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Islamic Calendar

Islamic calendar

The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar (also called "Hijri calendar", Arabic التقويم الهجري) is the calendar used to date events in many predominantly Muslim countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Muslim holy days. It is a purely lunar calendar having 12 lunar months in a year of about 354 days. Because this lunar year is about 11 days shorter than the solar year, Muslim holy days, although celebrated on fixed dates in their own calendar, usually shift 11 days earlier each successive solar year, such as a year of the Gregorian calendar. Islamic years are also called Hijra years because the first year was the year during which the Hijra occurred—Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina. Thus each numbered year is designated either H or AH, the latter being the initials of the Latin anno Hegirae (in the year of the Hijra).

Pre-Islamic calendar

The predecessor to the Islamic calendar was a lunisolar calendar in that it used lunar months but was also kept synchronized with the seasons by the insertion of an additional, intercalary, month when required. Whether the intercalary month (Nasi) was added in the spring like that of the Hebrew calendar or in autumn is debatable. It is assumed that the intercalary month was added between the twelfth month (the month of the pre-Islamic Hajj) and the first month (Muharram) of this pre-Islamic year. The two Rabi' months denote grazing and the modern Meccan rainy season (only slightly less arid than normal), which would promote the growth of grasses for grazing, occurs during autumn. These imply a pre-Islamic year beginning near the autumnal equinox. But the rainy season after which these months are named may have been different when the names originated (before Muhammad's time) or the calendar may have been imported from another region which did have such a rainy season. On the other hand, Muhammad forbade the intercalary month (released the calendar from the seasons) near the end of his life, which implies a pre-Islamic year beginning near the vernal equinox because that is when the modern lunar year began during his last year.

Numbering the years

Abraha, a governor of Yemen, then a province of the Christian nation of Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia), attempted to destroy the Kaaba with an army which included an elephant (possibly several). Although the raid was unsuccessful, the elephant so impressed the Meccans that that year became known as the Year of the Elephant, which was also the year that Muhammad was born. (See surat al-Fil.) Although most Muslims equate it with the Western year 570, a minority equate it with 571. Later years were numbered from the Year of the Elephant, whether for the years of the pre-Islamic lunisolar calendar, the lunisolar calendar used by Muhammad before he forbade the intercalary month, or the first few years of the lunar calendar thus created. In 638 (AH 17), the second Caliph Umar began numbering the years of the Islamic calendar from the year of the Hijra, which was postdated AH 1. The first day of the first month (1 Muharram) of that proleptic Islamic year, that is, after the removal of all intercalary months between the Hijra and Muhammad's prohibition of them nine years later, corresponded to July 16, 622 (the actual emigration took place in September). The first surviving attested use of the Hijri calendar is on a papyrus from Egypt in 22 AH, PERF 558.

Months

Each month has either 29 or 30 days, but usually in no discernible order. Traditionally, the first day of each month was the day (beginning at sunset) of the first sighting of the lunar crescent (the hilal) shortly after sunset. If the hilal was not observed immediately after the 29th day of a month, either because clouds blocked its view or because the western sky was still too bright when the moon set, then the day that began at that sunset was the 30th. Such a sighting had to be made by one or more trustworthy men testifying before a committee of Muslim leaders. Determining the most likely day that the hilal could be observed was a motivation for Muslim interest in astronomy, which put Islam in the forefront of that science for many centuries. This traditional practice is still followed in a few parts of the world, like Pakistan and Jordan. However, in most Muslim countries astronomical rules are followed which allow the calendar to be determined in advance, which is not the case using the traditional method. Malaysia, Indonesia, and a few others begin each month at sunset on the first day that the moon sets after the sun (moonset after sunset). In Egypt, the month begins at sunset on the first day that the moon sets at least five minutes after the sun. The official Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia used a substantially different astronomical method until recent years [http://www.jas.org.jo/sau.html]. Before AH 1420 (before April 18, 1999), if the moon's age at sunset in Riyad was at least 12 hours, then the day ending at that sunset was the first day of the month. This often caused the Saudis to celebrate holy days one or even two days before other Muslim countries, including the dates for the Hajj, which can only be dated using Saudi dates because it is performed in Mecca. During one memorable year during the AH 1380s (the 1970s), different Muslim countries ended the fast of Ramadan on each of four successive days! The celebrations became more uniform beginning in AH 1420. For AH 1420-22, if moonset occurred after sunset at Mecca, then the day beginning at that sunset was the first day of a Saudi month, essentially the same rule used by Malaysia, Indonesia, and others (except for the location from which the hilal was observed). Since the beginning of AH 1423 (March 16, 2002), the rule has been clarified a little by requiring the geocentric conjunction of the sun and moon to occur before sunset, in addition to requiring moonset to occur after sunset at Mecca. This ensures that the moon has moved past the sun by sunset, even though the sky may still be too bright immediately before moonset to actually see the crescent. Strictly speaking, the Umm al-Qura calendar is intended for civil purposes only. Their makers are well aware of the fact that the first visual sighting of the lunar crescent (hilāl) can occur up to two days after the date calculated in the Umm al-Qura calendar. Since AH 1419 (1998/99) several official hilāl sighting committees have been set up by the government of Saudi Arabia to determine the first visual sighting of the lunar crescent at the begin of each lunar month. Nevertheless, the religious authorities of Saudi Arabia also allow the testimony of less experienced observers and thus often announces the sighting of the lunar crescent on a date when none of the official committees could see the lunar crescent. In nearly all of these cases, a retrospective analysis indicates that these extremely early reports of the lunar crescent are impossible and are based on false sightings. The moon sets progressively later than the sun for locations further west, thus western Muslim countries are more likely to celebrate some holy day one day earlier than an eastern Muslim country. Microsoft uses the "Kuwaiti algorithm" to convert Gregorian dates to the Islamic ones. It is based on statistical analysis of historical data from Kuwait. There exists a variation of the Islamic calendar known as the tabular Islamic calendar in which months are worked out by arithmetic rules rather than by observation or astronomical calculation. It has a 30-year cycle in with 11 years are leap years with 355 days instead of 354 days. In the long term, it is accurate to one day in about 2500 years. It also deviates up to about 1 or 2 days in the short term.

