The Islamic calendar is lunar,
like the Jewish calendar. Usually write as (A.H),
it was used to fix religious observances and
is based on a lunar cycle of 12 months of 29or
30 days. The Muslim year is thus 11 days shorter
than the year according to the Gregorian calendar
and months move forward accordingly.
In the Gregorian calendar, for example, April
is always in the spring, but in the Muslim calendar
all months move through all seasons in a 33-year
cycle.
The Coptic calendar (A.M) is based on a solar
cycle and consists of 12 months of 30 days and
one month of 5 days. Every four years a sixth
day is added to the shorter month. Many farmers,
for planting and harvesting crops, use an adaptation
of the Coptic calendar. The authorities of the
Coptic Orthodox Church use it.
It consists of 12 months of 29 or 30 days each,
for a total of 354 days. {1} Unlike its Jewish
counterpart, however, the Islamic calendar has
no corrective system to align it with the solar
calendar. Thus the Islamic holidays do not always
fall in the same season, and they occur earlier
every year on the solar calendar.
The months
of the Islamic calendar are as follows:
Θ Muharram
Θ Safr
Θ Rabi' al-Awwal (or Rabi I)
Θ Rabi' al-Thani (or Rabi II)
Θ Jumada al-Ula (or Jumada I)
Θ Jumada al-Thaniyya (or Jumada II)
Θ Rajab
Θ Sha'ban
Θ Ramadan
Θ Shawwal
Θ Dhu al-Qa'dah
Θ Dhu al-Hijjah
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