The Sacred Months

All praise is due to Allah the Knowing Creator. He created His servants and guided them to His religion and commanded acts of obedience and prohibited acts of disobedience. So whoever obeys Him is guided and saved. And whoever disobeys him perishes and deviates. The creation is His creation. And the land is His land. And the religion is His religion. And the matter is His and not for other than Him. Allah said:
Al (7) Araf 54: Unquestionably, His is the creation and the command; blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds.

Designating a period of time or place sacred, inviolable or prohibited for the purpose of worship is only through revealed ordainments. Because magnifying and prohibiting is the right of Allah Most High. Worship is not performed except for Him, Glory be to Him. Otherwise, human authorities could place restrictions on a time or place not in the sense of worship but rather for the sake of a worldly interest for them or for the general population. The Prophet ﷺ informed about people placing restrictions when he said:
Indeed for every king is a sanctuary (pasture), and indeed Allah’s sanctuary is what He made unlawful. [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1205]

And every time, place, actions or speech that Allah Almighty has prohibited, is for the benefit of mankind. And their violation of its sanctity does not harm Allah Almighty at all. Rather, it harms them sooner and later.

And the prohibitions from Allah are a trial for mankind. To show who is conscious of Him and magnifies His sacred ordinances and those who are not conscious of Him and violate them.

Al Hajj (22) 30: That [has been commanded], and whoever honors the sacred ordinances of Allah – it is best for him in the sight of his Lord.

And in all religions and communities there are sacred times and places from the standpoint of worship. What is done in them is not done in other than them. Their sanctity could be correct but later abrogated like the case of Sabbath. Allah said:
An Nisa (4) 154: And We said to them, “Do not transgress on the sabbath”; and We took from them a solemn covenant.

The sacredness was lifted in the ordinances revealed to Prophet Mohammed ﷺ.

Or making something sacred could be a deviation with no basis such as is the case of the places of worship of the idolaters. And their designation of scared times for worship. And this is found in many nations.

And from what Allah has made inviolable for followers of Islam is the four months that are named the sacred months for their sanctity. And they are Dhul-Qaʿdah, Dhul-Ḥijjah, Muharram and Rajab. And their designation as sacred came in Allah’s book:
At Tawbah (9) 36: 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 [i.e., way], so do not wrong yourselves during them.

So Allah – Glory be to Him – has decreed that the months should be twelve months since He created the heavens and the earth. Accordingly, these months, known to mankind, were decreed by Almighty and He did not leave room for them to speculate. Otherwise they would have differed and lost account of the months and the years. And they would have wandered aimlessly not knowing the timings of the acts of worship. So it is from His mercy – Glory be to Him – that He organized that for them. And made His signs, the sun and the moon, such that none of mankind can accelerate or delay them or stop them or abolish them.

And in another verse:
Al Anam (6) 96: And has made the night for rest and the sun and moon for calculation. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.

And in another verse:
Yunus (10) 5: It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and determined for it phases – that you may know the number of years and account [of time]. Allah has not created this except in truth. He details the signs for a people who know.

So the day and the week are determined according to the sun. And the month and year are calculated according to the orbit of the moon. Thus, this regulates the calculation of time. Allah said:
Ar Rahman (55) 5: The sun and the moon [move] by precise calculation

For He, Glory be to Him, when He appointed times for worship, He made the knowledge of that based on the movement (relative to the earth) of the sun and moon and not calculations. So that it may be known by the unlettered, knowledgeable, ignorant, and astronomer. Otherwise, an error in calculations could misguide people in the timings of their worship. So the prayer is known by the sun’s (relative) movement. And the timings for fasting and Hajj are known by the crescents. Allah said:
Al Baqarah 189: They ask you, [O Moḥammad], about the crescent moons. Say, They are measurements of time for the people and for ḥajj [pilgrimage].

That is time-based milestones for people’s activities such as farming, trading, length of pregnancy, repaying debts, starting the fast, breaking the fast, when zakat is due, waiting periods to be observed by women after divorce, performing Hajj rites, prayers and other than that.

And from the wisdom of linking annual worships such as fasting, Hajj and Eids with the crescents is that that they pass through all the seasons. So worship is performed in their cycle in all seasons. So whoever fasts Ramadan in thirty years will have fasted in all seasons, including those that make fasting difficult and those that make fasting easy. And likewise the repetition for Hajj. So fasting and Hajj take place in severe cold, in severe heat, and in mild weather.