Forbidding intercalary months

In the ninth year after the Hijra, Muslims believe God forbade the intercalary month. This is expressed in the Qur'an (9:36-37):

The number of months with Allah has been twelve months by Allah's ordinance since the day He created the heavens and the earth. Of these four are known as sacred; That is the straight usage, so do not wrong yourselves therein, and fight the Pagans.

Verily the transposing (of a prohibited month) is an addition to Unbelief: The Unbelievers are led to wrong thereby: for they make it lawful one year, and forbidden another year, of months forbidden by Allah and make such forbidden ones lawful. The evil of their course seems pleasing to them. But Allah guideth not those who reject Faith.

This prohibition was repeated by Muhammad during his last sermon on Mount Arafat which was delivered during his farewell pilgrimage to Mecca on 9 Dhu al-Hijja AH 10 (this paragraph is often deleted from the sermon by its modern editors as now unimportant):

O People, the unbelievers indulge in tampering with the calendar in order to make permissible that which Allah forbade, and to forbid that which Allah has made permissible. With Allah the months are twelve in number. Four of them are holy, three of these are successive and one occurs singly between the months of Jumada and Shaban.

The three successive holy months are Dhu al-Qada, Dhu al-Hijja, and Muharram, thus excluding an intercalary month before Muharram. The single holy month is Rajab.

Names of the Islamic months

The Islamic months are named as follows: # Muharram ul Haram (or shortened to Muharram) محرّم # Safar صفر # Rabi`-ul-Awwal (Rabi' I) ربيع الأول # Rabi`-ul-Akhir (or Rabi` al-THaany) (Rabi' II) ربيع الآخر أو ربيع الثاني # Jumaada-ul-Awwal (Jumaada I) جمادى الأول # Jumaada-ul-Akhir (or Jumaada al-THaany) (Jumaada II) جمادى الآخر أو جمادى الثاني # Rajab رجب # Sha'aban شعبان # Ramadan رمضان # Shawwal شوّال # Zil Khad ذو القعدة (or Thw al-Qi`dah) # Zil Hijjah ذو الحجة (or Thw al-Hijjah) Of all the months in the Islamic calendar, Ramadan is the most sacred, during the daytime of which no Muslim may eat food or drink liquid, except for those who are ill or traveling, who must make up the days missed later. Daytime begins at dawn, traditionally when a white thread can be distinguished from a black thread, but now often equated with astronomical dawn, which occurs when the center of the sun is 18° below the eastern geometric horizon. It ends at sunset, when the entire disk of the sun has gone below the actual western horizon, even if substantially elevated above the ideal horizon by mountains.

Names of the days of the week

The Islamic week is derived from the Jewish week, as was the medieval Christian week, all of which have numbered weekdays in common. All three coincide with the Sunday through Saturday planetary week. The Islamic and Jewish weekdays begin at sunset, whereas the medieval Christian and planetary weekdays begin at the following midnight. Muslims gather for worship at a Masjid or mosque at noon on "gathering day", which corresponds to the sixth day of the Jewish and medieval Christian weeks, and to Friday of the planetary week. # yaum as-sabt يوم السَّبْت (sabbath day) # yaum al-ahad يوم الأحد (first day) # yaum al-ithnayn يوم الإثنين (second day) # yaum ath-thalatha' يوم الثُّلَاثاء (third day) # yaum al-arba`a' يوم الأَرْبعاء (fourth day) # yaum al-khamis يوم الخَمِيس (fifth day) # yaum al-jum`a يوم الجُمْعَة (gathering day)

Sacred days

Important dates in the Islamic (Hijri) year are:
- 1 Muharram (Islamic new year)
- 10 Muharram (Day of Aashurah, a day of mourning for Shia Muslims and the flight of Moses and the Israelites from Egypt and Pharo's oppression to the Blessed Land for Sunni Muslims)
- 27 Rajab (Isra and Miraj)
- 15 Shabaan (Shab-e-Br'aat)
- 1 Ramadhan (first day of fasting)
- 17 Ramadhan (Nuzul Al-Qur'an) (Malaysia only; often 27 Ramadhan elsewhere)
- 19-22 Ramadan (Shia Muslims mourn the death of Imam Ali.
- Last 10 days of Ramadhan which include Laylat al-Qadr
- 1 Shawwal (Eid ul-Fitr)
- 8-10 Thw al-Hijjah (the Hajj to Makkah)
- 10 Thw al-Hijjah (Eid ul-Adha).

Current correlations

Portions of the Islamic calendar years 1424 and 1425 occur in the Gregorian calendar year 2004. January 1, 2004 is 8 Dhu al-Qa'da 1424 AH. 1 Muharram 1425 AH is February 22, 2004. For a very rough estimate, multiply the Islamic year number by 0.97, and then add 622 to get the Gregorian year number. The Islamic calendar year of 1429 occurs entirely within the Gregorian calendar year of 2008. Such years occur once every 33 or 34 Islamic years (32 or 33 Gregorian years). More are listed here:

External links

- [http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/islam/islamyear_en.htm Islamic-Western Calendar Converter (Based on the Arithmetical or Tabular Calendar)]
- [http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/islam/mecca/ummalqura.htm The Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia]
- [http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/The%20Islamic%20Jewish%20Calendar.pdf Correspondence between Hebrew and Islamic calendars, months and holidays (pdf)] Category:Islam Category:Specific calendars ms:Takwim Hijrah ja:ヒジュラ暦 th:ปฏิทินฮิจญ์เราะหฺ

Calendar

A calendar is a system for naming periods of time, typically days. These names are known as calendar dates. The dates may be based on the perceived motion of astronomical objects. A calendar is also a physical device (often paper) that illustrates the system (for example, a desktop calendar) — this is the most common usage of the word. As a subset, 'calendar' is also used to denote a list of particular set of planned events (for example, court calendar).

