Celebrating the Islamic New Year (Hijri Calendar)
The Hijra, which happened in 622 AD according to the Gregorian calendar, is the start of the Muslim calendar. By that time, the Prophet Muhammad and his followers had left Mecca and gone to Medina. This is when the Islamic calendar, also known as the Hijri calendar, began. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad the preacher who lived in Mecca and his followers were persecuted by the local aristocracy, most of whom did not like the new religion. When the persecution got worse and it became too dangerous to stay in the same place, they decided to move to the city of Yathrib, where the people were willing to receive the preacher and his followers. The settlement would later be called Medina, which means "City of the Prophet." It was the capital of the Rightly Guided Caliphate, a Muslim kingdom that came into being after Muhammad died in 632. The Hejiric count of the years starts in 637, when Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second righteous caliph and closest friend of Muhammad,...