. I should accept the fact that all that I have said so far and in
the rest of this book is an echo of the author's ideas. I have enjoyed
his intellectual and spiritual companion-ship for over a decade. The
fact that a layman like me is able to write on this topic is a
testimony to his influence on the educated. One only needs to listen to
him patiently and with an open mind. Patience and open mindedness is
what is needed to appreciate the views of the author, Ali Manikfan, the
unschooled but self-taught genius.
Calendars
The aims of Calendars
The
aims of this section are twofold. The first aim is to demonstrate the
validity of the lunar calendar. And the second but incidentally the
very important aim is to find out the right dates for various events in
the life of the Holy Prophet (saw).
The Holy Prophet (saw) was
born on Monday 14-03-53BH. According to the Arabic calendar it is
recorded that the Prophet (saw) was born on 12th Rabiul Awwal
(12-03-53). There is no controversy over the date 12-3-53 BH, of the
Arabic calendar or the day, Monday. The controversy however is over the
date of his birth in AD calculated as on 20-4-571AD. When we check up
the equivalent date in the solar calendar, it is 05-05-570 AD a Monday.
On the strength of the historical evidence pointed out earlier and from
what the calendar shows it becomes clear that the Holy Prophet (saw)
was born on 14-03-53BH a Monday. Of the thirteen important events
quoted here for date fixation, nine of them took place on a Monday.
Further the confirmed and accepted date of the demise of the Holy
Prophet (saw) is 15-03-11AH a Monday. The Holy Prophet (saw) was born
and died on the same day: 14/15-03- a Monday. He was born and died on
full Moon day of Rabiul Awwal.
With 14-03-53AH = 05-05-570AD,
Monday as the point of reference we can count the number of days the
Holy Prophet (saw) lived in this world, pausing at eleven events in
between his birth and death. This account should tell us how long he
lived.
He received the first revelation Wahi on 27-09-13BH =
01-09-609, Monday. This historical event took place exactly 14365 days
after the birth of the Holy Prophet (saw). The Prophet (saw) was 40
years and 190 days old according to the lunar calendar and 39 years and
125 days old according the solar calendar. A lunar year is 354.3671
days long and a solar year is 365.2422 days long. The general statement
that the Holy Prophet (saw) received Prophet Hood at forty should not
be taken literally. The first Wahi being in the ninth month of Ramadan,
the Holy Prophet (saw) who was born in the third month of Rabiul Awwal
could not have been exactly forty during his first Wahi. The two dates
of the two calendars given can be verified by dividing the days by the
length of the year:
14365 / 354.3671 = lunar years
14365 / 365.2422 = solar years
The
readers may convert the days into the lunar and solar months through
the above simple method and count the years from birth to death.
The
third important event in the life of the Holy Prophet (saw) was his
departure from home on 27-02-00BH = 18-09-621AD, a Thursday (Eve of
Friday). The time gap between the first Wahi and this event was 4400
days. The general belief is that the Prophet (saw) preached in Makkah
for 13 years. As the objective of this book is to make the world Muslim
community time conscious, it is but proper to know the exact time gap
between the events. The Prophet (saw) preached in Makkah for 12 years
and 147 days according to the lunar calendar and 12 years and 17 days
according to the solar calendar. One can calculate with his calculator
to find this out. This is not to call the earlier historian wrong.
Usually fractions are rounded off to the nearest zero for convenience
of speech. Thus roughly speaking it is 13 years. However, as this
section attempts at date fixation even a day counts.
The Holy
Prophet (saw) went to the Thowr cave and hid there for 3 days. Then he
proceeded to Quba on 01-03-00BH = 21-09-621AD Monday. That month of
Safar had 29 days.