Calendar systems

Calendars in use on Earth are lunar, solar, lunisolar or arbitrary. A lunar calendar is synchronized to the motion of the Moon (moon phases); an example is the Islamic calendar. A solar calendar is based on perceived seasonal changes synchronized to the apparent motion of the Sun; an example is the Persian calendar. A lunisolar calendar is synchronized both to the motion of the Moon and to the apparent motion of the Sun; an example is the Jewish calendar. An arbitrary calendar is not synchronized to either the Moon or the Sun; examples are the week and the Julian day used by astronomers. There are some calendars that appear to be synchronized to the motion of Venus, such as some of the ancient Egyptian calendars; synchronization to Venus appears to occur primarily in civilizations near the Equator.

Solar calendars

Main article: Solar calendar

Days used by solar calendars

Solar calendars assign a date to each solar day. A day may consist of the period between sunrise and sunset, with a following period of night, or it may be a period between successive events such as two sunsets. The length of the interval between two such successive events may be allowed to vary slightly during the year, or it may be averaged into a mean solar day. Other types of calendar may also use a solar day.

Future reform

There have been a number of proposals for reform of the calendar, such as the World calendar and International Fixed Calendar. The United Nations considered adopting such a reformed calendar for a while in the 1950s, but these proposals have lost most of their popularity.

Lunar calendars

Main article: Lunar calendar Not all calendars use the solar year as a unit. A lunar calendar is one in which days are numbered within each moon phase cycle. Because the length of the lunar month is not an even fraction of the length of the tropical year, a purely lunar calendar quickly drifts against the seasons. It does, however, stay constant with respect to other phenomena, notably tides. A lunisolar calendar is a lunar calendar that compensates by adding an extra month as needed to realign the months with the seasons. An example is the Jewish calendar which uses a 19 year cycle. Lunar calendars are believed to be the oldest calendars invented by mankind. Cro-Magnon people are claimed to have invented one around 32,000 BC.

Fiscal calendars

Main article: Fiscal calendar A fiscal calendar (such as a 5/4/4 calendar) fixes each month at a specific number of weeks to facilitate comparisons from month to month and year to year. January always has exactly 5 weeks (Sunday through Saturday), February has 4 weeks, March has 4 weeks, etc. Note that this calendar will normally need to add a 53rd week to every 5th or 6th year, which might be added to December or might not be, depending on how the organization uses those dates. There exists an international standard way to do this (the ISO week). The ISO week runs Monday through Sunday and Week 1 is always the week that contains January 4 Gregorian.

Calendar subdivisions

Nearly all calendar systems group consecutive days into "months" and also into "years". In a solar calendar a year approximates Earth's tropical year (that is, the time it takes for a complete cycle of seasons), traditionally used to facilitate the planning of agricultural activities. In a lunar calendar, the month approximates the cycle of the moon phase. Consecutive days may be grouped into other periods such as the week. Because the number of days in the tropical year is not a whole number, a solar calendar must have a different number of days in different years. This may be done with leap years. The same applies to months in a lunar calendar and also the number of months in a year in a lunisolar calendar. This is generally known as intercalation. Even if a calendar is solar, but not lunar, the year cannot be divided entirely into months that never vary in length. Cultures may define other units of time, such as the week, for the purpose of scheduling regular activities that do not easily coincide with months or years.

Other calendar types

Complete and incomplete calendars

Calendars may be either complete or incomplete. Complete calendars provide a way of naming each consecutive day, while incomplete calendars do not. The early Roman calendar, which had no way of designating the days of the winter months other than to lump them together as "winter", is an example of an incomplete calendar, while the Gregorian calendar is an example of a complete calendar.

Pragmatic, theoretical and mixed calendars

Calendars may be pragmatic, theoretical, or mixed. A pragmatic calendar is one that is based on observation; examples are the religious Islamic calendar and the old religious Jewish calendar in the time of the Second Temple. Such a calendar is also referred to as an observation-based or astronomical calendar. The advantage of such a calendar is that it is perfectly and perpetually accurate. The disadvantage is that working out when a particular date would occur is difficult. A theoretical calendar is one that is based on a strict set of rules; an example is the current Jewish calendar. Such a calendar is also referred to a rule-based or arithmetical calendar. The advantage of such a calendar is the ease of working out when a particular date occurs. The disadvantage is imperfect accuracy. Furthermore if the calendar is very accurate, its accuracy perishes slowly over time owing to changes in Earth's rotation. This limits the lifetime of an accurate theoretical calendar to a few thousand years. After then, the rules would need to be modified from observations made since the invention of the calendar, resulting in a mixed calendar. A mixed calendar combines the features of both pragmatic and theoretical calendars. Mixed calendars usually begin as theoretical calendars, but are adjusted pragmatically when some type of asynchrony becomes apparent; the shift from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar is such an example. The Gregorian calendar, as a final example, is complete, solar, and mixed.

Uses

The primary practical use of a calendar is to identify days: to be informed about and/or to agree on a future event and to record an event that has happened. Days may be significant for civil, religious or social reasons. For example, a calendar provides a way to determine which days are religious or civil holidays, which days mark the beginning and end of business accounting periods, and which days have legal significance, such as the day taxes are due or a contract expires. Also a calendar may, by identifying a day, provide other useful information about the day such as its season. Calendars are also used as part of a complete timekeeping system: date and time of day together specify a moment in time. In the modern world, written calendars are no longer an essential part of such systems, as the advent of accurate clocks has made it possible to record time independently of astronomical events.

