With the appearance of the new crescent tonight, June 15, Muslims around the world will welcome the New Year 1448 Hijri. The beginning of the new year in the Islamic calendar is marked by the first day of the month of Muharram, one of the four holy months in Islam.
The Hijri calendar is based on the movement of the Moon, which is why it is lunar and is shorter by approximately ten days compared to the solar or Gregorian calendar. Because of this, the dates of the Islamic months shift each year within the seasons.
Counting time according to the Hijri calendar was adopted during the time of the second righteous caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab. One of the most significant events in the history of Islam was taken as the beginning of the Islamic era – the Hijra, the migration of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Hijra occurred in 622 AD and represents a turning point in the development of the first Muslim community. Faced with persecution and threats in his native Mecca, Prophet Muhammad was forced to leave his city and seek safety among the inhabitants of Jasrib, a city that would later become known as Medina. According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet secretly left Mecca and moved to Medina, where he spent the rest of his life. This very event symbolizes the beginning of a new chapter for Muslims, marked by freedom of religion, community building and the establishment of the foundations of Islamic civilization.
The new Hijri year is an opportunity to remember the values that the Hijra carries with it, namely perseverance, sacrifice, faith, hope and willingness to change for the sake of higher goals. For many Muslims, it represents a time of spiritual reflection, gratitude, and decision-making that leads to personal and social progress.
Traditionally, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this night and day is marked with appropriate programs, mevluds, recitation of the Qur’an and worship.
The first day of Muharram, the first Hijri month, is tomorrow, June 16 according to the Gregorian calendar, it says Radio Sarajevo.
We send our sincere congratulations to all Muslims celebrating this important date on the occasion of the New Year 1448 Hijri.
