16. OH, RAJAB
Today is 8th
of May 2015 according to Gregorian calendar corresponding to 19th of
Rajab 1436 H, which is the seventh month on the Islamic calendar. Gregorian
calendar is based on solar calendar, whereas Islamic calendar is based on lunar
calendar. It is unlike Hebrew, Buddhist, Tibetan, traditional Chinese,
Japanese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Korean, ancient Hellenic and Babylonian
calendars which are lunisolar, which indicates both the moon phase and
the time of the solar year. It is a combination of the solar and lunar
calendars. Lunar calendar is also used by the Christians to calculate the
Easter every year, and by some Satanists and Pagans.
The
length of the lunar month is 29.530589 days. For our convenience the 12 months
are alternately 29 days, called hollow month, and 30 days called full month. One
year in lunar calendar makes 354 days, whereas in solar calendar it is 365
days, with 11 days difference. By using lunar calendar the beginning of fasting
in Ramadan this year is about 11 days earlier than last year. Therefore,
wherever you live, either in Northern hemisphere like Europe and North America,
in Southern hemisphere like South America, Australia, and New Zealand, you will
fast in the four seasons, too long in Summer, but too short in Winter.
The first month in Islamic calendar is called Muḥarram in 30
days. The name Muḥarram (مُحَرَّم) means “inviolable, forbidden”
and was so called because killing and all kind of fighting is forbidden (haram)
during this month. Muharram includes the Day of ‘Āshūrā which has been dealt
with extensively in Khuṭab 3 no. 39 p. 210.
It is one of the four months where they are called “forbidden months.” Allah says in the Qur’an,
إِنَّ عِدَّةَ
الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ
السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالْأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ
حُرُمٌ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَقَاتِلُوا
الْمُشْرِكِينَ
كَافَّةً كَمَا يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ كَافَّةً وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الْمُتَّقِينَ
(التوبة:36 )
Verily, the number of months with Allah is
twelve months
(in a year), so was it
ordained by Allah on the Day when He
created the havens and
the earth; of them four are Sacred
(i.e., the 1st,
the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months of the
Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves
therein, and fight
against the Mushrikin (polutheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers in the
Oneness of Allah) collectively as
they fight against hou
collectively. But know that Allah
is with those who are
Muttaqin (the pious). (Q. 9:36)
The
four sacred months are:
-
Muharram,
the first month as mentioned earlier. It was the time
to return home safely after performing their pilgrimage in the previous month,
Dhul-Ḥijjah.
-
Rajab (رَجَب, 30
days) the seventh month. The word “rajab” means “respect,
honor.” The term رَجَبَ رَجْبًا وَ رُجُوْبًا means “to be ashamed, to be shy.” It was called Rajab, because
كَانَ يُرَجَّبُ "it was respected.” The expression أَرْجَبَ الرَّجُلُ رَجْبًا وَ تَرْجِيْبًا means هَابَهُ وَعَظَّمَهُ, “The man respects and glorifies him/it
(something).” It is said that this month was also called Rajab Muḍar because the people of the Muḍar tribe were very
respectful and honourable. It is in this month which is the midst of the year where
people who came from distant places in the Arabian Peninsula to come to visit
the Ka‘bah to perform ‘umrah and return home peacefully.
-
Dhū
al-Qa‘dah (ذو القَعْدة , 30
days), the eleventh month. The word literally means “time for sitting down;”
it was the time where the Arabs avoid raiding, looking for supply and searching
for pasture. It was the month of relaxation.
-
Dhū al-Ḥijjah (ذو الحِجّة, 29
days), the twelfth month, the month of pilgrimage. Ḥajj (pilgrimage) had
been practiced by the pagan Arabs in pre-Islamic Arabia. Upon their return from
their travel, they did not go directly home and changed their clothes which
they were supposed to; instead, they took them off, and went to make ṭawāf
around the Ka‘bah naked at night. The sky is almost clear at night all the time
there because of lack of rain, and therefore, it is not too dark even at
midnight. At the early period of Islam the Muslims were allowed to perform the ḥajj
with them but in Islamic way.
