Abdal Hakim Murad – The Sacred Nature of the Islamic Calendar
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Allah Subhana Allah says in the Quran,
the number of months according to Allah is 12 when he created the
heavens and the earth and of them for our sacred,
that is the religion of uprightness. So do not wrong
yourselves. There in
one of the concerns of Allah's book is the rectification and the
explication of the calendar.
And in this noble verse, we're told or reminded that the calendar
is not just a convenient way to divide our days, months and years,
but it's something sacred.
Humanities always recognized that just as there are secret places,
there are secret times
Makkah is not Cambridge. Medina is not Halifax. Muharram is not the
Okada and rugby or Thani is not rugby as a world we have this
landscape just as there is a spiritual topography of the world
with highs and places that are not so high. So also there is a kind
of topography of time places with particular qualities
and here we remember the famous saying hola in the Lila he a yummy
diary calm, then have a hat, Allah for Dolla dolla ha
truly Allah has in the days of your time exhalations. So, be open
to them,
this idea of the NIF ha this idea that there is a particular
sanctity of spirituality in certain places, literally a divine
exhalation is something that is the human experience generally,
we are osmotic creatures we reflect that which is around us.
When we are in a masjid, we are different from when we are in
Tescos. Human beings are influenced by their environment.
We are not just minds detached from everything else, the mind is
linked to the body and the body reacts very intimately to that
which is around us.
This is part of the privilege of faith. The unbeliever sees the
whole world as being flat you might say it unbelievers who think
that the world is flat, the real flat earthers because everything
is equivalently secular, it's just matter. The physicalist we believe
that behind that matter, there are certain places of the
manifestation of Divine Names, which even though everything is a
manifestation of the Divine Names are more perceived by us than
other places.
And this is the universal human experience. Some places are
special, but some times also are special.
So we find now that we've entered into one of the special times of
year,
the month of Rajab
which is a kind of intimation of Ramadan.
Rajab has a special quality. Again the good fortune of the believer
that the months means something.
If you don't have these months, you just have January, February,
March, April and none of them mean anything at all.
Right originally they did for a different Alma. January was named
after the god of Janus, the gates, beginning of the new year,
February was named after the god of undertakings March named after
Mars. So the Romans like to fight wars, and Julius Caesar killed on
the eyes of Mars, which was thought to be an auspicious event,
time for an assassination attempt, and so on. But that's all my total
God hello to us. That means nothing at all. It's just January,
February, March, April, it means nothing, it's flat.
But when you move into a sacred calendar, the world feels
different. There are peaks and there are lows, there is an
experience of time, which is richer than the experience of
time, known by the person who only looks at the surface of things.
So we find that Muharram has a particular atmosphere, which is
not the atmosphere of Ramadan. And Ramadan has an atmosphere, which
is not the atmosphere of show well, and the Rajab has a battery
and so on. We believe that is enriched by this and we need to be
connected as much as we can to this calendar because it means
something.
And other calendars also where they are persisted in also means
something. The Jewish calendar this weekend is Passover. They
also have a rich sequence cycles of events, recalling their past
ups and downs and travails of their history, God's providence,
that also is enriching in the Semitic traditions, is one of the
things the world lost when that was lost, and the Christian
churches decided to adopt the pagan Roman calendar.
We're thinking about why they should have done that, why not
have a Christian calendar.
But the trouble is, once they have detached themselves from the
natural movements of the solar system, they get into all kinds of
difficulties of calculation. And perhaps here we can see why Allah
subhanaw taala is forbidding these practices that try to rectify
perceived inconveniences in the movements of the sun, the moon and
the planets was Julius Caesar, who got rid of the old Roman lunar
calendar, which gave people a real sense of fixity in something, they
could see the phases of the moon, and said for Imperial convenience,
everybody's going to follow what became the Julian calendar,
which was when they invented the leap year, because it's kind of
awkward, but the Leap Year isn't quite enough because there's 365
and a quarter and a little bit days in a lunar year, it's
actually not a very good system.
Unlike the lunar system, sometimes we argue about Moon sightings, but
it's still something fixed and more reliable. We didn't have to
bother with leap years. the Julian calendar continues with these
months that with Christianity made meant nothing at all. But still
they kept the names which is again a strange thing. Until in the 16th
century, 17th century, Pope Gregory the 13th decided it was
going to be the Gregorian calendar. And then Europe traded
up to the Gregorian calendar, but still the Christians of the
Eastern churches, they have their own calendar so they are in a
state of empty left. In Russia, Christmas is on the sixth of
January, and in 124 years time it will be on the seventh of January.