Currently used calendars

Calendars in widespread use today include the Gregorian calendar, which is the de facto international standard, and is used almost everywhere in the world for civil purposes, including in China and India (along with the Indian national calendar). The Hebrew calendar is the official calendar of Israel's government, but the Gregorian calendar is much more widely used in Israel's business and day-to-day affairs. The Persian calendar is used in Iran and Afghanistan. The Islamic calendar is used by Muslims the world over. The Chinese, Hebrew, Hindu, and Julian calendars are widely used for religious and/or social purposes. Even where there is a commonly used calendar such as the Gregorian calendar, alternate calendars may also be used, such as a fiscal calendar.

Sources

- Calendrical Calculations; Nachum Dershowitz and Edward M. Reingold; Cambridge University Press, 1997; ISBN 0-521-56474-3; [http://emr.cs.iit.edu/home/reingold/calendar-book/second-edition/ Book Info]; [http://emr.cs.iit.edu/home/reingold/calendar-book/Calendrica.html Online Calculator]
- Mapping Time, the calendar and its history; E G Richards; Oxford University Press, 1998; ISBN 0-19-850413-6
- A comparative Calendar of the Iranian, Muslim Lunar,and Christian Eras for Three Thousand Years; Ahmad Birashk; Mazda Publishers, 1993; ISBN 0-939214-95-4
- The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar; Arthur Spier; Feldheim Publishers, 1986; ISBN 0-87306-398-8
- High Days and Holidays in Iceland; Árni Björnsson; Mál og menning, 1995; ISBN 9979-3-0802-8
- Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac; P. Kenneth Seidelmann, ed.; University Science Books, 1992; ISBN 0-935702-68-7; [http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html Chapter 12: Calendars by L. E. Doggett]
- Sun, Moon, and Sothis; Lynn E. Rose; Kronos Press, 1999; ISBN 0-917994-15-9
- Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung; Dieter Schuh; Franz Steiner Verlag GMBH, 1973

External links

- [http://www.tondering.dk/claus/calendar.html Frequently Asked Questions about Calendars]
- [http://88.1911encyclopedia.org/C/CA/CALENDAR.htm 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica entry]
- [http://www.abcalendar.com Event Calendar] based on Wikipedia Content
- [http://kalender-365.de/calendar.php Perpetual Calendar 1800 - 2400]
- [http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~accent/calendar/index.htm Perpetual Calendar]
- [http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/ Current calendar].
- [http://www.datedex.com/results.asp DateDex: Selected events on selected dates]
- ja:暦 th:ปฏิทิน

Muslim

A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also pronounced Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. Literally, the word means someone who has submitted/surrendered himself or herself to the will of God.

Definition

Most Muslims accept as a fellow Muslim anyone who has sincerely pronounced the Shahada, a ritual declaration of submission to God and assertion that Muhammad is the last prophet. Muslims describe many Biblical figures, such as Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus), as Muslims because they submitted completely to God.
- For a list of Muslims, see List of Muslims.
- For a list of different Muslim sects and divisions, see Divisions of Islam.

Etymology

The singular form of the word Muslim comes from the Arabic plural form 'Al-Muslimīn, from the tri-consonantal root SLM, also found in the words Islam and salām. The plural form is instanced in the Qur'an, 22:79, Al-Hajj.

Pronunciation and spelling

Until around the late 1980s, the word was commonly spelled Moslem. The spelling has since fallen into disuse. Muslims do not recommend this spelling because it is often pronounced "mawzlem," which sounds somewhat similar to an Arabic word for "oppressor" (Za'lem in Arabic). The word is pronounced "Mus"-lim in Arabic, but some English dictionaries allow both "Mus"-lim and "Muz"-lim. The word is written "Muslim".

Other words for Muslim

Many English-language writers used to call Muslims "Mohammedans" or "Mahometans," meaning "followers of Mohammed," but this terminology is considered incorrect and insulting, because Muslims believe it implies that they worship the prophet Muhammad, contrary to the fundamental principles of Islam itself. This terminology is seen as too similar to Christians as followers and worshippers of Christ. In addition, Muslims believe that the religion of submitting to God (Islām in Arabic) existed long before the birth of Muhammad, making all the prophets before him "Muslims." English writers of the 19th century and earlier sometimes used the words Mussulman, Musselman, or Mussulmaun. Variant forms of this word are still used by many Indo-European languages. These words are similar to the French, Spanish, and Italian words for "Muslim."

Disputes

The Ahmedi sect consider themselves Muslim, and an agnostic or atheist of Islamic background may refer to themselves as a cultural Muslim; however, most mainstream Muslims disagree with both these classifications, since they conflict with the conventional religious definition of Islam.

Hijra (Islam)

:For other uses see Hijra. The Hijra (هِجْرَة), or withdrawal, is the emigration of Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622. Alternate spellings of this Arabic word in the Latin alphabet are Hijrah, or Hegira in Latin. Muhammad, preaching the doctrines of one God (called Allah) and the threat of the Day of Judgment, did not at first have much success in the city of Mecca. His tribe, the Quraysh, which was in charge of the Kaaba, persecuted and harassed him continuously. He and his followers emigrated to the city of Yathrib, 320 km north of Mecca, in September 622. Yathrib was soon renamed Madinat un-Nabi, the City of the Prophet, Medina in English. The Muslim year during which the Hijra occurred was designated the first year of the Islamic calendar by Umar in 638, 17 AH (anno hegirae = "in the year of the hijra"). In the following chronology the city will be referred to as Medina, and the region surrounding it as Yathrib.

