Special Days in Islam

Date: 25th Rabi al Awwal 1442

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين اللهم صلى وسلم على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وأصحابه و من ول و بعد

In the name of God The Infinitely-Good The Merciful, all praise to God, The Lord of all creation. Oh God grant blessing and peace to our master Muhammad and his family and his companions and the righteous and those who come after.

Muslims live their life according to sacred time. We follow closely to teachings which come from primordial mankind. Our sense of time, space, character, worship, life, and death have origins as old as the human soul itself. The time keepings aspect of this religion includes the Hijri⁽¹⁾ Calendar. These are considered to be a part of humanity or human essence called fitra in Arabic. Accordingly the life of sacred cycles dictated how and when to turn to God. This knowledge could never be achieved by rational thinking, but only by God revealing Himself and the path to approach Him and return to pure humanity "Fitra"⁽²⁾. Daily we have the 5 prayers, weekly we have the Jumuah⁽³⁾, and annually we have different events.

Do you have Muslim family or friends? They have holidays too! Let's see what it's all about:

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Eid / Holiday

When is it?
What it is for?
What do you do?
What can we do?

Islamic new year

1st Muharram 1442 = 20 August 2020
Beginning of our calendar
Nothing really. The best of us do extra good because of the proverb "Beginnings are signs of their ends"
Wish us happy new year. Remember that Muslims have our own calendar, and don't force the Christian/secular calendar on those Muslims who follow the religion. Our calendar is called the hijri calendar.

First ten days of Muharram

1st - 10th Muharram 1442 = 20th - 29th August 2020
Special days
Muslims do extra worship these days including prayers, charity, and fasting.
No need for special greetings. At least be aware what's happening for 2 billion of your brothers and sisters on earth

Ashura

10th Muharram 1442 = 29th August 2020
The day God saved Moses and his people from the Pharaoh. It also marks the Martyrdom of Husayn the grandson of Messenger of God ﷺ⁽⁶⁾
Visit family and exchange gifts
If you chose to participate visit family and exchange gifts

Mawlid

12th Rabi al Awwal 1442 = 29th October 2020
This day has multiple major events. This is the day Messenger of God ﷺ was born, the day he completed his exodus from Mecca to Medina, and the day he died.
On this day, rather the entire month, Muslims try to increase in their emulation of his example, give extra solawat, and read books and listen to stories about his life. How in Ramadan Muslims complete the Quran cover to cover, in Rabi al Awwal Muslims complete the biography of the Messenger of God ﷺ cover to cover
This is the most common day for non Muslims to participate. You can come and learn basics about the life of the Messenger of God and this will help you understand and relate to your loved ones who are Muslim⁽⁴⁾. What is it about the life of one man that captivated and transformed not millions - but billions of hearts.

Night of Ascension / Laylatul Miraj

27th Rajab 1442 = 11th March 2021
This day commemorates when the Messenger of God ﷺ had a miraculous journey to Jerusalem and through the heavens.
Muslims offer extra prayers and charity often praying at night and retelling the story of the ascension
No need for special greetings. At least be aware what's happening for 2 billion of your brothers and sisters on earth

Mid Shaban

15th Shaban 1442 = night between 27th and 28th of March 2020
Full moon of the month of Shaban
Muslims perform abundant prayers and repentance all night
No need for special greetings. At least be aware what's happening for 2 billion of your brothers and sisters on earth

Ramadan

1st - 30th Ramadan 1442 = 13th April - 12th May 2021
First day of a month of fasting. Every revelation ever sent to mankind was sent down in this month.
We fast the entire month and engage in night worship for several hours each night. The entire Quran is recited inside congregational night prayers and most Muslims also recite it in its entirety individually outside the prayer during the day. We also give abundant charity, it's unusual for a day to go by without a Muslim giving something in charity.
You should remember that Muslims are abstaining from food and drink, and many abstain from entertainment and useless talk as well.

