Muhammad

The Hijri era (Arabic: التقويم الهجري, romanized: at-taqwīm al-hijrī) is the calendar era used to record dates in the Islamic world. Its epoch (start point of the era) is the year in which Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathrib (now Medina), in 622 CE. This event, known as the Hijrah, is commemorated in Islam for its role in the founding of the first Muslim community (ummah). Time in this era is measured by two principal calendars: the lunar Hijri calendar (known in the West as the "Islamic calendar") which counts lunar years since the Hijrah and which is used by most Muslims around the world; and the solar Hijri calendar (also known as the "Persian calendar") which counts solar years since the Hijrah and which is used in Iran.

In the West, dates in the lunar Hijri calendar are denoted as AH (Latin: Anno Hegirae) or Hijri year (Arabic: سنة هجرية, romanized: sanat hijriyya, lit. 'in the year of the Hijra') in the style of the Christian/Common (AD/CE) and Jewish eras (AM) and can similarly be placed before (preferably) or after the date. In predominantly Muslim countries, it is also commonly abbreviated H ("Hijra") from its Arabic abbreviation hāʾ (هـ). Years prior to AH 1 are reckoned in English as BH ("Before the Hijra"), which follows the date. Dates in the solar Hijri calendar are denoted as SH. The current year according to the lunar Hijri calendar is AH 1447; according to the solar Hijri calendar the current year is SH 1404. The difference in numbering arises because a lunar year is about eleven days shorter than a solar year.

The Islamic New Year (Arabic: رأس السنة الهجرية, Raʿs as-Sanah al-Hijrīyah), also called the Hijri New Year, is the day that marks the beginning of a new lunar Hijri year, and is the day on which the year count is incremented. The first day of the Islamic year is observed by most Muslims on the first day of the month of Muharram. The epoch (reference date) of the Islamic era was set as the year of the emigration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijrah, which equates to 622 CE in the Gregorian calendar. All religious duties, such as prayer, fasting in the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage, and the dates of significant events, such as celebration of holy nights and festivals, are calculated according to the Islamic calendar. Hijri New Year is observed by 24 countries as a public holiday.

While some Islamic organizations prefer determining the new month (and hence the new year) by local sightings of the moon, most Islamic institutions and countries, including Saudi Arabia, follow astronomical calculations to determine future dates of the Islamic calendar. There are various schemas for calculating the tabular Islamic calendar (i.e. not based on observation), which results in differences of typically one or even two days between countries using such schema and those that use actual lunar sightings. For example, the Umm al-Qura calendar used in Saudi Arabia was reformed several times in recent years. The current scheme was introduced in 1423 AH (15 March 2002).

The Hijrah, (Arabic: الهجرة, romanized: al-Hijrah, lit. 'migration') also Hegira (from Medieval Latin), was the journey the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers took from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the epoch of the Lunar Hijri and Solar Hijri calendars; its date equates to 16 July 622 in the Julian calendar.

Early in Muhammad's preaching of Islam, his followers only included his close friends and relatives. Most of his tribesmen, the Quraysh, however, were indifferent to his activities, as they did not appear to be particularly interested in devotional meetings, and accordingly, Muhammad did not encounter any serious opposition from them; that was the case until he began to challenge their beliefs, which caused tensions to arise.

Fiqh ([fiːk]; Arabic: فقه [fiqh]) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is often described as the style of human understanding, research and practices of the sharia; that is, human understanding of the divine Islamic law as revealed in the Quran and the sunnah (the teachings and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions). Fiqh expands and develops Shariah through interpretation (ijtihad) of the Quran and Sunnah by Islamic jurists (ulama) and is implemented by the rulings (fatwa) of jurists on questions presented to them. Thus, whereas sharia is considered immutable and infallible by Muslims, fiqh is considered fallible and changeable. Fiqh deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam as well as economic and political system. In the modern era, there are four prominent schools (madh'hab) of fiqh within Sunni practice, plus two (or three) within Shi'a practice. A person trained in fiqh is known as a faqīh (pl.: fuqaha).