Chronology of the Hijra

- Day 1: Thursday 26 Safar AH 1, 9 September 622
- Left home in Mecca. Stayed three days in the Cave of Thawr near Mecca.
- Day 5: Monday 1 Rabi' I AH 1, 13 September 622
- Left the environs of Mecca. Traveled to the region of Yathrib.
- Day 12: Monday 8 Rabi' I AH 1, 20 September 622
- Arrived at Quba' near Medina.
- Day 16: Friday 12 Rabi' I AH 1, 24 September 622
- First visit to Medina for Friday prayers.
- Day 26: Monday 22 Rabi' I AH 1, 4 October 622
- Moved from Quba' to Medina. The Muslim dates are in the Islamic calendar extended back in time. The Western dates are in the Julian calendar. The Hijra is celebrated annually on 8 Rabi' I, about 66 days after 1 Muharram, the first day of the Muslim year. Many writers confuse the first day of the year of the Hijra with the Hijra itself, erroneously stating that the Hijra occurred on 1 Muharram AH 1 or 16 July 622. All dates given above may have occurred about 89 days (three lunar months) earlier in the Julian calendar. The calendar conversions quoted above may not have been corrected by early Muslims for the intercalary months (probably three) which had been inserted in the lunar calendar between the year of the Hijra and the year of Muhammad's last Hajj (AH 10), when intercalary months were forbidden.

Reference

- F. A. Shamsi, "The Date of Hijrah", Islamic Studies 23 (1984): 189-224, 289-323.

External links

- [http://islamicity.com/mosque/ihame/Sec2.htm IslamiCity.com article on the Hijrah] Category:Islam Category:Arabic words ja:ヒジュラ

Mecca

:This article is about the holy city in Saudi Arabia. For other uses, see Mecca (disambiguation) Mecca or Makkah (in full: Makkah al-Mukarramah; ) is the capital city of Saudi Arabia's Makkah province, in the historic Hijaz region. It is located at , 73 kilometers inland from Jeddah, in the narrow sandy Valley of Abraham, 277 meters (909 feet) above sea level. 80 km from the Red Sea. It has a population of approximately one million. The city is revered as the holiest site of Islam, and a pilgrimage to it is required of all Muslims who can afford to go. Muslims regard the al-Masjid al-Haram (or 'The Sacred Mosque') as the holiest place on Earth. Both the mosque and the city itself are strictly off-limits to non-Muslims. The term 'Mecca' has come into common usage metaphorically to mean any all-important site for any particular group of people. In the 1980s the government of Saudi Arabia changed the official English transliteration of the city's name from 'Mecca', as it had been commonly spelled by westerners, to 'Makkah'. See below for the reasons.
The importance of Mecca
For Muslims, a pilgrimage to Mecca is required as one of the Five Pillars of the faith. In recent years, about two to three million have gathered for the major pilgrimage or Hajj, during the Muslim month of Dhu al-Hijjah, and many more perform the minor pilgrimage or Umrah, which may be performed at any time of year. Few non-Muslims have ever seen the rites and rituals of the Hajj as non-Muslims are strictly prohibited from entering Mecca and Medina. The focal point of Mecca is the Ka'bah, the "House of God" believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and his son Ishmael, and is covered in a gold-embroidered black fabric. The Pilgrims circle the Ka'bah seven times and may also try to touch or kiss its cornerstone, the Black Stone. Pilgrims then drink from the well of Zamzam. The water of Zamzam is believed to have special properties and is alleged to have health benefits. Few pilgrims return from the Hajj without a large plastic bottle of the Zamzam water. During the Hajj the pilgrims travel to Mina, a small village, where Iblis (the Devil), symbolised by stone columns, is ritually stoned. They then proceed to the Hill of Arafat (sometimes called the Mountain, but it is only 70 meters high), a site for prayers, where Muhammad is believed to have delivered his final Sermon. Hill of Arafat The importance of Mecca for Muslims is inestimable. All Muslims, wherever they are on the earth, are required to pray five times a day in the direction of the Ka'bah in Mecca (located at ). The direction of prayer is known as the qiblah. Muslims regard the al-Masjid al-Haram (or 'The Sacred Mosque') as the holiest place on Earth. Both the mosque and the city itself are strictly off-limits to non-Muslims.
Muhammad
Muhammad, the final prophet of Islam, was born in Mecca in 571 CE. When he was forty years old, he received the first revelation in a cave called Hira in Jabal al-Nour (Mountain of Light), approximately 2 miles from Mecca. In the year 622 CE, after an attempt on his life, he moved to Yathrib (now Madinah), which also became a holy city. Later, Muhammad led the Muslims and conquered Mecca from the pagans.
Non-Muslims and Mecca
Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca. Road blocks are stationed along roads leading to the city. The most celebrated case of a non-Muslim visiting Mecca was that of the British explorer Sir Richard Burton in 1853. Burton disguised himself as an Afghan Muslim to visit and write his Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Meccah.
Is Mecca the city of the Valley of Bakkah?
:See main article: Bakkah Some have identified Mecca as the ancient city Bakkah, the Biblical "valley of Baca" in Psalm 84, but this association is controversial. It is known that the name Bakkah was changed to Mecca at some time, which is the location identified in the Qur'an. Some Muslims also believe it is the same location as mentioned in the Old Testament, but this is contestable.
The spelling of the name
For most English-speakers, Mecca has long been the accepted spelling for the holy city. The word is a transliteration of the original Arabic, and has become part of the English language. In an effort to distinguish between the metaphorical and official references to the holy site, the Saudi Arabian government in the 1980s began promoting a new transliteration, 'Makkah al-Mukarramah', which is even closer to the original Arabic. This new usage has been adopted in many places and by certain organization, such as on the [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3584.htm U.S. Department of State] website, but it is not part of the active vocabulary of English-speakers at large.
See also

- Islamic architecture
- List of famous mosques
- List of holy cities
- Medina
- Mecca (disambiguation)
External links