It's untidy. Incidentally, there's one part of England that never
traded up to this or Scotland, the Shetland island of Fowler never
heard about the Canada reform to this day on the Island of Fowler,
in case you ever find yourself there are few people living there.
Christmas is on the sixth of January, it's inconvenient.
Now, Allah subhanaw taala is saying things about our
relatedness to the natural world.
Ancient man perceived certain elemental realities about himself
and as deeply conformed, even in his physiology to those things.
The rising of the setting of the sun, the circadian rhythms, ask
any medic, what effect that has on the human metabolism, melatonin
and all of the rest of its fundamental.
The movements of the moon also seem to have an effect, although
the academics argue about it. But there is a certain lunar cyclicity
to the human metabolism, which is probably something deep, which is
important. And with Islam, we see the new moon and something begins
that probably operates on a very ancient and timeless and natural
way that we don't understand that the perhaps the scientists will
never understand but if we're torn away from that, and this is the
symbolic sin of Western civilization torn away from that
and just given January, February, March that aren't related
Due to the obvious phases of the moon, we are missing something and
losing something and to put in an extra day every year, what about
an extra month so that you can have 12 months but an extra 10 A
month is something that the Quran condemns in the men Nessie Osya
that won't feel Cofer strong language the intercalate every
month, the extra month is an increase in unbelief your bond
will be hidden leadin a Cafaro by which those who don't believe are
led astray you're held on I who am I well you're hungry Mona who Amma
the wealthy or the tama Hara Mala for you your fellow Maha Ramallah
sometimes when we read these as we think, Well, why is there so much
Divine Anger here? Sometimes it's the same when you see those, those
curses heaped upon those who take and give Riba and then when you
actually see the consequences of interest based debt, do you see
the reason for the Divine Anger?
But what is this anger about adding an extra month just
tampering with the calendar? What is that all about?
Adding the CEO, Ziad, attune Phil Cofer, the integrate remote, an
increase in unbelief by which those who don't believe are led
astray, they allow it one year and the next year they don't, so that
it can combine or it can correspond with that which God has
forbidden. It's not 13 it's 12.
So that they make forbidden something that Allah has
permitted, or they make permissible something that Allah
has forbidden.
In other words, the Quran is here telling us that we need to be
rooted in some fundamental natural things.
That the moon is not kind of inconvenient the time but there is
a deep wisdom about following the forms of the moon justice, there
is a deep wisdom about getting up when it gets light and going to
sleep when it gets dark and the metabolism is arranged to coincide
with that. So these are signs the solar system is made up of signs
and the proportion of the planets the golden mean if you look that
up and see the proportion of the distances between the planets and
the geometrical forms that fit within them, it's a wonder and
this is set up so that we can derive our times and our calendar
a Shamsul welcome our OB husband when it is Greek sequence in Surah
rochman Hashem so welcome our OB hos ban on Niger MOA shedule.
Yesterday when things are put together, the sun and the moon are
for reckoning or are in reckoned or calculated precise paths ways
numbers
and the stars and the trees prostrate
those two things go together knows this calendar the moons the sun is
there so that we can divide up the paradox and miracle of time
and then this the stars and the trees prostrate in other words
everything is low on its own. Everything's submits to him well
although other AHA little nm fi have Akita Turkey Hatton, one
naclo that will act ma'am will have both will ask me what Rihanna
all of these wonderful indicate intimations of the Divine Presence
in nature Furby ala Furby, ala Iraqi coma, to get the ball to get
the band. So which is it of the Blessings of your Lord that you're
going to deny? That's the kind of punch line. That's the takeaway
from this sequence of verses, which begins with this husband.
And the need for the me Zan for the balance human beings are to be
in a state of balance within themselves within themselves with
each other with the natural world, which includes the cosmic world.
This is all part of the serenity, which paganism could not deliver.
And what secularity certainly cannot deliver, but which religion
offers in a way that has nothing to do with shamanism and paganism,
all of those things that are supposedly now experiencing a
revival, but it's to do with the absolute, uncompromising truth of
monotheism, which is that part of your submission to God is to
recognize that everything is in submission to God quinolone Koldo
level on its own, and to be part of that cosmic symphony.
And this is why the Muslim life is determined by the movements of the
moon, and by the movements of the sun, the five daily prayers and
this is something timeless and gives us a sense of fixity.