27-02-00, Friday 28 Saturday, 29 Sunday and 01-03-00BH Monday
He
travelled for 8 days (Monday to Monday) and reached Quba on 08-03-00BH
= 28-09-621AD Monday. He stayed a week in Quba and reached Medina on
15-03-00BH = 05-10-621AD Monday. Although Hijrath started the moment
the Holy Prophet (saw) left his home, 01-01-01AH was exactly 300 days
after Hijrath. Much took place during the 0 year. If we could calculate
the progress of time in terms of days there will be no confusion. The
Prophet (saw) lived in Medina from 15-03-00BH. However, as the month
was Rabiul Awwal, there were nine more months for the New Year. A
calendar is a continuum. It is man who has to describe his activities
with reference to time that is always on the move. There is a general
misconception that the Islamic lunar calendar started with the Hijrath
of the Holy Prophet (saw). An artificial lunar calendar was in vogue
during the pre-Islamic period. The number of days in a month was fixed
and the difference that arose in course of time was adjusted by the
introduction of a leap year, adding one day to the last month which had
29 days. It had twelve months. Muharram was the first month and Dul
Hajj was the last. When the Holy Prophet (saw) reached Medina he did
not change the calendar. He did not call the 1st day in Medina 01-01-01
AH. He accepted the sanctity of the order of the months as man followed
this Allah given order right from the start. So the first of the first
month of Muharram of the first year was 01-01-01AH, a Thursday.
The
Holy Prophet (saw) waited for the year to finish and the count of years
started from one when the New Year was born. As Islam saw rapid growth
only after the Hijrath it is but natural to begin the count of the year
afresh.
However, historians should not forget to add the 300
days while calculating the life span of the Holy Prophet (saw). And
they will have to understand the reason for the delay of nine months
before the new Islamic lunar calendar came into vogue. 01-01-01AH =
15-07-622AD was a Thursday. 193 days later during an Asar prayer the
order for the change of Kiblah was given on 17-07-01AH = 24-01-623 AD,
a Monday.
The order to fast was sent 27 days later on 15-08-01AH
= 21-02-623AD, a Monday. The historical battle of Badre was fought 32
days after on 17-09-01 AH = 25-03-623 AD Thursday (Eve of Friday). 9
years and 42 days later the baby boy of the Holy Prophet (saw) Ibrahim
(R) expired on 30-10-10AH = 27-01-632 AD, a Monday. The well-known
Hajjathul wida took place 38 days later on 09-12-10 AH = 05-03-632AD,
Thursday (Eve of Friday). Finally the Holy Prophet (saw) died 93 days
after on 14-03-11AH = 08-06-632AD a Monday.
Of the thirteen
events listed nine of them took place on a Monday. The other events
took place on a Thursday. The first day of the first month of the first
year was a Thursday. His departure from home, the battle of Badre and
the Hajjathul Wida fell on a Thursday (eve of Friday). There is an
ambiguity because the Arabs usually refer a day by Youm or Lailah.
The
Holy Prophet (saw) lived from 15-03-53BH = 05-05-570AD, a Monday to 15-
03-11AH = 08-06-632 AD, a Monday. He lived for 22680 days and a few
hours in all. When we calculate the days in terms of solar years we get:
22680 /365.2422 = 62 years and 35 days
One
has to be careful when telling how long the Holy Prophet (saw) lived.
If you follow the Lunar year you have to say 64 years. If you follow
the solar year you have to say 62 years. If you say 63 years, then you
are falling in line with the historians who have missed the 300 days
from the lunar calendar. It is high time we set right our dates too.
A
calendar is a system for the reckoning the passing of time. The
principal problem in drawing calendars arises from the fact that the
solar day, the lunar month and the tropical year- the most immediate
time unit - are not simple multiples of each other. In practice a
solution is found in basing the system either on the phases of the moon
(lunar calendar) or on changing of the seasons (solar calendar). The
difficulty that the days eventually get out of step with the moon or
the seasons is got over by adding in (intercalating) one or more extra
days or months at regular intervals in an extended cycle of months or
years. These types of calendars are artificial calendars.