-
- [http://haqaonline.lightuponlight.com/pg/index.php?cat=2 Pictures of Mecca]
- [http://www.irbs.com/lists/navigation/0008/0039.html Mention of the Kaaba's coordinates]
- [http://www.asinah.org/travel-guides/saudiarabiamecca.html Mecca Information]
- [http://peace-city.tripod.com/Glory_of_Makkah.html Is it the Glory of Mecca or Zion in Isaiah, Chapter 60?]
- [http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97p/chapter27.html Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Meccah, by Richard Burton] (opinionated)
- [http://www.3dkabah.com A 3D model of the Kaaba and Haraam. With Pictures and Videos] Category:Holy cities Category:Mecca Category:Pilgrimages Category:Arabic words ko:메카 ms:Makkah al-Mukarramah ja:マッカ simple:Mecca th:มักกะหฺ

Medina

This article is about the city of Medina in Saudi Arabia. For other uses, see Medina (disambiguation). Medina (; alternatively transliterated into English as Madinah) is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. It currently has a population of 839,400 (1999). Medina is located at . Medina was originally known as Yathrib, but later the city's name was changed to Madīnat al-Nabī ("city of the Prophet") or Al Madīnah al Munawwarah ("the enlightened city" or "the radiant city"), while the short form Medina simply means "city". Medina is the second holiest city of Islam, after Mecca. Its importance as a religious site derives from the presence there of the Shrine of the Prophet Mohammad by Masjid al-Nabawi or the Mosque of the Prophet, famously known as Gumbad-e-Khizra, Prophet's Dome or Green Dome, which was built on a site adjacent to Muhammad's home. His home later became part of the mosque when it was expanded by the Umayyad caliph al-Waleed ibn AbdelMalek. The first mosque of Islam is also located in Medinah and is known as Masjid Quba, the Quba Mosque. Like Mecca, the city of Medina only permits Muslims to enter. Both citys' numerous mosques are the destination for large numbers of Muslims on their annual pilgrimage. The income derived from visiting pilgrims forms the basis of their economies.

History

In pre-Islamic times the city was known as Yathrib. It was an important trading town and its pagan inhabitants would make yearly pilgrimages to the shrines in Mecca, being that the chief god of both cities was Manat. It was also notable as a center of Arab Jews, who were only distinguished from their fellow citizens by their religion. ManatIn 622, Medina became the seat of Muhammad's growing movement after the Hijra. In the same year Muhammad was invited to come and live in Yathrib (and act as a sort of governor). Islamic sources such as the hadith state that Medina had a population of two pagan tribes (the Aus and Khazraj) as well as three Jewish tribes (Banu Qainuka'a, Banu Nadhir and Banu Qurayza). According to Islamic tradition, the two tribes got word of a new, self-styled prophet in Mecca whose people were being persecuted by the Meccans, and decided to see if he could help them resolve their conflict. Muhammad and his followers thus agreed to move (known as the Hijra migration) to Yathrib, which eventually became known as al-Madinah al-Nabi, the city of the Messenger, where Muhammad drafted the Madinah or Medina Charter [http://www.constitution.org/cons/medina/con_medina.htm] which made him the leader of the city. According to tradition, the text - the Medina Charter - that was passed down was agreed to by all tribes in the city. In 627, the army of Mecca attacked Medina under the command of Abu Sufyan. Abu Sufyan asked the Banu Qurayza tribe to help them conquer Medina, by attacking the Muslims from behind the lines or letting them into the town. According to the Hadith Bukhari, the Banu Qurayza's assistance of Abu Sufyan constituted a breach of the treaty and the males of the tribe were executed per the judgement of Sa'ad ibn Mua'dh. Since the Islamic hadith written 2 centuries after is the only source there is about this event, it is impossible to know the exact circumstances surrounding the execution and expulsion of the various tribes. Muhammad urged all people in the city to follow the new religion of Islam, and the Medina Charter refers to Muhammad as a prophet of God. However, he had trouble convincing the majority of the Jewish population (which was actually quite large) and the Christian population that Islam was the true version of Judaism or the true religion of Jesus. In the ten years following the Hijra, Medina formed the base from which Muhammad attacked and was attacked and it was from here that he marched on Mecca, becoming its ruler without battle. Even when Islamic rule was established Medina remained for some years the most important city of Islam and the de facto capital of the Caliphate. Under the first four Caliphs, known as the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the Islamic empire expanded rapidly and came to include historical centres of learning such as Jerusalem and Damascus, and Baghdad. After the death of Ali, the fourth caliph, Mu'awiyya transferred the capital to Damascus and the importance of Medina dwindled and became of a religious more than a political nature. In 1924 the city, which had been in Ottoman hands for centuries, fell to Ibn Saud, who later became the first King of Saudi Arabia.

External links

-
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=24.468313,39.611174&spn=0.007876,0.013393&t=k&hl=en Satellite map of Medina - Google] Category:Holy cities Category:Medina ms:Madinah al-Munawwarah ja:マディーナ

Latin

Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages, those being most notably Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian, are descended from Latin, and many words based on Latin are found in other modern languages such as English. The Latin alphabet, derived from the Greek, remains the most widely-used alphabet in the world. It is said that 80 percent of scholarly English words are derived from Latin (in a large number of cases by way of French). Moreover, in the Western world, Latin was a lingua franca, the learned language for scientific and political affairs, for more than a thousand years, being eventually replaced by French in the 18th century and English in the late 19th. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the formal language of the Roman Catholic Church to this day, and thus the official national language of the Vatican. The Church used Latin as its primary liturgical language until the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Latin is also still used (drawing heavily on Greek roots) to furnish the names used in the scientific classification of living things. The modern study of Latin, along with Greek, is known as Classics.