Al-QurṭubĪ mentions three
interpretations of the verse فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ “so wrong not yourselves therein,” as follows:
(1) It means
“do not wrong yourselves therein by disobeying Allah in these twelve months,
then Allah specialized the four months as sacred month, where good deeds would
get more rewards, and bad deeds would get more sins.” (Ibn ‘Abbās’s
interpretation);
(2) It means “do not wrong yourselves there in by
disobeying Allah in these twelve months by making ḥalāl (permitted) what
is ḥarām (prohibited) and vice-versa” (Ibn Isḥāq’s interpretation);
(3) It means “do not wrong yourselves in these four unviolated
months as wrong-doing in them is a grave sin more than that committed in other
months. Although wrong-doing is big enough, but Allah exalts what He likes: He
selected among His creation, He selected messengers among angels, He selected
messengers among men, He selected among sayings the dhikr (the
mentioning of His Names), He selected in the land the mosques, He selected
among the months the month of Ramaḍān and the four inviolable months, He
selected among the days the Friday, and He selected among the nights “the Night
of Power” (Laylat al-Qadr). Therefore, respect what Allah favours, as
people of understanding and reasoning only who respect what Allah favours.”
(Qatadah’s interpretation).
Al-Qurṭubī
said that the more likely correct among these interpretation is the one who
said that “do not wrong yourselves in the four month by making ḥalāl
(permitted) what is ḥarām in these inviolable months, as Allah favoured
them and their sacredness. He said that, based on Arabic grammar, the word فِيهِنَّ (“in
them”) in the verse is used to indicate the number between 3 and 10, and therefore,
it means the four months. If it means the 12 months, the verse would say فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهاَ rather than
فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ.[1]
We are still in the month of Rajab, one of the
four sacred months where we are not supposed to fight except in self-defence,
but in this sacred month we are fighting our own Muslim brothers, destroying
our own cities, increasing the number of Muslim widows and orphans and
refugees, as if we cannot tolerate our differences. Apparently, the pagan Arabs
in the Jāhiliyyah (Era of Ignorance) observed and honoured more the
sanctity of these inviolable months than
we do.
There is no special
thing to do in this month except to honour its sacredness. A man came to the
Prophet they went away. After one year he visited him again, but his condition
had changed, so that the Prophet s.a.w. did not recognize him. He had
kept fasting, and the Prophet s.a.w. advised him not to torture himself,
but to fast in the month of Ramadan (the month of patience), and one day every
month. The man asked to give him more, and the Prophet told him to fast two
days every month. The man asked more, and the Prophet told him to fast three
days every month. The man asked more, and the Prophet told him to fast and
break in the sacred months (he said it three times bringing his three fingers
together then released them). (Reported by Aḥmad, Abū Dā’ūd, Ibn Mājah, and
al-Bayhaqī).
There are many incidents claimed to have occurred in
Rajab, among which are as follows:
-
The injunction of the five-daily prayers to the
Muslims. It was during the Prophet’s ascension to heaven one and a half year
before his migration to Madinah.
-
According to the historian Ibn al-Jawzī the Prophet’s
night journey to Jerusalem and his ascension to heaven took place on 27 of
Rajab. According to Abū Isḥāq it was in the night of the 27th of Rabī‘
al-Awwal. Others said it was in Ramaḍān, Shawwāl, and Rabī‘ al-Ākhir.
