Rabiʽ al-Thani (, also known as Rabi' al-Akhirah (), Rabi al-Akhir (), or Rabi' II is the fourth month of the

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 ...

. The name ''Rabī' al-Thani'' means "the second spring" in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, referring to its position in the

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 ...

n calendar.

Meaning

The word "Rabi" means "

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

" and Al-thani means "the second" in the

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, so "Rabi' al-Thani" means "the second spring" in

. As the Islamic calendar is a purely

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 on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are br ...

, the month naturally rotates over solar years, so Rabīʽ al-Thani can fall in spring or any other season. Therefore, the month cannot be related to the actual season of spring.

Timing

The

is a purely

, 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 Islamic

lunar year 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 on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are brought ...

is 11 to 12 days shorter than the

tropical year A tropical year or solar year (or tropical period) is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the sky – as viewed from the Earth or another celestial body of the Solar System – thus completing a full cycle of astronom ...

, Rabī' al-Thānī migrates throughout the seasons. The estimated start and end dates for Rabī' al-Thānī are as follows (based on the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia):

Islamic events

* 08 or 10 Rabī' al-Thānī, the birth of the Eleventh Imam

Hasan al-Askari Hasan al-Askari (; ) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is regarded as the eleventh of the Twelve Imams, succeeding his father, Ali al-Hadi. Hasan Al-Askari was born in Medina in 844 and brought with his father to the garris ...

* 10 or 12 Rabī' al-Thānī, death of

Fatimah bint Musa Fatima bint Musa (), circa 790–816 CE, commonly known as Fatima al-Ma'suma (), was the daughter of Musa al-Kazim () and sister of Ali al-Rida (), the seventh and eighth Imams in Twelver Shia. A young Fatima left her hometown of Medina in abo ...

* 11 of Rabī' al-Thānī, death of

Abdul-Qadir Gilani Abdul Qadir Gilani (; ; c. 1077/78 – 1166) was a Hanbali scholar, preacher, and Sufi leader who was the eponym of the Qadiriyya, one of the oldest Sufi orders. He was born c. 1077/78 in the town of Na'if, Rezvanshahr in Gilan, Persia, a ...

, the Sufi sheikh who is believed to be the "saint of saints" *15 of Rabi' al-Thani, death of Habib Abu Bakr al-Haddad *27 of Rabi' al-Thani, death of

Ahmad Sirhindi Ahmad Sirhindi (1564 – 1624/1625) was an Indian Islamic scholar, Hanafi jurist, and member of the Naqshbandī Sufi order who lived during the era of Mughal Empire. Ahmad Sirhindi opposed heterodox movements within the Mughal court such as D ...

* 28 or 29 of Rabī' al-Thānī, death of

ibn Arabi Ibn Arabi (July 1165–November 1240) was an Andalusian Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest com ...

, the great philosopher from Spain who died and rests in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, Syria.

References

External links

Islamic-Western Calendar Converter (Based on the Arithmetical or Tabular Calendar)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabi' Al-Thani 4 Islamic terminology