Main features

Latin is a synthetic inflectional language: affixes (which usually encode more than one grammatical category) are attached to fixed stems to express gender, number, and case in adjectives, nouns, and pronouns, which is called declension; and person, number, tense, voice, mood, and aspect in verbs, which is called conjugation. There are five declensions (declinationes) of nouns and four conjugations of verbs. There are six noun cases: #nominative (used as the subject of the verb or the predicate nominative), #genitive (used to indicate relation or possession, often represented by the English of or the addition of s to a noun), #dative (used of the indirect object of the verb, often represented by the English to or for), #accusative (used of the direct object of the verb, or object of the preposition in some cases), #ablative (separation, source, cause, or instrument, often represented by the English by, with, from), #vocative (used of the person or thing being addressed). In addition, some nouns have a locative case used to express location (otherwise expressed by the ablative with a preposition such as in), but this survival from Proto-Indo-European is found only in the names of lakes, cities, towns, small islands, and a few other words related to locations, such as "house", "ground", and "countryside". Latin itself, being a very old language, is far closer to Proto-Indo-European than are most modern Western European languages; it has, in fact, about the same relationship with PIE as modern Italian or French has to Latin. There are six general tenses in Latin (technically they are tense/aspect/mood complexes). The indicative mood can be used with all of them. The subjunctive mood, however, has only present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect tenses. These tenses in the subjunctive mood do not completely correlate in meaning to the tenses in the indicative. The following examples are of the first conjugation verb "laudare" ("to praise") in the indicative mood and the active voice:
Primary sequence tenses
# present (laudo, "I praise") # imperfect (laudabam, "I was praising") # future (laudabo, "I shall praise," "I will praise")
Secondary sequence tenses
# perfect (laudavi, "I praised", "I have praised") # pluperfect (laudaveram, "I had praised") # future perfect (laudavero, "I shall have praised," "I will have praised") The future perfect tense can also imply a normal future idea (like in "When I will have run...") and so may also sometimes be included in the primary sequence.
Latin and Romance
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Latin evolved into the various Romance languages. These were for many centuries only spoken languages, Latin still being used for writing. For example, Latin was the official language of Portugal until 1296 when it was replaced by Portuguese. The Romance languages evolved from Vulgar Latin, the spoken language of common usage, which in turn evolved from an older speech which also produced the formal classical standard. Latin and Romance differ (for example) in that Romance had distinctive stress, whereas Latin had distinctive length of vowels. In Italian and Sardo logudorese, there is distinctive length of consonants and stress, in Spanish only distinctive stress, and in French even stress is no longer distinctive. Another major distinction between Romance and Latin is that all Romance languages, excluding Romanian, have lost their case endings in most words except for some pronouns. Romanian retains a direct case (nominative/accusative), an indirect case (dative/genitive), and vocative. In Italy, Latin is still compulsory in secondary schools as Liceo Classico and Liceo Scientifico which are usually attended by people who aim to the highest level of education. In Liceo Classico Ancient Greek is a compulsory subject.
Latin and English
See Latin influence in English for a more complete exposition. English grammar is independent of Latin grammar, though prescriptive grammarians in English have been heavily influenced by Latin. Attempts to make English grammar follow Latin rules — such as the prohibition against the split infinitive — have not worked successfully in regular usage. However, as many as half the words in English were derived from Latin, including many words of Greek origin first adopted by the Romans, not to mention the thousands of French, hundreds of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian words of Latin origin that have also enriched English. During the 16th and on through the 18th century English writers created huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek roots. These words were dubbed "inkhorn" or "inkpot" words (as if they had spilled from a pot of ink). Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, but some remain. Imbibe, extrapolate, dormant and inebriation are all inkhorn terms carved from Latin words. In fact, the word etymology is derived from the Greek word etymologia, meaning "true sense of the word." Latin was once taught in many of the schools in Britain with academic leanings - perhaps 25% of the total [http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/teachem2/thennow/]. However, the requirement for it was gradually abandoned in the professions such as the law and medicine, and then, from around the late 1960s, for admission to university. After the introduction of the Modern Language GCSE in the 1980s, it was gradually replaced by other languages, although it is now being taught by more schools along with other classical languages.
Latin education
The linguistic element of Latin courses offered in high schools or secondary schools, and in universities, is primarily geared toward an ability to translate Latin texts into modern languages, rather than using it in oral communication. As such, the skill of reading is heavily emphasized, whereas speaking and listening skills are barely touched upon. However, there is a growing movement, sometimes known as the Living Latin movement, whose supporters believe that Latin can, or should, be taught in the same way that modern "living" languages are taught, that is, as a means of both spoken and written communication. One of the most interesting aspects of such an approach is that it assists speculative insight into how many of the ancient authors spoke and incorporated sounds of the language stylistically; without understanding how the language is meant to be heard it is very difficult to identify patterns in Latin poetry. Institutions offering Living Latin instruction include the Vatican and the University of Kentucky. In Britain the Classical Association encourages this approach, and there has been something of a vogue for books describing the adventures of a mouse called Minimus. In the United States there is a thriving competitive organization for high school Latin students, the National Junior Classical League (the second-largest youth organization in the world after the Boy Scouts), backed up by the Senior Classical League for college students. Many would-be international auxiliary languages have been heavily influenced by Latin, and the moderately successful Interlingua considers itself to be the modernized and simplified version of the language (le latino moderne international e simplificate). Latin translations of modern literature such as Paddington Bear, Winnie the Pooh, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Le Petit Prince, Max und Moritz, and The Cat in the Hat have also helped boost interest in the language.
See also

About the Latin language

- Latin grammar
- Latin spelling and pronunciation
- Latin declension
- Latin conjugation
- Latin alphabet
- List of Latin words with English derivatives
- Latin verbs with English derivatives
- Latin nouns with English derivatives
- ablative absolute
- Word order in Latin
About the Latin literary heritage

- Latin literature
- Romance languages
- Loeb Classical Library
- List of Latin phrases
- List of Latin proverbs
- Brocard
- List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
- List of Latin place names in Europe
- Carmen Possum
Other related topics

