Both in India and in Egypt, in the present day, the Muḥammadans use the lunar year for their religious observances and the ordinary affairs of life; but for the purposes of agriculture and other calculations, for which the lunar year is inconvenient, they employ the Julian calendar.
To find the number of solar years elapsed since any given Muḥammadan date, subtract the given year of the Hijrah from the current year of the Hijrah, and from the remainder deduct three per cent.; the remainder will be the number of solar years which have elapsed. Thus, suppose we see a manuscript written A.H. 681, and wish to know its real age in Christian or solar years, we subtract, in the first place, the number 681 from the current year of the Hijrah, say 1256, and there remains 575; from this last we deduct three per cent., or 17, and there remains 558, which at that period is the real age of the manuscript in solar years.
If the object, however, be to find the precise Christian date corresponding to any given year of the Hijrah, apply the following rule:—From the given number of Musalmān years, deduct three per cent., and to the remainder add the number 621·54; the sum is the period of the Christian era at which the given current Musalmān year ends. For example: from A.H. 942, deduct three per cent., or 28·26, and the remainder is 913·74. To this last add 621·54, and the sum is 1535·28, which shows that A.H. 942 ended in the spring of A.D. 1536. This simple rule is founded on the fact that 100 lunar years are very nearly equal to 97 solar years, there being only eight days of excess in the former period; hence to the result found, as just stated, it will be requisite to add 8 days, as a correction for every century.
The following is a more accurate rule. Express the Muḥammadan date in years and decimals of a year; multiply by ·970225; to the product add 621·54, and the sum will be the precise period of the Christian era. (Dr. Forbes.)
If it is desired to find the year of the Hijrah which comes in in a given year of the Christian era, it is sufficient to subtract 621 from the year given, and to multiply the remainder by 10,307. (Murray.)
YŪḤANNĀ (يوحنا). The Arabic Christian name for John the Baptist, and John the Apostle, the corresponding Muslim name being Yaḥyā. [[YAHYA].]
YŪNUS (يونس). [[JONAH].]
YŪSHAʿ (يوشع). [[JOSHUA].]
YŪSUF (يوسف). [[JOSEPH].]