And it is prohibited to violate through sins the four months that Allah has made sacred. And fighting is restricted within them so that people going to Hajj and Umrah may be safe during them. And their designation as sacred came upon the tongue of Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and the Arabs inherited that in speech and action, except that they tampered with them through a practice called An Nasi’ which is postponing them. And it is a ploy that they used to allow the prohibited, as is the practice of the people following their whims and desires. Allah said:
At Tawbah (9) 37: Indeed, the postponing [of restriction within sacred months] is an increase in disbelief by which those who have disbelieved are led [further] astray. They make it lawful one year and unlawful another year to correspond to the number made unlawful by Allāh and [thus] make lawful what Allāh has made unlawful. Made pleasing to them is the evil of their deeds; and Allāh does not guide the disbelieving people.

The pre-Islamic Arabs used to prohibit fighting during Muharram. But if they needed to do so they made the month of Safar sacred instead and they fought in Muharram. And the reason for this was that had many wars and raids, so it was difficult for them to not fight for three consecutive months. They believed that if three months passed and they were not able get any spoils then they would perish. So they transferred the sanctity of Muharram to Safar. In doing so, they removed the restrictions from Muharram.

And it was called Muharram (the forbidden) to emphasize its sanctity. The pre-Islamic Arabs used to alternate in making it sacred one year and not in the next year. And Allah decreed the months as twelve months, four of which are sacred. And it is the correct religion that Allah is pleased for His servants. So changing the prohibition in it from its time to another time is a deviation from the true religion in which there is no crookedness.

And Allah, the Most High, has made changing what he decreed of the sacredness of the four months an increase of disbelief of the disbeliever.

At Tawbah (9) 37: Indeed, the postponing [of restriction within sacred months] is an increase in disbelief by which those who have disbelieved are led [further] astray.

So along with their association of others with Allah, they altered what Allah ordained of the sanctity of the four months. And that was an increase in their disbelief. And likewise is the case for every alteration of the ordainments of Allah Almighty. Because it is defying and disobeying Allah Almighty in His command.

And whoever circumvents Allah’s ordainments to permit what is forbidden or to drop an obligation, then he has imitated the polytheists in fraudulently moving the sanctity of Muharram to Safar to remove the restrictions of Muharram.

And that does not stem except from the devil and from the soul that commands evil; that adorns making the forbidden permissible and changing the ordainments of Allah. Allah Almighty said:
At Tawbah (9) 37: Made pleasing to them is the evil of their deeds; and Allāh does not guide the disbelieving people.

So beware, beware of transgressing the limits of Allah – the Most High – and violating his sanctities. Especially in the sacred months in which Allah – the Most High – has forbidden wrongdoing.

At Tawbah (9) 36: So do not wrong yourselves during them.

Wrongdoing in the sacred months is belittling their sanctity whether it is wrongdoing to oneself through a sin or wrongdoing to others through speech or action.

Magnifying Allah’s prohibitions is part of magnifying Him the Most High. Allah Almighty said:
Al Maedah (5) 97-98: (97) Allāh has made the Kaʿbah, the Sacred House, standing for the people and [has sanctified] the sacred months and the sacrificial animals and the garlands [by which they are identified]. That is so you may know that Allāh knows what is in the heavens and what is in the earth and that Allāh is Knowing of all things. (98) Know that Allāh is severe in penalty and that Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.

Oh Muslims: From the virtues of the month Dhul-Qaʿdah is that the Prophet ﷺ performed Umrah in it four times. It is most likely correct that he never performed Umrah in other than Dhul-Qa’dah. Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed four Umrahs, all of them in Dhul-Qa’dah. [Bukhari 4148, Muslim 1252c]

In performing Umrah during Dhul-Qa’dah, the Prophet ﷺ nullified the religion of the polytheists because they used to prohibit the Umrah in the months of Hajj. And they used to consider it a grave matter. So the Prophet ﷺ countered them and did not perform Umrah except in Dhul-Qa’dah and it is one of the months of Hajj. As Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
By Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not send Aisha to umrah during Dhul-Hijjah but to discontinue the practice of the polytheists. [Sunan Abi Dawud 1987]

So this indicates that countering those who associate others with Allah and distinguishing Muslims from them, is a great principle of Islam. It falls under Allah Almighty’s words:
Fusilat (41) 33: And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allāh and does righteousness and says, “Indeed, I am of the Muslims.”

So Allah, Glory be to Him, made being proud of Islam, from the best speech. No one can be proud of Islam except if he cherishes it and turns away from the ways of those who associate others with Allah and is distinguished from them. And his religion suffices him from their religion. And his rites suffices him from their rites. And his celebrations suffices him from their celebrations. So he is happy with it in this world and the hereafter. Allah said:
An Nahl (16) 97: Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer – We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.

Oh Allah make us among those who uphold your prohibitions and magnify what you have magnified. And make us among those who are proud of Your religion and cherish it and hold on to it tightly. Indeed, Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

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