Rajab ( ar, رَجَب) is the seventh month of the

Islamic calendar The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or ...

. The lexical definition of the

classical Arabic Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...

verb ''rajaba'' is "to respect" which could also mean "be awe or be in fear", of which Rajab is a derivative. This month is regarded as one of the four sacred months (including

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...

, Dhu al-Qadah and

Dhu al-Hijjah Dhu al-Hijja ( ar, ذُو ٱلْحِجَّة, translit=Ḏū al-Ḥijja, ), also spelled Zu al-Hijja, is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar. It is a very sacred month in the Islamic calendar, one in which the ''Hajj, Ḥajj'' (P ...

) in Islam in which battles are prohibited. The pre-Islamic Arabs also considered warfare blasphemous during the four months. Muslims believe Rajab is the month in which

‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

, the fourth

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

of Sunni Muslims, was born. Rajab is also the month during which Isra' Mi'raj (journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and then through the 7 Heavens) of the Islamic prophet,

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

, took place. Rajab and Shaʿbān are a prelude to the holy month Ramaḍān.

Description

The word "Rajab" came from "r''ajūb'' (رجوب)", the sense of veneration or glorification, and Rajab was also formerly called "''Mudhar''" because the tribe of ''Mudhar'' did not change it but rather expected in its time other than the rest of the Arabs, who changed and altered in the months according to the state of war. The name of Rajab literally means respected, regarded, and admired. It seems that the word is originally a Semitic one. There are two important events during the month, namely the birthday of

Ali ibn Abi Talib ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

and Muhammad's first revelation in Shia tradition. Also, during Rajab, war is forbidden. There are other names for the month, such as Rajab Al-Morrajjab, Rajab Al-Asab and Rajab Sharif.

For Shia

The Shi'a believe that there are many virtues of the month. According to some narrations, the month belongs to

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

while

Shaban Shaʽban ( ar, شَعْبَان, ') is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar. It is called as the month of "separation", as the word means "to disperse" or "to separate" because the pagan Arabs used to disperse in search of water. The fiftee ...

is for

Musa al-Kadhim Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim ( ar, مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan, Abū ʿAbd Allāh or Abū Ibrāhīm, was the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, after hi ...

(the seventh Imam of the Shia) has narrated that the Rajab is like a river in heaven which is whiter and sweeter than honey.

Timing

The

is a

lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gre ...

, and months begin when the first crescent of a

new moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

is sighted. Since the lunar year is 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year, Rajab migrates throughout the seasons. The estimated start and end dates for Rajab, based on the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia, are:

Events

* The

Battle of Tabouk The Expedition of Tabuk, also known as the Expedition of Usra, was a military expedition that was initiated by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in October 630 CE (AH 9). He led a force of as many as 30,000 north to Tabuk, near the Gulf of Aqaba, in p ...

took place in Rajab, 9 AH (October 630). * The

Second pledge at al-Aqabah The second pledge at al-Aqabah was an important event in the mission of the Islamic prophet Muhammad where 75 residents of the city of Medina pledged their loyalty to Muhammad as their leader in an agreement known as a ''bay'ah''. It preceded the ...

took place in Rajab. * 6 Rajab: Many Sufi followers of the Chishti tariqa (path) celebrate the anniversary of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti. * 7 Rajab: Twelvers observe the Festival of Imam Musa al-Kazim in dedication of Musā' al-Kādhim. This is so as to avoid missing celebrating the birth of the 7th Imam which took place Safar. In (Rajab), on the 7th day is celebrated the birth of 7th Imam. * 22 Rajab, Koonday (table cloth dinner) is organized by people friendly towards the Imams of the

Ahlul Bayt Ahl al-Bayt ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْبَيْت, ) refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but the term has also been extended in Sunni Islam to apply to all descendants of the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and even to all Muslims. ...

Shias Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...

among Shias of South Asia. It is an occasion for Shias to discuss

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

and the

and to strengthen ties among the community with love and compassion. * 27 Rajab, event of '' Isra and Mi'raj''. * 27 Rajab 583 AH, Conquest of Jerusalem''

TDV Encyclopedia of Islam The h2g2 website is a British-based collaborative online encyclopedia project. It describes itself as "an unconventional guide to life, the universe, and everything", in the spirit of the fictional publication ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to t ...

'': Vol.36 (2009), p.339 by the Ayyubids.

Births

* 1 Rajab: Muhammad al-Baqir * 4 Rajab: Khwaja Banda Nawaz * 5 Rajab: ‘ Alī al-Hadī * 9 Rajab: ‘Alī al-Asghar * 12 Rajab: Muhammad al-Taqī *

13 Rajab 13 Rajab is the thirteenth day of the seven month (Rajab) of the Islamic calendar. In the conventional Lunar Hijri calendar, this day is the 190th day of the year. Births * 23 before Hegira – Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Imam of the Shiites, ...

* 14 Rajab: Mu'in al-Din Chishti * 20 Rajab: Sakina bint Hussain

Deaths

* 3 Rajab: ‘Alī al-Naqī, Twelver Imam & Uwais al-Qarni * 6 Rajab: Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī, The founder of Chishti Order of

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

* 8 Rajab:

Nazim Al-Haqqani Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil Al-Qubrusi Al-Haqqani (qaddas Allahu sirruhu) (born Mehmet Nâzım Âdil; 21 April 1922 – 7 May 2014) ( tr, Şeyh Muhammed Nâzım Âdil El-Kıbrısî Hakkanî), commonly known as Shaykh Nazim ( tr, Şeyh Nâzım ...

, a Turkish Cypriot Sufi Muslim sheykh and spiritual leader of the Naqshbandi tariqa. * 14 Rajab:

Akhundzada_Saif-ur-Rahman_Mubarak Akhundzada Peer Saif ur Rahman Mubarak ( ar, آخوندزاده سيف الرحمان مبارك) also known as Mubarak Sahib (1925–2010) was a Sufi scholar of the Naqshbandi Mujaddadi Tariqa, the founder of the Silsila Naqshbandi Mujaddidi ...

, the founder of the Naqshbandi Mujaddidi Saifia Tariqa. * 15 Rajab:

Zainab bint Ali Zaynab bint Ali ( ar, زَيْنَب بِنْت عَلِيّ, ', ), was the eldest daughter of Ali, the fourth Rashidun caliph () and the first Shia Imam, and Fatima, the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Zaynab is best known for her ro ...

* 18 Rajab:

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

(according to Shi'a Islam) * 22 Rajab:

Muawiyah I Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...

* 25 Rajab: Musā' al-Kādhim, seventh Twelver Imam * 26 Rajab:

Abu Talib ibn Abdul Muttalib Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib ( ar, أَبُو طَالِب بن عَبْد ٱلْمُطَّلِب '; ) was the leader of Banu Hashim, a clan of the Qurayshi tribe of Mecca in the Hejazi region of the Arabian Peninsula. He was an uncle of the ...

, uncle of

and father of

References

External links

Islamic-Western Calendar Converter (Based on the Arithmetical or Tabular Calendar)
{{IslamicMonths 7 Islamic terminology