
Nasiʾ (, ''an-Nasīʾ'', "postponement"), also Romanized Nasii, or Nasie, was an aspect of the
pre-Islamic Arabian calendar
Several calendars have been used in pre-Islamic Arabia. These calendars are known from pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions. Inscriptions of the ancient South Arabian calendars reveal the use of a number of local calendars, as do Safaitic inscriptions ...
, mentioned in the
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
in the context of the "four forbidden months".
In
pre-Islamic Arabia
Pre-Islamic Arabia is the Arabian Peninsula and its northern extension in the Syrian Desert before the rise of Islam. This is consistent with how contemporaries used the term ''Arabia'' or where they said Arabs lived, which was not limited to the ...
, the decision of "postponement" had been administered by the
Banu Kinanah
Kinana () is an Arab tribe based around Mecca in the Tihama coastal area and the Hejaz mountains. The Quraysh of Mecca, the tribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was an offshoot of the Kinana. A number of modern-day tribes throughout the Arab w ...
,
by a man known as the ''al-Qalammas'' (pl. ''qalāmisa'').
Different interpretations of its meaning have been proposed.
Postponement unrelated to a fixed-season calendar
Some scholars maintain that the pre-Islamic calendar used in Central Arabia was a purely lunar calendar similar to the modern Islamic calendar.
[F.C. De Blois, "TAʾRĪKH": I.1.iv. "Pre-Islamic and agricultural calendars of the Arabian peninsula", ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam'', 2nd edition, X:260.][A. Moberg, "NASI'", ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam'', 2nd, VII:977.] According to this view, ''nasīʾ'' is related to the pagan practices of the Meccan Arabs, where they would alter the distribution of the forbidden months within a given year without implying a calendar manipulation. This interpretation is supported by Arab historians and lexicographers, like
Ibn Hisham
Abu Muhammad Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham ibn Ayyub al-Himyari (; died 7 May 833), known simply as Ibn Hisham, was a 9th-century Abbasid historian and scholar. He grew up in Basra, in modern-day Iraq and later moved to Egypt.
Life
Ibn Hisham has ...
,
Ibn Manzur
Muhammad ibn Mukarram ibn Alī ibn Ahmad ibn Manzūr al-Ansārī al-Ifrīqī al-Misrī al-Khazrajī () also known as Ibn Manẓūr () (June–July 1233 – December 1311/January 1312) was an Arab lexicographer of the Arabic language and author of ...
, and the corpus of
tafsir
Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...
. Thus the ''
Encyclopaedia of Islam
The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is a reference work that facilitates the Islamic studies, academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill Publishers, Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, Isl ...
'' concludes, "The Arabic system of
asīʾcan only have been intended to move the
Hajj
Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
and the fairs associated with it in the vicinity of Mecca to a suitable season of the year. It was not intended to establish a fixed calendar to be generally observed."
This interpretation is also corroborated by an early
Sabaean language
Sabaic, sometimes referred to as Sabaean, was a Sayhadic language that was spoken between c. 1000 BC and the 6th century AD by the Sabaeans. It was used as a written language by some other peoples of the ancient civilization of South Arabia, inc ...
inscription, where a religious ritual was "postponed" (''ns'ʾw'') due to war. According to the context of this inscription, the verb ''ns'ʾ'' has nothing to do with intercalation, but only with moving religious events within the calendar itself. The similarity between the religious concept of this ancient inscription and the Qur'an suggests that non-calendaring postponement is also the Qur'anic meaning of ''Nasīʾ''.
As lunisolar intercalation
Others concur that the pre-Islamic calendar was originally a lunar calendar, but suggest that about 200 years before the
Hijra
Hijra, Hijrah, Hegira, Hejira, Hijrat or Hijri may refer to:
Islam
* Hijrah (also ''Hejira'' or ''Hegira''), the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE
* Migration to Abyssinia or First Hegira, of Muhammad's followers in 615 CE
* L ...
it was transformed into a
lunisolar calendar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year. As with all calendars which divide the year into months, there is an additional requirement that the year have a whole number of mont ...
containing an
intercalary month
Intercalation or embolism in timekeeping is the insertion of a leap day, week, or month into some calendar years to make the calendar follow the seasons or moon phases. Lunisolar calendars may require intercalations of days or months.
Solar ca ...
added from time to time to keep the pilgrimage within the season of the year when merchandise was most abundant. This interpretation was first proposed by the Muslim astrologer and astronomer
Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi
Abu Ma‘shar al-Balkhi, Latinized as Albumasar (also ''Albusar'', ''Albuxar'', ''Albumazar''; full name ''Abū Maʿshar Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Balkhī'' ;
, AH 171–272), was an early Persian Muslim astrologer, thought to be ...
(787–886),
Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi
Abu Ma‘shar al-Balkhi, Latinized as Albumasar (also ''Albusar'', ''Albuxar'', ''Albumazar''; full name ''Abū Maʿshar Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Balkhī'' ;
, AH 171–272), was an early Persian Muslim astrologer, thought to be ...
(787–886),
Kitab al-Uluf
', ''Journal Asiatique'', series 5, xi (1858) 168+.
and later by
al-Mas'udi
al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...
(c. 896–956),
al-Biruni
Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (; ; 973after 1050), known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously "Father of Comparative Religion", "Father of modern ...
(973 – after 1050)
[al-Biruni]
"Intercalation of the Ancient Arabs", ''The Chronology of Ancient Nations''
tr. C. Edward Sachau, (London: William H. Allen, 1000/1879) 13–14, 73–74. and some Western scholars.
