Muslim holidays - Hijri New Year (Islamic New Year)

Muslim New Year is the day of the beginning of the year according to the Islamic calendar. Unlike the Christian world, Muslims do not equate this day with a holiday. Its only peculiarity is the reading of sermons in mosques about the hijra (the great migration of the Muslim community from Mecca to Medina under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad). New Year is not a religious holiday. Each religion has a start date for next year. The Hijri New Year falls on the first day of the month of Muharram according to the Muslim calendar. It is 11-12 days shorter than the Gregorian. This difference is due to the fact that the Muslim year is based on the lunar calendar, while the rest of the world lives according to the solar calendar. Because of these features, the start date of the Muslim new year in the Gregorian calendar is constantly shifted by a certain period (10 days). The vast majority of Islamic countries adhere to a single calendar, but some individual organizations maintain their own calendar and determine the new month based on their observations of the changing phases of the moon. For Muslims, New Year is not a holiday. This is not just about the night before the first day of the month of Muharram. Muslims also do not celebrate the traditional New Year, which begins on January 1st according to the Gregorian calendar. There are only two key holidays in this religion. Why so few? The explanation can be found in the words of the Prophet Muhammad, who, after moving to Medina, noticed that local Muslims celebrated two holidays. He asked what kind of celebrations these were. He was told that they were celebrated even before the advent of Islam. Muhammad asked how exactly the holidays were celebrated? Locals responded that they were just having fun, dancing, walking the streets and visiting relatives. In response, the prophet said that God gave Muslims two holidays - Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. In addition to them, some dates from the Holy Book may be celebrated, but the celebration does not take place on such a large scale.