Calendars come and go. The atomic clock might mean that we need an
extra day in 300 years time, who knows it's just human calculation,
the editon field cover, but the sun and the moon, they're in their
fixed paths.
No amount of human, perverse reengineering of the perfection of
God's creation is going to affect the sun and the moon. That's
beyond our power. So part of our submission to God is our
submission to the devil.
version of time that is indicated by the celestial bodies which are
themselves, praising Him, and in state of submission to Him. This
is part of the deep meaning of Islam. Don't fiddle with that
don't see the sun should be a little bit faster and the moon
should
accept it. There is a deep wisdom in this.
So this is the time of the year when we experienced the blessings
of the month of Rajab.
There are four holy months. And the Holy Prophet tells us that
there are three that come together and one which is on its own. The
left hand side will shatter on far the three that go together
Forcados will hijack Muharram.
And also Rajab, which is not surrounded by sacred month, so
sometimes we call it Roger Belford, Roger the unique the
solitary that the lonely or sometimes the Roger BL Assam, all
the names have lots of names of the months have lots of names in
Arabic, it's part of the beauty of it, you don't hear adjectives
given to October, for instance, there's no richness there. But in
these months, so much of our memory, and our recollections and
it actually means something. So in the month of Rajab, we know. This
is when Imam Ali Karim Allahu Allah is said to have been born.
In India, you'll notice that all of us have minored interesting,
that is right, well, Mirage, and so forth. There are high points in
this month, which is itself a high point. And the believer responds
to that, and is renewed, because it is through passing through
moments of sacred time that we our enthusiasm, and our spirituality
are re energized. This is why we have these recurrent reminders.
This is why we pray five times a day, rather than one big prayer on
Sunday, we need constant recurrent reminders because we're forgetful.
So all of this is part of Allah's mercy. How much would we think
about the Israa and the Mirage unless there was a time when we
were invited to think about it?
How much would we think about the little other unless there was a
particular time or we're not quite given the time and the month of
Ramadan? This is all to help us to remember those great moments in
sacred history, and so on.
people crave this and even in the secular world, usually in some
newspaper, there's something that says, On this day, Admiral Lord
Nelson died or something like that, you think, well, great,
whatever the date was, okay? It doesn't really mean anything. It
doesn't impact on ourselves. None of those things on this day
actually affects us. It just kind of a fun fact. But all of the
events in sacred time affect us.
We do things to commemorate those times, which because they
represent divine interventions are something that impact upon us,
directly and immediately. Rajab is a time when amongst its other
blessings. And most of this is beneath the tip of the iceberg.
Anything to do with why a holy place is holy? Why holy time is
holy as to do with Allah's knowledge. What exactly is the
quality of the holiness of the haram?
difficult to put into words, but we know it's there. There's things
on the surface, but most of it is experienced just through a kind of
tasting or personal experience very subjective, emotional,
affective, but real. So it is also in the times, what is the
atmosphere of Rajab? What is it getting us into the zone of
the lease Ramadan is the atrium of Ramadan pointing us towards the
time when our lives will be turned upside down, more than anything
else does. And we start to reconfigure ourselves and concern
ourselves a little bit less with dunya. Because hey, what's the
point, the shops can might as well be open, but we're going to walk
past them, if not all things are closed and the shayateen are
locked up a real reconfiguration and a divine gift lifts us up. We
all know towards the end of the month that takes us into a new
space. Or our job is kind of reminding us that the fun months
are coming to an end, and now we're facing that time of
austerity.
But it has other qualities as well.
Even 100 Last coloni, one of the great scholars of Islam has a book
about it.
We all know Eben hydrolyzed Kalani maybe the greatest Hadith scholar
ever, after the early great days, as Golan is in Palestine, but he
spent most of his time in Egypt, teaching at the dawn of Hadith of
camellia, Hanukkah, Bibles, the great mega professor of the time,
the one who was so impressive when he was
still an adolescent, but when he was staying in the city of Mecca,
the guest of Balkany one of his great teachers and
The house all of the houses in Makkah used to have names. It was
such a secret place that every stone and every alleyway and every
corner had some connection, some memory to do with the time of the
Sierra, who were staying in the beta lineup, which had a view onto
the hudgell password what that must have been like and he was
such a great scholar he led the tidal wave in Mecca that year at
the age of 12.
And when he returned to Egypt, married a great Hadith scholar and
his life is definitely an inspiration.
