THE MEANINGS OF HIJRIAH CALENDAR

Time is very important in our life. To know the time, we have the clock and calendar. World society recognize some kinds of calendar system. Moslem society have the separate calendar system, namely hijriah. Calendar hijriah have some functions for moslem people, that is as a pride, a symbol, and indicator of time.

 

Moslem society may feel proud because they have their own calendar system that different from others.  The Christian calendar is also called Gregorian calendar wich is based on the earth rotation to the sun and have 365 days a year.  Meanwhile, Saka calendar is a luni-solar, that is a calendar in some cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. It has 12 months but sometime is 13 months. Hijriah calendar is a purely  lunar calendar system wich is based on moon rotation to the earth, that is has 12 months a year and every moth has 29 or 30 days. Since the Islamic calendar is purely lunar, as opposed to solar or luni-solar, the Muslim year is shorter than the Gregorian year by about 11 days, and months in the Islamic year are not related to seasons, which are fundamentally determined by the solar cycle.

 

Hijriah is a guidance for all of the moslem activities, included economic and social activities. It is used entirely in islamic state like Arab Saudi but in Indonesia itis just used by some of us for daily activities. The hijriah calendar is also the guidance for spiritual activities, and it is the most important. Every religious service has each doing time based on the hijriah calendar such as haji done in syawal- dzulhijjah, fasting is obliged to be done in romadhon, so also zakat fitrah.

 

Kalender hijriah also mean as symbol. The Islamic Calendar was first introduced in 638 C.E. by the close companion of the Prophet and the second Caliph, `Umar ibn Al-KHaTTab r.a (592-644 C.E.). He did it in an attempt to rationalize the various, at times conflicting, dating systems used during his time. It was finally agreed that the most appropriate reference point for the Islamic calendar was the Hijrah. The Islamic (Hijri) calendar is usually abbreviated A.H. in Western languages from the latinized Anno Hegirae, “in the year of the Hijrah”. MuHarram 1, 1 A.H. corresponds to July 16, 622 C.E. The Hijrah means a migration, the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Makkah to Madinah in 622 C.E. It is the central historical event of early Islam and led to the foundation of the first Muslim city-state, a turning point in Islamic and world history. The soul of hijrah is not only the physical migration but also the mental and spiritual movement.  In our life, hijrah means change from the felony to the goodness, switchs the darkness to the folly with the knowledge, and move from the darkness to the light.

 

To conclude, the hijriyah calendar is very important to moslems life. This purely lunar calendar is not only important for their social-economic  or spiritual activities guidance but also a pride and a symbol of movement. So, do you have the hijriah calendar in your house?