The
earliest Egyptian calendar had a year of 12 months with 30 days each,
though later 5 extra days were added at the end of each year so that it
approximated the tropical year of 365.25 days. In the classical times,
the Greeks came to use a lunar calendar in which 3 extra months were
intercalated every eight years (octannial cycle). Through about 432BC
the astronomer Meton discovered that 235 lunar months fitted exactly
into 19 solar years (Metonic cycle), this being the basis of the modern
Jewish and ecclesiastical calendars.
The Roman calendar was
reformed under Julius Caesar in 46 BC fixing the year at 365 days but
intercalating an additional day every fourth year, (this giving an
average 365.25 day-year). This Julian calendar was adopted by the
Christians, who called it Anno Domini and it continued in use until
16th century when it had become about 10 days out of step with the
seasons, the tropical year in fact being a little less than 365.25
day-year.
In 1582 AD Pope Gregory xiii ordered to omit 10 days
from that year and not to give a leap year for century years unless
divisible by 400 so that there would be no recurrence of any
discrepancy in future. But since the error of one day occurs in about
127 years, this adjustment will not make it fully error-free. This
calendar was called Gregorian calendar.
This Gregorian calendar
was only slowly adopted particularly in non-Catholic countries, the
reform waiting until 1752 AD in England and its American colonies by
which time 11 days had to be dropped. But in spite of all these defects
it is still in civil use throughout the world even today. Various
proposals for further reforms of this calendar have come to nothing.
The Hijra calendar
At
the time of advent of the last Prophet of God Muhammad Mustafa (saw)
the Jews were using an artificial lunar calendar. The Arabs too used
it. The Prophet (saw) was born on the 12th of Rabiul Awwal according to
the Jewish calendar. The Prophet (saw) did not approve this artificial
lunar calendar for the Muslims. In his last days he gave orders to
revive the ancient natural lunar calendar fixing the months at 29 or 30
according to the appearing of the Hilals, the dates tallying with the
phases of the Moon as commended in the Quran. He banned the use of leap
years and ordered to fix the months according to the Manazil of the
moon so that the calendar would be totally scientific and free of
error. In this system the dates can be calculated up to infinity. It is
a perpetual calendar for mankind, which can be computed astronomically.
Islamic date line
We
need a point of reference, a Date line on earth itself to count its
rotation which marks the day. This point would mark the beginning of
the day. This count can be taken accurately only at noon when the point
is geocentrically straight to the sun. Towards the west of this point
the new day begins while towards the east the old day is ending. As the
point of reference would have two days meeting at noon when the people
are at work, it cannot be on land where people live. Further, this
point ought to be a line running from north to south of the earth. Now
the whole line has to continuously pass through the sea avoiding land.
When we search for such a point on earth we find it between Russia and
Alaska. Interestingly this is the place where the International Date
Line runs through. The day begins with this line which comes straight
to the sun at noon. So the day begins on earth at 12 (mid day) on the
date line. At London which is to the opposite of this line, it is 12
midnight. Our concern here is with the time of the birth of the day on
earth, which is at 12 noon. It is with reference to this that we
calculate the time in 24 hours. The universal day is from noon to noon,
calculated at the Dateline or midnight to midnight calculated at London
0 degree Greenwich. The point that is underlined here is that the
people of Fiji to the west of the date line pray the first Jumu'ah of
Friday while people of Samoa to the east pray the Luhar of Thursday.
The
question of Qibla too arises here, the people of Fiji pray towards the
west and the people of Samoa towards the east. If the Islamic date line
runs through inhabited land there would be two days, Jumu'ah and Luhar
and two opposite Qiblas in the same place. One should interpret the
statement of Imam Shafee ® that there cannot be two Jumu'as in the same
town against this concept of the Islamic dateline. The learned Imam was
suggesting that the date line should not pass through land where
inhabitancy is possible.
Dr. Y. Sayed Muhammad |