Figuratively, fiqh means knowledge about Islamic legal rulings from their sources. Deriving religious rulings from their sources requires the mujtahid (an individual who exercises ijtihad) to have a deep understanding in the different discussions of jurisprudence.

Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number 2 billion worldwide and are the world's second-largest religious population, after Christianity.

Muslims believe that there is a primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets and messengers, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, and they believe that Islam is the universal and complete version of this faith. Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God and the unaltered, final revelation. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations, such as the Tawrat (the Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injil (Gospel). They believe that Muhammad is the main and final of God's prophets, through whom the religion was completed. The teachings and normative examples of Muhammad, called the Sunnah, documented in accounts called the hadith, provide a constitutional model for Muslims. Islam is based on the belief in the oneness and uniqueness of God (tawhid), and belief in an afterlife (akhirah) with the Last Judgment—wherein the righteous will be rewarded in paradise (jannah) and the unrighteous will be punished in hell (jahannam). The Five Pillars, considered obligatory acts of worship, are the Islamic oath and creed (shahada), daily prayers (salah), almsgiving (zakat), fasting (sawm) in the month of Ramadan, and a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. Islamic law, sharia, touches on virtually every aspect of life, from banking and finance and welfare to men's and women's roles and the environment. The two main religious festivals are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The three holiest sites in Islam are Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Political aspects of the religion of Islam are derived from its religious scripture (the Quran holy book, ḥadīth literature of accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and sunnah), as well as elements of political movements and tendencies followed by Muslims or Islamic states throughout its history. Shortly after its founding, Islam's prophet Muhammad became a ruler of a state, and the intertwining of religion and state in Islam (and the idea that "politics is central" to Islam), is in contrast to the doctrine of rendering "unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God", of Christianity, its related and neighboring religion.

Traditional political concepts in Islam which form an idealized model for Islamic rule, are based on the rule of Muhammad in Mecca (629–632 CE) and his elected or selected successors, known as rāshidūn ("rightly-guided") caliphs in Sunnī Islam, and the Imams in Shīʿa Islam. Concepts include obedience to the Islamic law (sharīʿa); the supremacy of unity, solidarity and community, over individual rights and diversity; the pledging of obedience by the ruled to rulers (al-Bayʿah), with a corresponding duty of rulers to rule justly and seek consultation (shūrā) before making decisions; and the ruled to rebuke unjust rulers. Classical Islamic political thought focuses on advice on how to govern well, rather than reflecting "on the nature of politics".

Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib (r. 656–661) as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to have been usurped by a number of Muhammad's companions at the meeting of Saqifa, during which they appointed Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) as caliph instead. As such, Sunni Muslims believe Abu Bakr, Umar (r. 634–644), Uthman (r. 644–656) and Ali to be 'rightly-guided caliphs', whereas Shia Muslims regard only Ali as the legitimate successor.

Shia Muslims believe that the imamate continued through Ali's sons, Hasan and Husayn, after which various Shia branches developed and recognized different imams. They revere the ahl al-bayt, the family of Muhammad, maintaining that they possess divine knowledge. Shia holy sites include the shrine of Ali in Najaf, the shrine of Husayn in Karbala, and other mausoleums of the ahl al-bayt. Later events, such as Husayn's martyrdom in the Battle of Karbala (680 CE), further influenced the development of Shia Islam, contributing to the formation of a distinct religious sect with its own rituals and shared collective memory.

Sufism (Arabic: الصوفية‎, romanized: aṣ-Ṣūfiyya or Arabic: التصوف‎, romanized: at-Taṣawwuf) is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism, and asceticism.

Practitioners of Sufism are referred to as "Sufis" (from صُوفِيّ, ṣūfīy), and historically typically belonged to "orders" known as tariqa (pl. turuq) — congregations formed around a grand wali (saint) who would be the last in a chain of successive teachers linking back to Muhammad, with the goal of undergoing tazkiya (self purification) and the hope of reaching the spiritual station of ihsan. The ultimate aim of Sufis is to seek the pleasure of God by endeavoring to return to their original state of purity and natural disposition, known as fitra.