Vijay Shah
After setting up yesterday’s Photo Moment for the Hindu New Year, it was brought to my attention that it was also the beginning of the Muslim New Year as well. Firstly, a member of the HEM blogging community, Kaligrafi Nusantara (Archipelago Calligraphy), who is from Indonesia and runs a Islamic calligraphy blog, wished me prosperity for the new Hijri year, then a good friend and work colleague named Dewan later pointed the closeness of our new years while commenting on my status on Facebook.
It is not a surprise that both the Hindu and Islamic new years are close together. Both festival dates are set using lunar calendars. So I decided to create this special moment in honour of both Kaligrafi Nusantara and Dewan, as well as the Muslim side of my family who have so kindly extended holiday greetings to me this past Diwali.
The Islamic calendar, known in Arabic as “Hijri” or “al-Hajira” – spellings may vary – starts from the Gregorian year 622 AD/CE when the Prophet Mohammed (the final prophet in Islam) left the holy city of Mecca (al-Makkah) to nearby Medina (al-Madinah). His departure is known as “Hijra”. Although it is lunar in origin, Hijri maintains its own specific conventions. As Wikipedia puts it:
“Traditionally, the first day of each month is the day (beginning at sunset) of the first sighting of the hilal (crescent moon) shortly after sunset.“
Nowadays the Islamic calendar is used mainly for religious purposes, but also is official for governmental and public affairs in many Muslim-majority countries. The new year for 2013 started either on Sunday or today depending on the sighting of the moon – which is also used to begin celebration of others like the Eids (feasts). In the Hijri calendar, the new year is 1435 AH. The new year always falls on the 1st of Muharram, the first month of the year – the equivalent of the Gregorian calendar’s January – and officially begins at sunset.
Among Sunnis, fasting usually occurs on this day. However some Sunni scholars argue that the early Muslims did not celebrate any Islamic New Year, so therefore this celebration is an innovation and should not be marked.However I do not wish to get involved in any theological arguments as such. Among Shias, this days begins with preparations for the feast of Ashura where the death of Imam Hussein is mourned.
The Half-Eaten Mind brings you a selection of wallpapers and images to celebrate the beginning of the New Year 1435 AH, and wishes everyone blessings and goodness for this special occasion.
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halfeatenmind.wordpress.com 
Very nice post my friend
Friendly Greeting
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Selamat datang.
Thanks for your compliment, glad you liked 🙂
Enjoy your New Year and all the best!!
Vijay
– HalfEatenMind
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to an issue with one of the wallpapers being off-centre and affecting the layout, all pictures have been centred. Previously the images were arranged in ‘window’ format. (Amended 6/11/2013) V.S.
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In 1 month++ time, it will be Year 2014…and in another 2 months++ time, it will be Lunar New Year…Gosh!! ‘New Year’ over-killed…LOL…
Thank you for sharing and happy November!! Cheers~ 😀
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Loools…New Year overkill…I like that…well at least the calendar manufacturers will be smiling…all the way to the bank!!
Thanks for reading, wishing you a happy November too 🙂
Vijay
– HalfEatenMind
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You’re welcome, my friend!
Though your latest post is a sad one, still, Happy Monday to you~ Cheers!! 😀
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Aaaww…sorry about the sadness of the latest post, but as a (aspiring) journalist, one must tell the world about the bad as well as the good, so that people can be educated about the world around them. I usually pick news stories at random on my Twitter feeds, and this one made it through. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Hopefully today gave you plenty to smile about, dear friend 🙂
Vijay
– HalfEatenMind
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Good and bad things are happening concurrently around us and it seems that we have been hearing/reading more bad ones than the good ones…it is sad though but I am still hopeful that world peace will be restored someday….
Take care, my friend!! Cheers~ 😀
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That’s a very true observation…one day…and hopefully in our lifetimes 🙂
You too,
Kindest regards,
Vijay
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Yes, my friend…let’s just be hopeful and try doing our part to contribute to the future world peace no matter how insignificant our action may seems to be…don’t great things start with small beginnings?…hehe…
Have a wonderful weekend ahead, always~ Cheers!! 😀
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Felicidades!!!
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Gracias, mi amigo 🙂
Vijay
– HalfEatenMind
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Happy Islamic new year Hijri
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Thank you Nawaz, and the same for you 🙂
Vijay
– HalfEatenMind
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Very nice post, very good read.
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Thanks, Ted. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed!
Vijay
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Happy new Islamic year
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Informative post.But there are no solid proofs when Hijra was.The Founder of Islam fled Mecca to Madena to avoid persecution.Then he declared That hijazz is one religion country and ordered the Christians and the Jews to leave or be……..once he took over Mecca and crushed his enemies.
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