The Calendar was invented in ancient times to allow nations to pace their economic and social activities with climatic seasons. Throughout the history of civilizations, much depended on organizing and administering an accurate calendar. Hunter-gatherers needed the calendar to predict the migrations of herds of wild animals. As humanity advanced, farming communities required calendars to predict the coming of rain or the time of the flooding of rivers. Traders and seafaring communities needed to map the best time of the year to tackle the dangers of seas when sailing far from home. In contemporary times of globalization, calendars have become even more critical in optimizing the complex supply chains of local and global production cycles. Oral traditions ascertain that the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula used a rudimentary lunisolar calendar, called in the literature the “Arabian Calendar.” Like with all nations, the lunisolar Arabian Calendar helped the Arabs organize their meager resources in the best ways possible. For example, research showed that the Ḥajj season and its pan-Arabian markets were scheduled to coincide with the date harvesting season peaking from July to September. The abundance of the date harvest available in this period, along with assigning the concept of inviolability to the Arabian months spanning this season, allowed them to travel across Arabia to Mecca to trade in the pan-Arabian markets and to participate in the religious rituals of their pilgrimage (the Ḥajj). It is asserted in this book that Prophet Muḥammad followed the lunisolar Arabian Calendar all his life. At the end of the tenth year after he migrated from Mecca to Medīna, and during his Farewell Pilgrimage, the Qurʾān sternly abolished the process of intercalation, i.e., the Nasīʾ, the very process which allowed the Arabs to organize their various economic and religious activities. When Caliph ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb initiated the Hijri Calendar seven years after Prophet Muḥammad death, i.e., in 17 AH, he founded it as “purely lunar,” which meant its months were allowed to float within the solar year. Caliph ʿUmar is famous for his zeal in protecting the fundamental Islamic principle of monotheism. This, I show, was the reason for introducing the Hijri Calendar as purely lunar, because “Nasīʾ,” i.e., Quraysh’s method of intercalation was hopelessly entangled with the polytheistic religion of Quraysh, the Prophet’s tribe, and the guardian of the holy places in Mecca and its environs. The harmful effects of following the purely lunar Hijri Calendar were realized from early on. But the prohibition of Nasīʾ inhibited the early Islamic caliphs from reforming the Hijri Calendar. This book explores the history of the Arabian Calendar and its intimate connection with the Hijri Calendar. The main findings of this book are as follows: 1- The main Ḥajj shrines in Macca are aligned in the direction of sunrises and sunsets of the Summer Solstice day. 2- Quraysh intercalated its Arabian Calendar by forcing the Summer Solstice (SS) Day to occur within the 11th month of the Arabian Calendar, Shawwāl. The Nasīʾ month was added when the onset of the SS was about to transfer to into the 11th month Dhū’l Qaʿda. 3- The onset of the SS day was determined through the sunset alignment along the line joining the posts of “al-Wosṭā and al-ʿAqaba Jamarāt, and also by observing the sun rising from behind the peak of mount Thabīr from the location of the sacrificial altar of pre-Islamic Mina. 4- The Prophet arrived in his migration from Mecca to Medīna on the Days of ʿĀshūrāʾ which corresponded to the dates of 8th of Rabīʿ-I, the 10th of the Hebrew month Tishri, and to the 23rd of September 632. 5- The epoch of the Hijri Calendar must be adjusted back by two days from the epoch used so far. 6- The Farewell Pilgrimage occurred in autumn on September 4, 632 CE, not in spring on March 11, 632 CE.

Calendars in the Making investigates the Roman and medieval origins of several calendars we are most familiar with today, including the Christian liturgical calendar, the Islamic calendar, and the week as a standard method of dating and time reckoning.

The prophet Muhammad and the early Islamic community radically redefined the concept of time that they had inherited from earlier religions' beliefs and practices. This new temporal system, based on a lunar calendar and era, was complex and required sophistication and accuracy. From the ninth to the sixteenth centuries, it was the Muslim astronomers of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires who were responsible for the major advances in mathematics, astronomy and astrology. This fascinating study compares the Islamic concept of time, and its historical and cultural significance, across these three great empires. Each empire, while mindful of earlier models, created a new temporal system, fashioning a new solar calendar and era and a new round of rituals and ceremonies from the cultural resources at hand. This book contributes to our understanding of the Muslim temporal system and our appreciation of the influence of Islamic science on the Western world.

Yasmeen has a wonderful time celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with her family and friends.

This book makes accurate calendrical algorithms readily available for computer use.

The Prophet Muhammad s treaties with the Christians of his time, which John Andrew Morrow has rediscovered in obscure collections and often newly translated, uniformly state that Muslims are not to attack peaceful Christian communities, but defend them until the End of the World. Authored by the Prophet himself, they represent a third foundational pillar for Islam outside of Qur an and hadith. The Covenants Initiative within the book represents a movement by Muslims, both prominent and unknown, in support of Christians under attack. These treaties desperately need to be better known among Christians, Muslims, and the general public. For scholars, this book provides much difficult-to-obtain material: facsimiles of primary sources in Arabic and Persian; corrected versions in modern Arabic typescript; and alternate translations. They now have all they need to study the covenants in depth. "This narrative has the power to unite Muslim and Christian communities. A work of scholarship, its release is timely, and its content critical in fostering mutual respect and religious freedom."--IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, Chairman, Cordoba Initiative "In his indispensable contribution to the study of the Abrahamic faiths, John Andrew Morrow tells the story of how the Prophet Muhammad used his desert experiences of hospitality and protection to bring Muslims and Christians together."--JOSEPH HOBBS, University of Missouri "These letters from the Prophet Muhammad to Christian communities can serve to inspire both Muslims and Christians about our ability to live together as God's people, as friends, as neighbors, and as custodians of the same small planet."--OMID SAFI, University of North Carolina "With painstaking effort and much dedication invested in this groundbreaking work, Professor Morrow will surely manage to attract the attention of Islamic studies students and specialists."--AMAR SELLAM, Mohamed I University "This book documents what is possibly the third foundational source of Islam: the Prophet's treaties and covenants among people of the Abrahamic faiths. Dr. Morrow brings forth exceptionally important findings that dictate peaceful coexistence among Jews, Christians, and Muslims."--BRIDGET BLOMFIELD, University of Nebraska

A portrait of Iran seeks to measure the true feelings of its citizens despite government and media profiles, chronicling the author's year-long journey during which he interviewed people from all walks of life.