Rajab () is the seventh 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 lexical definition of the

classical Arabic Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...

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 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 ...

, Dhu al-Qadah and

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 ...

) in Islam in which battles are prohibited. The pre-Islamic Arabs also considered warfare to be blasphemous during these four months. Muslims believe Rajab is the month in which ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, the first Shia Imam and the fourth

Rashidun caliph The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the Muslim community and po ...

, was born. Rajab is also the month during which

Isra and Mi'raj The Israʾ and Miʿraj (, ') are the names given to the narrations that the prophet Muhammad ascended to the sky during a night journey, saw Allah and the afterlife, and returned. It is believed that expressions without a subject in verses 1-18 of ...

(

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

's journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and then through the seven Heavens) took place. Rajab and Shaʿbān are a prelude to the holy month of Ramaḍān.

Name

The word "Rajab" came from ''rajūb'' (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 its time to be different than the rest of the Arabs, who changed and altered 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 Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until Assassination of Ali, his assassination in 661, as well as the first imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muha ...

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

The 27th of Rajab

Shias believe that the month of Rajab is one of the 4 holy months. The 27th of Rajab 5 verses of the Quran(first 5 verses of Surah al alaq) slowly ascended from the 4th heaven to Muhammad while in cave of hira. Shias believe the remainder of the Quran was later given directly to Muhammad's heart during the month of Ramadan. It is recommended to fast as many days as possible in the month of Rajab and highly recommended on the 27th of Rajab.

Timing

The

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 ...

, and months begin when the first crescent of a new moon 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 of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, are:

Events

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

Second pledge at al-Aqabah The second pledge at al-ʿAqabah () was an important event in Islam where 75 residents of the city of Medina pledged their loyalty to Muhammad as their leader in an oath of allegiance known as a '' bay'ah''. It preceded the Hijrah, or migration ...

took place in Rajab. * 6 Rajab: Many

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

followers of the Chishti tariqa (path) celebrate the anniversary of Khawaja

Moinuddin Chishti Mu'in al-Din Hasan Chishti Sijzi (; February 1143 – March 1236), known reverentially as Khawaja Gharib Nawaz (), was a Persians, Persian Islamic scholar and Sufism, mystic from Sistan, who eventually ended up settling in the Indian subcontin ...

. * 7 Rajab:

Twelvers Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the largest branch of Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as t ...

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 seventh imam, which took place in Safar. * 22 Rajab, In India and Pakistan, Koonday (tablecloth dinner) is organized. It is an occasion for Muslims to discuss

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

and the Ahlul Bayt and to strengthen ties among the Sunni Sufi community with love and compassion. * 27 Rajab, event of ''

''. * 27 Rajab 583 AH, Conquest of Jerusalem'' TDV Encyclopedia of Islam'': Vol.36 (2009), p.339 by the

Ayyubids The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish ori ...

Births

* 1 Rajab:

Muhammad al-Baqir Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir (; ) was a descendant of the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad and the fifth of the Twelve Imams, twelve Shia imams, succeeding his father, Ali al-Sajjad, and succeeded by his son, Ja'far al-Sad ...

* 4 Rajab: Khwaja Banda Nawaz * 5 Rajab: ‘ Alī al-Hadī * 9 Rajab: ‘Alī al-Asghar * 10 Rajab : Sheikh Saleh(S.k.) Nazrul Islam (10-Rajab-1416) * 12 Rajab: Muhammad al-Taqī * 13 Rajab: ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib * 14 Rajab: Mu'in al-Din Chishti * 20 Rajab: Sakina bint Hussain

Deaths

* 3 Rajab: ‘Alī al-Naqī, Twelver Imam & Uwais al-Qarni * 8 Rajab: Nazim Al-Haqqani, a Turkish Cypriot Sufi Muslim sheikh and spiritual leader of the Naqshbandi tariqa. * 14 Rajab: Akhundzada Saif-ur-Rahman Mubarak, the founder of the Naqshbandi Mujaddidi Saifia Tariqa. * 15 Rajab: Zainab bint Ali * 22 Rajab:

Mu'awiya Mu'awiya I (–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 death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...

, first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate * 25 Rajab: Musā' al-Kādhim, seventh Twelver Imam * 25 Rajab: Al-Nawawi, Shafi'ite jurist and hadith scholar * 26 Rajab: Abu Talib ibn Abdul Muttalib, uncle of

and father of Ali

References

External links

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