HAPPY NEW ISLAMIC YEAR

but a significant and momentous occasion of reflection and remembrance. Here in Nigeria, many Muslim-majority states, especially Kano and Osun, have consistently declared Public Holidays to commemorate the historic occasion as is being done all over the Muslim world.Now that the 1999 Constitution is being amended, it will be apt, and deserving, to insert Muharram […]

but a significant and momentous occasion of reflection and remembrance. Here in Nigeria, many Muslim-majority states, especially Kano and Osun, have consistently declared Public Holidays to commemorate the historic occasion as is being done all over the Muslim world.
Now that the 1999 Constitution is being amended, it will be apt, and deserving, to insert Muharram 1 as National Public Holiday, at par with January 1. That will be justice. That will be equity. The Nigerian Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) must see to this. Incidentally, the NSCIA, in a statement signed by its Secretary General Professor Is-haq Oloyede on behalf of its Chairman the Sultan of Sokoto, has congratulated Muslim Ummah and their counterparts all over the world on the auspicious occasion. NSCIA says, among others:
“The significance of the New Year borders on the opportunity it offers Muslims to migrate from whatever is wrong and sinful and the potential it holds for all to be closer to Allah through devotion and obedience. Without migrating from disobedience to obedience, sinfulness to righteousness, indiscipline to discipline, kufr and shirk to Islam, as enshrined in the Qu’ran and Sunnah, the essence of Hijrah is compromised and defeated.
“Therefore, as the New Year begins and new vistas are opened, Muslims are enjoined to use the privilege, not a right, of witnessing another year to renew their faith and commitment to righteousness. They are to come closer to Allah and re-dedicate their lives to His divine service and humanity.  Allah says, ‘O you who believe! Enter perfectly in Islam (by obeying all the rules and regulations of the religion) and follow not the footsteps of Shaitan. Verily! He is to you a plain enemy.’ (Qur’an al-Baqrah 2:208)
“The NSCIA enjoins Muslims to intensify their prayers for good, responsible and responsive leadership in Nigeria as well as support free, fair and credible elections in this New Year during which elections are scheduled to hold. As Allah answers the prayers of the distressed and the oppressed, our brothers and sisters are urged to supplicate that Allah continue to expose the evil-doers in Nigeria. They are required to supplicate intensely that Allah keep Nigeria one and disgrace, humiliate and deal with the enemies of the country (irrespective of professed faith) as He renders their plots and stratagems against Islam ineffectual. May the New Year be a harbinger of glad tidings to all! Happy New year to the entire Muslim Ummah! Kullu ‘aamin wa antum bikhayr!”
This new Islamic Year means one thousand, four hundred and thirty six years have passed since Prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the greatest person to walk on this Planet Earth, the one person who is the most beloved of all to Allah, the Leader of the Prophets and the Messengers, the heart-throb of the Muslims, began his journey from his hometown Makkah (Mecca) to Madinah (Medina), said to have corresponded with July 16, 622 in the Christian Gregorian Calendar. This journey is a history in itself and in it is a message of historical proportions for mankind.
Muharram is the first month of the Islamic Calendar, and the others are (especially for those who are too boko-imbibed and Islamiyya-forgotten) Safar, Rabi’ Awwal, Rabi’ Thani, Jumada Awwal, Jumada Thani, Rajab, Sha’ban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Zul Qa’adah, Zul Hijjah). The Islamic Calendar is lunar, and uses the moon, rather than the sun (as in the Gregorian Calendar) to count the days and weeks and months and years and…And as the lunar cycle is usually eleven days shorter than the Gregorian Calendar, the Islamic new year reduces by that number of days every year, and Muharram 1 shall fall on each of the days of January to December in a generation of about thirty three years.
After Prophet Muhammad had preached publicly for more than a decade, (this narrative adapted from “ARAMCO and Its World: Arabia and The Middle East”, edited by Ismail Nawwab, Peter C. Speers & Paul F. Hoye) the opposition to him reached such a high pitch that, fearful for their safety, he sent some of his adherents to Ethiopia, where the Christian ruler extended protection to them, the memory of which has been cherished by Muslims ever since. But in Mecca the persecution worsened. Prophet Muhammad’s followers were harassed, abused, and even tortured. At last, therefore, Muhammad sent seventy of his followers off to the northern town of Yathrib, which was later to be renamed Medina. Later, with his closest friend Abubakr al-Siddiq, he set off to join the emigrants just in time to escape an assassination plot by the Meccans.
In Mecca, plotters had arrived at the Prophet’s home to find that his cousin, ‘Ali, had taken his place in bed. Enraged, the Meccans set a price on the Prophet’s head and set off in pursuit. Prophet Muhammad and Abubakr, however, had taken refuge in a cave where, as they hid from their pursuers, a spider spun its web across the cave’s mouth. When they saw that the web was unbroken, the Meccans passed by and Prophet Muhammad and Abubakr went on to Medina, where they were joyously welcomed by a throng of Medinans as well as the Meccans who had gone ahead to prepare the way. The Noble Prophet arrived Madinah to the chorus of Tala al Badru, rendered beautifully by famous Muslim singer Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5HiXM9JGJQ):
Tala al badru ‘alayna
Min thaniyati-al Wada’
Wajaba Shukru ‘alayna
Ma da’a lillahi da’
O the white moon rose over us
From the valley of Wada’
And we owe it to show thankfulness
Where the call is to Allah
Ayyuha-al Mab’uthu feena
Ji’ta bi-al amru muta’
Ji’ta sharafta-al Madeenah
Marhaban ya khayra da’
O you, who were raised amongst us
Coming with the words to be obeyed
You have ennobled this city
Welcome O caller to God’s way
This was the Hijrah, inaccurately, translated as “Flight” – from which the Muslim era is dated. In fact, the Hijrah was not a flight but a carefully planned migration which marks not only a break in history – the beginning of the Islamic era- but also, for Prophet Muhammad and the Muslims, a new way of life. Henceforth, the organizational principle of the community was not to be mere blood kinship, but the greater brotherhood of all Muslims.
Islam and Muslims are – should be – still on that path of Hijra. So, may next year’s Muharram 1 be a National Public Holiday (though, as we are reminded by a writer, Dr. Spahic Omer, that a people are the most direct causes of their own civilisational destinies, as Allah says He will change the condition of a people only when they change what lies in themselves (Qur’an al-Ra’d, 31:11). Therefore, all change! It is 1436!
Meanwhile, in this New Islamic Year, we shall continue reciting HasbunalLahu wa ni’imal Wakeel! (Allah is Sufficient for us and He is the Best Disposer of affairs.”)