[A. Moberg,]
NASI'
, ''E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam''
This view was also held by the Quran scholar and translator
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Abdullah Yusuf Ali (; 14 April 1872 – 10 December 1953) was an Indian-British barrister who wrote a number of books about Islam, including an exegesis of the Qur'an. A supporter of the British war effort during World War I, Ali received the C ...
(1872–1953).
This interpretation considers ''Nasīʾ'' to be a synonym to the Arabic word for "intercalation" (''kabīsa''). It also suggests that every second or third year the beginning of the year was postponed by one month. The intercalation doubled the month of the pilgrimage, that is, the month of the pilgrimage and the following month were given the same name, postponing the names and the sanctity of all subsequent months in the year by one. The first intercalation doubled the first month Muharram, then three years later the second month Safar was doubled, continuing until the intercalation had passed through all twelve months of the year and returned to Muharram, when it was repeated. The Arabs, according to one explanation mentioned by Abu Ma'shar, learned of this type of intercalation from the
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar (), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates of Jewish holidays and other rituals, such as '' yahrze ...
used by the Jews, since intercalation was announced by the
Nasi
Nasi may refer to:
Food Dishes
Nasi Goreng is an Indonesian and Malay word for ''cooked rice'', featured in many Southeast Asian dishes
*Nasi goreng, a popular rice dish often simply called ''nasi''
*Other Southeast Asian ''nasi'' dishes:
** Nasi ...
, meaning "prince", or "ruler".
[Moberg, p. 977.] The Hebrew calendar as
commanded in
Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
12, is necessarily lunisolar, because the
lunar new year
Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...
is fixed to the month of
Aviv
Aviv () means "spring (season)" in Hebrew language, Hebrew. Aviv is the first month of the year in the Pentateuch, and is later called Nisan in the book of Esther and in subsequent post-exilic history up to the present day. These names are sometim ...
, or spring, and cannot rotate through the year.
Prohibition under Islam
In the tenth year of the Hijra, according to
chapter 9 Chapter Nine refers to a ninth Chapter (books), chapter in a book.
Chapter Nine, Chapter 9, or Chapter IX may also refer to:
Television
* Chapter 9 (American Horror Story), "Chapter 9" (''American Horror Story'')
* Chapter 9 (Eastbound & Down), "C ...
:36–37, a prohibition of ''Nasīʾ'' was enacted:
The prohibition of ''Nasīʾ'' would presumably have been announced when the intercalated month had returned to its position just before the month of ''Nasīʾ'' began. If Nasīʾ meant intercalation, then the number and the position of the intercalary months between 1 AH and 10 AH are uncertain; Western calendar dates commonly cited for key events in early Islam such as the Hijra, the
Battle of Badr
The Battle of Badr or sometimes called The Raid of Badr ( ; ''Ghazwahu Badr''), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ; ''Yawm al-Furqan'') in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the pre ...
, the
Battle of Uhud
The Battle of Uhud () was fought between the early Muslims and the Quraysh during the Muslim–Quraysh wars in a valley north of Mount Uhud near Medina on Saturday, 23 March 625 AD (7 Shawwal, 3 AH).
After the expulsion of Hijrah, Muslims from ...
and the
Battle of the Trench, should be viewed with caution as they might be in error by one, two or even three lunar months.
This prohibition was mentioned by Muhammad during the
Farewell Sermon
The Farewell Sermon (, ''Khuṭbatu l-Widāʿ'' ) also known as Muhammad's Final Sermon or the Last Sermon, is a religious speech, delivered by the Islamic prophet Muhammad on Friday the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah, 10 AH (6 March 632) in the Uranah ...
which was delivered on 9
Dhu al-Hijjah
Dhu al-Hijjah (also Dhu al-Hijja ) is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar. Being one of the four sacred months during which war is forbidden, it is the month in which the '' Ḥajj'' () takes place as well as Eid al-Adha ().
T ...
10 AH (Julian date Friday March 6, 632) on
Mount Arafat
Mount Arafat (, or ) is a granodiorite hill about southeast of Mecca, in the Makkah Province, province of the same name in Saudi Arabia. It is approximately in height, with its highest point sitting at an elevation of .
The Prophet Muhammad, ...
during the
Farewell Pilgrimage
The Farewell Pilgrimage () refers to the one Hajj pilgrimage that Muhammad performed in the Islamic year 10 AH, following the Conquest of Mecca. Muslims believe that verse 22:27 of the Quran brought about the intent to perform Hajj in Muhammad tha ...
to Mecca.
The three successive forbidden months mentioned by Muhammad (months in which battles are forbidden) are
Dhu al-Qi'dah
Dhu al-Qa'dah (, ', ), also spelled Dhu al-Qi'dah or Zu al-Qa'dah, is the eleventh month in the Islamic calendar.
It could possibly mean "possessor or owner of the sitting and seating place" - the space occupied while sitting or the manner of t ...
,
Dhu al-Hijjah
Dhu al-Hijjah (also Dhu al-Hijja ) is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar. Being one of the four sacred months during which war is forbidden, it is the month in which the '' Ḥajj'' () takes place as well as Eid al-Adha ().
T ...
, and
Muharram
Al-Muharram () is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is banned. It precedes the month of Safar. The tenth of Muharram is known as Ashura, an important day of commemoration in ...
, months 11, 12, and 1. The single forbidden month is
Rajab
Rajab () is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of the classical Arabic 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 ...
, month 7. These months were considered forbidden both within the new Islamic calendar and within the pre-Islamic Meccan calendar.
See also
*
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar (), also known in English as the Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the Ramad ...
*
Lunisolar calendar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year. As with all calendars which divide the year into months, there is an additional requirement that the year have a whole number of mont ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasi (month)
Islamic calendar
Pre-Islamic Arabia
Quranic words and phrases