The Calendar

 
The calendar that most people use today is known as the Gregorian (or Solar) calendar which is based on the movement of the Earth around the Sun. 

One orbit takes around 365 and a quarter days (1 year). Each year has been divided into 12 months, or approximately 52 weeks. Each week is 7 days long, each day is 24 hours long, each hour is 60 minutes long and each minute is 60 seconds long.

Because it is not possible to work to a year that includes a fraction of a day, most years have 365 days. Then every four years, the extra quarters are added together to make up an extra day. This happens in what is known as a leap year, which has 366 days. The extra day is added into February. And because 365 cannot be divided exactly by 7, particular dates fall on different days each year.

Most months have 31 days. Four months - April, June, September and November - have 30 days, while February has 28 days most years, but 29 days every leap year.

Many Muslims around the world also follow an Islamic calendar known as the Hijri calendar. It is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in which each month has 29 or 30 days based on the sighting of the new moon.

While the Gregorian calendar originates from the time in which Christians believe to be the birth of Jesus عليه السلام, the Hijri calendar originates from the time when the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Muslims migrated (made Hijrah) from Makkah to Madinah.

In the Islamic Hijri calendar, four of the months are considered sacred - Muharram, Rajab, Dhul-Qa'dah and Dhul-Hijjah as Allah عز وجل has stated:

إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِندَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ

Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred.

[Surah At-Tawbah 9:36]

Muslims keep track of the Islamic months in order to perform specific acts of worship; such as fasting the month of Ramadan, or performing Hajj in the month of Dhul-Hijjah.

The Calendar Interactive Notebook

The Calendar Worksheets