And he produces the greatest ever commentary on hadith of affetto
Barry shirts are here Buhari which we all have to know about. The
greatest commentary ever on a collection of hadith is enormous
thing gigantic and the whole Islamic world was waiting, bated
breath for the next volume. Just as nowadays we're waiting for the
next episode of editorial or something. Is it on yet? They were
waiting for the latest volume of Ibn Hydras fertile berry niche
volume will be sent by special courier to rulers around the
Muslim world and to scholars. It was a big, big deal in those days.
So the festival Berry, below one muram shefa a text or Donald
Kameena vi en and determina great history book about people of that
age immediately before himself an enormous ocean of productivity,
but also produced a little book on Raja
which he calls tribunal larger female whare Daffy, formerly Raja
it's about amazing things to do with a month of Rajab. And
actually, as a hadith scholar, he is concerned honestly to inspect
some of the traditions which have grown up around this month. And
not to say that they're forbidden or that they're harmful. But just
to say this isn't actually warranted, in the Quran, or the
Hadith. So a lot of people believe in the ombre of Rajab, a lot of
people believe in special fasting and Raja, he goes through all of
the Hadith. And he says, by all means, do an ombre in this month,
by all means fast and this month, but to single out Rajab specific
Lee for that, rather than just because it's a sacred month is not
actually warranted. So do your honor, then, fast then, but
because it's a sacred month, and he comes up with all kinds of
other amazing circumstances. And it's a reminder of how just a
month would trigger such richness in the human soul. Nobody nowadays
would write a book about the wonders of November. Certainly not
in Cambridge, maybe May, but not in November. It's just flat, it's
secular, it's meaningless. It's just a word. But with these, this
richness of our calendar, and we really need to start getting back
to this, not just because it gives us this topography of time, but
also more profoundly because and this is the
raison d'etre of our being here for these few days helps us to
reconnect to
that nowadays, poor, neglected, unfortunate thing. Mother Nature,
is the kind of victim of a lot of domestic violence. Now, I think,
last week, northern white rhino died last week, or something is
really being maltreated by an ungrateful humanity.
But the beauty of the Sierra is that it takes us back to the
beauty of membership of the world.
And to what we call the fifth run this right at the Mirage which
we're coming to remember, we know that almost at the culminating
moment of that unimaginable vertical journey,
he has offered the wine and the milk,
and he chooses the milk. And the angel tells him more detail in
fitrah. You've been guided to fitrah nature, the primordial
disposition of human beings. There's all kinds of symbolism in
that. And people have written whole books about what that could
mean milk, or milk. And kids like milk.
But this is said to be because milk comes from the purity of the
natural world without mediation. Whereas wine is from the natural
world, but it's been fermented. It has been a process of corruption.
Human beings think they know best and try and turn it into something
better than what it naturally is. And the consequences of that.
Of course, any tour of the streets of Cambridge on a Saturday night
will explain what it does to the nobility of human beings and how
it drags us down. So there's, there's a wisdom and there's a
lesson in this. So these times we should try and reconnect with our
calendar. It's a shame when all of this richness passes us by and we
don't know what happened when we don't remember the reasons why
those things happened. Then why should we abandon such a beautiful
thing and just stick with January forever?
March, April, always the same, always flat and meaningless. Let's
try and get back to the operation of our months even though they
haven't been official in the Islamic world. Egypt abandoned in
the 19th century,
the Ottomans abandoned the Islamic calendar and it was during the
First World War, and it's kind of just been replaced by this very
strange, flat, pagan thing. So let's try and get back to that.
But as we move through the month of Rajab, insha Allah, let's try
and orient ourselves. Once again, towards the ground of all of this
richness, the source of all of these gifts, the one who, whose
names alone constitute time and space, and hope that we might
perhaps be lifted up to a state where our hearts can perceive
properly and can see not just configurations of matter, and
spinning atoms and interesting planets and eclipses, but can see
the divine agency and see not the effect. But the cause.
Looking at things the same way, but not in the same way. And
through an awareness of the sanctity of space, and an
awareness of the sanctity of time we can start to see things more
properly, we can start to see beyond the meaning the surface of
things and to start to see the geometry and the depth and the
ocean of beauty that lies beneath So may Allah subhanaw taala give
us a good job and help us to prepare our hearts and our minds
for Ramadan. Insha Allah Baraka law of equal cinema Alikum
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Cambridge Muslim College, training the next generation of Muslim
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