-
The turn of the qiblah (direction to which
Muslims pray) from Bayt al-Maqdis in Jerusalem to the Ka‘bah in Makkah took
place in Rajab 2 AH after they had prayed toward it in sixteen or seventeen
months. When the Prophet emigrated to Madinah Allah ordered him and his
followers to pray in the direction of Bayt al-Maqdis, in Jerusalem. This
delighted the Jewish of Madinah. Although the Prophet and his followers did,
but he preferred praying in the direction of the Qiblah in Makkah, and kept
praying that Allah would accept his prayer. After about 16 or 17 months, revelation
came as follows:
قَدْ نَرَى تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِي
السَّمَاءِ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَاهَا فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ
شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنْتُمْ فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ
شَطْرَهُ وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ لَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ
رَبِّهِمْ وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ (البقرة:144)
Verily, We have seen the
turning of your
(Muhammad’s) face towards the heaven. Surely,
We shall turn your face to a Qiblah (prayer direction)
that shal please you, so turn your face in the direction
of al-Masjid al-Haram (at Makkah). And wheresoever
you people are, turn your faces (in prayer) in that direction.
Certainly, the people who were given the Scripture (i.e.,
Jews and Christians) know that, that (your turning
towards the direction of the Ka‘bah at Makkah
in prayers) is the truth from their Lord. And Allah
is not unaware of what they do. (Q. 2:144)
Ibn ‘Abbās said that this was the first
abrogation part of the Qur’an, namely, the qiblah.
- The Tabuk Expedition took place in Rajab, 9 AH. The Prophet’s army consisted of 30,000 fighters and 10,000
horsemen
-
The conquest of Damascus in 14/635 under the command
of Abū ‘Ubaydah and Khālid ibn al-Walīd under peace agreement with its
inhabitants to treat with justice their churches, their houses and their
leaders, and to allow their festivals.
-
The Battle of Yarmuk which took place on Monday 5th of
Rajab 15/636. It took six days from 15th to 20th of August,
636 A.D. with an army of about 25,000 under the command of Khālid ibn al-Walīd
(d. 642) whose epithet was Sayf Allāh (“the Sword of Allah”). He was
facing the East Roman army of about 50,000 under the command of Vahan the
Armenian. This battle was for the survival of Islam, and the defeat would mean
the end of it. On the sixth day the Muslim army gained overwhelming victory.
Four years later, by the year 640 A.D. the Muslim army had conquered the Middle
East.
The
liberation of Jerusalem on 27 Rajab 587/1187 under Sultan Saladin (Ṣalāḥuddīn
al-Ayyūbī) after it had been occupied by the Crusaders about 88 years, prayed
at the al-Aqṣā Mosque, and gave freedom and security to its inhabitants.
المراجع:
المكتبة الشاملة
تفسير الطبري (ت.
310 هـ)
تفسير القرطبى (ت.
671 هـ)
تفسير ابن كثير (ت.
774 هـ)
Ali, A.Yusuf. The Meanings of the Holy Qur’ān.
Kuala Lumpur: Percetakan Zafar Sdn Bhd, 2005
Asad, Muhammad. The Message of the Qur’ān. Gibraltar:
Dar al-Andalus, 1984
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/muslimwars/articles/yarmuk.aspx (The Battle of Yarmuk,
636 by Dan Fratini).
[1] In Arabic language plural is used after a number
between 3 and ten, and after that singular is used. For example, for 4 month we
use shuhūr (شُهُور)
or ashhur (أَشْهُر) the plural of shahr (شَهْر). But if we say, for
example, 12 month we use the word shahr (شَهْر) which is singular. As the above verse uses فِيهِنّ ("in them") it
refers to shuhūr (شُهُور), namely 4 months. Had it referred to the 12 months, it would
have said فِيها (“in
it”) in singular. Therefore, if we say in English “four months”, there will be
no problem; but if we say “12 months”, then we have to say “12 month” which is
wrong in English, but right in Arabic. Grammatical complication has its own
advantage: clearer meaning. The term a‘raba (أَعْرَبَ) which
means “to Arabicize” it also means “to state clearly, to express unmistakably.”
The ancient Arabs were well-known for their honesty, straightforwardness,
bravery, and integrity.
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