The
names of the Islamic months are rooted in certain events that took place in
them. Ramadan is named after Ramda; Ramda
are stones heated by the sun during summer. Shawal is derived from the lifting
(Ar. shayl) of a camel’s tail
to ward off flies (because of the extreme heat). Dhul Q`adah is named such
because it was the first sacred month that prohibited fighting. Thus, people
sat (refrained from fighting) during that time. Dhu al-Hijja is named such
because the Hajj coincides with it. Muharram takes its name because fighting is
prohibited during it. Safar takes its name from sifir,
which means to be empty, because the trails that the Arabs used for travel and
business were empty because the sacred months had ended and fighting returned.
Rab`i al-Awal and Rab`i al-Thani took their names from rab`i
al-’ashab (dense
grass) because it grew during these two months. Jumad al-Ula and Jumad al-Thani
took their names from jumad al-ma (Eng. ice), because these two months
occurred while it was cold. Rajab is coined as such because it is a sacred
month. Sha`ban is taken from a word which means to split and divide. It took
its name because the Arabs would return to fighting upon its onset and divide
themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment