Happy New Islamic Year 1431 AH
Administrator on December 18th, 2009
Today, 18 December 2009, is the first day of the Muslim calendar 1431 A.H.
The Muslim calendar began when the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his followers immigrated (Hijra) from Makkah to Madina to establish a new Islamic state based on the teachings of the Holy Qur’an. ‘A.H’ stands for ‘After Hijra’/ after migration from Makkah to Madinah. This was a turning point for the Muslim community.
The Hijri year is based on the lunar calendar. The Holy Qur’an says: “Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allah [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred. That is the correct religion way, so do not wrong yourselves during them…” (At-Tawbah: 36).
The Islamic calendar was first introduced by the second caliph and close companion of the Prophet, ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) during his caliphate.
As 1431 A.H and 2010 C.E arises on us, it is hoped that it will be a year of peace, where every one’s precious life is safe, every one’s dignity and honour is preserved, every one’s freedom, so long as it is exercised with due responsibility, is respected. We hope that 1431 A.H and 2010 C.E is a year where universal humanitarianism is at the forefront of people’s minds. We hope that it is a year where discrimination against particular religious and ethnic groups does not take place. It is a year of harmonious coexistence of humanity transcending various stereotypes that keep raising their heads. As Muslims, we also hope that this a year when religion, faith and in particular Islam is not blamed for all the global political, social and moral challenges that are posed on us in post-modern world. We hope that it is a year when the inflamed stereotypes that Islam is in conflict with Western values are diminished.
On example of such inflamed stereotypes is the recent ban on mosque minarets in Switzerland. On Sunday 29 November 2009, a majority of Swiss voters approved a proposed referendum to ban the construction of minarets in their country. This vote can be seen a new obstruction on the road to coexistence, a discriminatory action and more importantly it is an indication of mistrust, not trusting European Muslims and creating fear of “Islam” in people’s minds. It is noted that campaign against the minarets was fuelled by such anxieties and allegations.
It was encouraging to see that not only Muslims but other religious institutions, including the Vatican, and some international organisations denounced the vote as a blow to religious freedom. It is praise-worthy that UK local governments up and down the country have permitted magnificent mosque minarets to be erected, which add to the beautiful architecture of our cities and towns in the UK. Long it may continue!
We hope that the ban on minarets of masjid in Europe will be rejected at the European level.
We take this opportunity to wish the Muslims a very happy and prosperous New Muslim Year. We ask Allah to continue to shower His blessings on all of us and make this a year in which we become closer and closer to His Divine presence. We thank Allah Almighty for the manifold blessings that He showers upon us every day and pray that He enables us to implement the true teachings of Islam in our lives. We pray that He gives us the strength to be steadfast on the religion of Islam.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:54 am
salam from Moslem Indonesian