While many of us celebrate the New Year on the night of Dec. 31, Muslims instead celebrate their New Year based on a calendar that is 11 days shorter than the one used by most Americans. Based off of a lunar calendar, the day of the Islamic New Year shifts as time passes, and “moves completely backward in a course of 32 ½ years,” according to World Book Encyclopedia.
The day of the Islamic New Year was originally based on the proposed date of the Hiraj, the migration of the prophet Muhammad from the city of Mecca to the city of Medina.. This day is often celebrated by gathering and praying, along with listening to readings from the Koran. Recently, however, many Muslims have begun to send New Years cards to each other on this date.
The first month of the Islamic calendar, Muharram, is considered to be one of the most sacred. It is honored by fasting and the prohibition of fighting and, on the tenth day, the commemoration of Ashura. According to World Book Encyclopedia, Ashura, for Shi’ites, is “a day of mourning for the death of Husayn, also known as Husayn ibn Alī, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad” whereas for Sunnis, it is “a traditional day of fasting.”
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