Summary (The Islamic Calendar (2nd Edition)

Mufti Shafīʿ ʿUthmāniin his Tafsīr of Sūrah at-Tawbah mentions, that the verses prove the order of the months and the names by which they are known in Islām, are not a manmade convention. Rather, the day Allāh created the Heavens and the Earth, on that day, the order and the names of the months and the specific actions which are to be performed in the specific months were fixed.

From this, we can also determine that according to Allāh the laws of Sharīʿah are related to the lunar calendar. Upon this lunar calendar, all the commands of Sharīʿah, i.e. Fasting, Ḥajj, Zakāt, will be determined. It is Farḍ al-Kifāyah i.e., an obligation upon our community to maintain the Islamic Calendar. If the whole Ummah abandons the Islamic Calendar, then we will all be sinful.

In these times when more and more of our beliefs are being compromised. When we are seeing the abandoning of Islamic practices and values in exchange for others, we need to make more of an effort to embrace the ways of our pious predecessors in all aspects of our lives.

To conclude, in Islām, celebrations are given to us by Allāh on the culmination of religious actions, i.e., at the end of a month of fasting or during the days of Ḥajj. Is it wise to celebrate the loss of the one fluid commodity – time, which Allāh has given us?

May Allāh give us all the ability to maximize the reward we obtain in the time that has been given to us, to use it wisely and not be wasteful. And may he give us the ability to adapt the ways of our pious predecessors and make Islām the focus of our time.

Amīn.