Night of Destiny / Laylatul Qadr

Unknown day Of Ramadan
This is a special night of closeness to God, and God has kept it hidden
The wisdom of keeping this night hidden is so that those who seek closeness to God will give their all every night, hoping to find this night of destiny.
No need for special greetings. At least be aware what's happening for 2 billion of your brothers and sisters on earth

Last ten days of Ramadan

21st - 30th Ramadan 1442 = 3rd - 12th May 2021
These last ten days are extra special
Muslims further increase their prayers and charity during these days.
Be cognizant that Muslims will increase the intensity of ramadan and many Muslims go until Itikaf or total isolation to dedicate to worship

First ten days of Dhul Hijjah

1st - 10th Dhul Hijjah 1442 = 11th - 20th July 2021
Special days
Muslims do extra worship these days including prayers, charity, and fasting.
No need for special greetings. At least be aware what's happening for 2 billion of your brothers and sisters on earth

Hajj

8th - 13th Dhul Hijjah 1442 = 18th - 23rd July 2021
Sacred pilgrimage as practiced for thousands of years, at least since the time of Abraham.
Pilgrims begin the rituals while non pilgrims often fast and nowadays watch the hajj on live tv
No need for special greetings. At least be aware what's happening for 2 billion of your brothers and sisters on earth

Day of Arafah

9th Dhul Hijjah 1442 = 19th July 2021
The day the Messenger of God stood on Mount Arafah and give the famous Sermon of the Farewell Hajj
A special day of worship and repentance. Muslims who aren't pilgrims will fast while Muslims who are pilgrims will stand on Mount Arafah
No need for special greetings. At least be aware what's happening for 2 billion of your brothers and sisters on earth

There are two Eids which are unlike the others, because they have a special eid⁽⁵⁾ prayer. In fact, a learned Muslim will tell you that these are three in number. Our ulema have identified Friday as such an eid. These three eids have a special prayer, on Friday it is called prayer of Jumuah and on the two eids it is called the prayer of eid. In fact there is ijma that Friday is a greater eid than the other two. There is a khilaf about whether it is the best day of the year or not. The majority of scholars say Friday is the best second only to the day of Arafah, while others including Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal (r) said that the merits of Friday even exceed the day of Arafah!

Friday

Every friday
It has a lot of significance, and cannot be exactly equated to the sabbath though that might be the closest cultural reference
We have sermons and lessons in Islam, and give charity
Wish us a happy Friday

Eid al Adha

10th - 13th Dhul Hijjah 1442 = 20th - 23rd July 2021
The day God saved Ismaail from being sacrifices by his father Abraham
Sacrifice animals and give it to charity. Feast and gift exchange.
Let us feed you, or wish us happy holiday

Eid al Fitr

1st Shawwal 1442 = 13th May 2021
The first day after fasting the month of Ramadan
Muslims mourn and celebrate this day. We mourn because we miss Ramadan, but we celebrate because it's an eid and we enjoy giving charity and serving others. We feast and give gifts to children. Every Muslim feeds a poor person so the feast is city wide. Traditionally we buy new clothes at that time and in every town and city thousands millions of people eat in the streets, including non Muslims
Let us feed you, or wish us happy holiday

Some Useful Tools:

Hijri - Gregorian Date Converter

Gregorian/Hijri calendar

Hijri/Gregorian calendar

Arabic words used:

1. Hijri - adjective form of Hijrah or exodus. Hijri refers to the exodus of the Messenger of God ﷺ from Mecca to Madina in year 1 AH or year 622 CE^↩

2. Fitra - Essence of humanity, the natural disposition^↩

3. Jumuah - Arabic for Friday^↩

4. Muslim - literally someone who has submitted, meaning anyone who submits to the will of God, including old communities such as those who followed Jesus, Moses, and unnamed prophets sent to all human communities in history^↩

5. Eid - Arabic for holiday, specifically the two holidays which have the prayer of eid^↩

6. ﷺ - blessings and peace of God upon him, this is said after mentioning Muhammad, the Messenger of God^↩

___________________

Anything I said here which is true, is from Allah. Anything I said here which is false if from myself. I ask forgiveness for my shortcomings. I seek refuge in Allah from knowledge which does not benefit. May Allah grant us understanding of things as they are. May Allah bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and his family.