(1) Muḥarram is the first month in the Muḥammadan calendar, and is so called because, both in the pagan age and in the time of Muḥammad, it was held unlawful (ḥarām) to go to war in this month. It is considered a most auspicious month, and Muḥammad is related to have said, “Whosoever shall fast on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in this month, shall be removed from hell fire a distance of seven hundred years journey; and that he who shall keep awake the first night of this month, shall be forgiven all the sins of the past year; and he who shall fast the whole of the first day, shall be kept from sin for the next two years.” (Hanīsu ʾl-Waizīn, p. 154.) The first ten days of this month are observed in commemoration of the martyrdom of al-Ḥusain, and the tenth day is the ʿĀshūrāʾ fast.
(2) Ṣafar, the second month, is supposed to derive its name from ṣafir, “empty,” either because in it the Arabians went forth to war and left their homes empty, or, according to Rubeh, because they left whom they attacked empty. According to some writers, it was so named from ṣufār, “yellowness,” because when it was first so called, it was autumn, when the leaves bore a yellowish tint. (Vide Lane’s Arabic Dict.; G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah.) It is held to be the most unlucky and inauspicious month in the whole year, for in it, it is said, Adam was turned out of Eden. (See Hanīsu ʾl-Waizīn.) It was during this month that the Prophet was taken ill, but his partial recovery took place on the last Wednesday.
(3) Rabīʿu ʾl-Awwal, and (4) Rabīʿu ʾl-Āk͟hir, the first and second spring months, are said to have been so named when the calendar was first formed, and when these months occurred in the spring. Muḥammad died on the 12th day of the Rabīʿu ʾl-Awwal.
(5) Jumādā ʾl-Ūlā, and (6) Jumādā ʾl-Uk͟hrā, are the fifth and sixth months, about which there is some discussion as to the origin of the name. Mr. Lane, in his Dictionary, says the two months to which the name Jamādā (freezing) is applied, are said to be so called because, when they were so named, they fell in the season of freezing water; but this derivation seems to have been invented when the two months thus named had fallen back into, or beyond, the winter, for when they received this appellation, the former of them evidently commenced in March, and the latter ended in May. Therefore, I hold the opinion of M. Caussin de Perceval, that they were thus called because falling in a period when the earth had become dry and hard, by reason of paucity of rain, jamād being an epithet applied to land upon which rain has not fallen, which opinion is confirmed by the obvious derivation of the names of other months. (See Lane’s Arabic Dict. in loco.)
(7) Rajab, the “honoured” month, so called because of the honour in which the month was held in the Times of Ignorance, inasmuch as war was not permitted during this month. The Prophet is related to have said that the month Rajab was like a snowy white fountain flowing from heaven itself, and that he who fasts on this month will drink of the waters of life. It is called Rajab-i-Muẓar, because the Muẓar tribe held it in high esteem. It is usual for religious Muslims to spend the first Friday night (i.e. our Thursday night) of this month in prayer.
(8) Shaʿbān, the month of separation (called also the Shahru ʾn-Nabī, “the Prophet’s month”), is so called because the ancient Arabians used to separate, or disperse themselves, in this month in search of water (for when the months were regulated by the solar year, this month corresponded partly to June and partly to July), or, as some say, for predatory expeditions. On the fifteenth day of this month is the Shab-i-Barāt, or “Night of Record,” upon which it is said that God registers annually all the actions of mankind which they are to perform during the year, and upon which Muḥammad enjoined his followers to keep awake the whole night and to repeat one hundred rakʿah prayers. [[SHAB-I-BARAT].]
(9) Ramaẓān, the ninth month of the Muḥammadan year, is that which is observed as a strict fast. The word is derived from ramẓ, “to burn,” because it is said that, when the month was first named, it occurred in the hot season; or because the month’s fast is supposed to burn away the sins of men. (See G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah.) The excellence of this month is much extolled by Muḥammad, who said that during this month the gates of Paradise are opened, and the gates of Hell shut. (Mishkāt, book vii. chap. i. sec. 1.) [[RAMAZAN].]
(10) Shawwāl, lit. “a tail,” is the tenth month of the lunar year, and, according to Arabic lexicons (see G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah, Qāmūs, &c.), it is so called because, when first named, it coincided with the season when the she-camels, being seven or eight months gone with young, raised their tails; or, because it was the month for hunting. The Arabs used to say that it was an unlucky month in which to make marriage contracts, but the Prophet ignored their thus auguring, and married ʿĀyishah in this month. The ʿĪdu ʾl-Fit̤r, or “the Feast of Breaking the Fast,” occurs on the first of this month.
(11) Ẕū ʾl-Qaʿdah, or the month of truce, is the eleventh month, and so called by the ancient Arabs, because it was a month in which warfare was not conducted, and in which the people were engaged in peaceful occupations.
(12) Ẕū ʾl-Ḥijjah, the month of the Pilgrimage, is the last month of the Muḥammadan calendar. It is the month in which the pilgrimage to Makkah must be made, a visit to the sacred city at another time having in no way the merits of a pilgrimage. The Ḥajj, or “Pilgrimage,” is performed upon the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth of this month. The ʿĪdu ʾl-Aẓḥā, or “Feast of Sacrifice,” is held on the tenth. [[HAJJ].]