- Roman Empire
- Internationalism
References

- Bennett, Charles E. Latin Grammar (Allyn and Bacon, Chicago, 1908)
- N. Vincent: "Latin", in The Romance Languages, M. Harris and N. Vincent, eds., (Oxford Univ. Press. 1990), ISBN 0195208293
- Waquet, Françoise, Latin, or the Empire of a Sign: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Centuries (Verso, 2003) ISBN 1859844022; translated from the French by John Howe.
- Wheelock, Frederic. Latin: An Introduction (Collins, 6th ed., 2005) ISBN 0060784237
External links

- [http://www.jambell.com/latin.html Latin Phrases for after dinner conversation (Thanks to Elaine Poole)]
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=lat Ethnologue report for Latin]
- [http://forumromanum.org/literature/index.html Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum] is a comprehensive webography of Latin texts and their translations.
- [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ The Perseus Project] has many useful pages for the study of classical languages and literatures, including [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/resolveform?lang=Latin an interactive Latin dictionary].
- [http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe words by William whitaker] is a dictionary program online capable of looking up various word forms.
- [http://retiarius.org/ Retiarius.Org] includes a Latin text search engine.
- [http://www.nd.edu/~archives/latgramm.htm Latin-English dictionary and Latin grammar from U of Notre Dame]
- [http://latin-language.co.uk/ Latin language] History of Latin language, Latin texts with English translation and a collection of dictionaries.
- [http://augustinus.eresmas.net/scl/ Societas Circulorum Latinorum] gathers together Latin Circles all over the world.
- [http://www.learnlatin.tk LearnLatin.tk] - Free online course in Latin
- [http://www.latintests.net/ LatinTests.net] - Lets Latin learners test their grammar and vocabulary with self-checking quizzes.
- [http://thelatinlibrary.com/ The Latin Library] contains many Latin etexts
- [http://www.textkit.com/ Textkit] has Latin textbooks and etexts.
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Latin-english/ Latin–English Dictionary]: from Webster's Rosetta Edition.
- [http://www.language-reference.com/ Language reference] Cross-foreign-language lexicon powered by its own search engine. All cross combinations between Latin and French, German, Italian, Spanish.
- [http://comp.uark.edu/~mreynold/rhetor.html Rhetor by Gabriel Harvey] was originally published in 1577 and never again reprinted.
- [http://freewebs.com/omniamundamundis omniamundamundis] Latin hypertexts from fourteen ancient Roman authors.
- [http://www.saltspring.com/capewest/pron.htm Pronunciation of Biological Latin, Including Taxonomic Names of Plants and Animals]
- [http://www.yleradio1.fi/nuntii Nuntii Latini (News in Latin)], written and spoken (RealAudio) news in latin. Weekly review of world news in Classical Latin, the only international broadcast of its kind in the world, produced by YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
- [http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran?url=http%3A%2F%2F&type=text&text=Replace%20Me&from=eng&to=ltt InterTran Latin], Translate from Latin to ENGLISH or vice versa.
- [http://www.latinvulgate.com Latin Vulgate] The Latin and English of the Old & New Testaments in parallel, along with the Complete Sayings of Jesus in parallel Latin and English. Category:Classical languages Category:Ancient languages Category:Fusional languages Category:Languages of Italy Category:Languages of Vatican City als:Latein zh-min-nan:Latin-gí ko:라틴어 ja:ラテン語 simple:Latin language th:ภาษาละติน

Intercalation

The solar year does not have whole number of days, but a calendar year must have a whole number of days. The only way to reconcile the two is to vary the number of days in the calendar year. In many calendars, this is done by adding to a common year of 365 days, an extra day (leap day or intercalary day): this makes a leap year of 366 days. In the Gregorian calendar, the intercalary day is February 29. The solar year does not have a whole number of lunar months either, so a lunisolar calendar must have a variable number of months in a year. This is usually 12 months, but sometimes a 13th month (an intercalary or embolismic month) is added to the year. ISO 8601 includes a specification for a 52-week year. Any year that has 53 Thursdays has 53 weeks; this extra week may be regarded as intercalary. The determination of whether a year has intercalation may be calculated (Julian, Gregorian and Hebrew calendars), or determined by observation (Iranian calendar).

Muharram

Muharram (Arabic: محرم ) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sanctified months of the year. Fighting in this month is looked down upon and is often put to the side in respect for Islam. Since the Islamic calendar is lunar, Muharram moves from year to year when compared to the Gregorian calendar. The first day of Muharram is the start of the Islamic New Year. The Festival of Muharram takes place during this month in which Shia Muslims especially commemorate the Battle of Karbala. The festival reaches its climax on the tenth day of Muharram, known as Ashurah. This day is related to the time of Moses when he crossed the Red Sea escaping from the Pharoah. Muslims often fast on this sacred day. Later, in the month of Ramadan it is obligatory to fast so the day of Ashura is optional. Jews also fast on this day so Muhammad ordered Muslims to precede this day or follow it to distinguish themselves from the Jews. This means adding a day to make it the ninth and the tenth, or make it the tenth and the eleventh. However, both faiths treat this day as a day of fasting. This month of Muharram also has traditions which have no support from Islamic teachings. For example, the celebration of the Muslim new year, and the partying and card giving, etc, associated with it is considered to be a bidah and even haraam to some.

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen (Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية), composed of former North and South Yemen, is a country on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia and is a part of the Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden on the south and the Red Sea on the west. It borders Oman to the northeast and Saudi Arabia elsewhere. Its territory includes the remote island of Socotra, about 350 km to the south off the coast of East Africa..

History

Main article: History of Yemen Yemen was one of the oldest centres of civilization in the Near East. Between the 9th century BC and the 6th century AD, it was part of the Minaean, Sabaean, Himyarite, Qatabanian, Hadhramawtian, and Awsanian kingdoms, which controlled the lucrative spice trade. It was known to the Romans as "Arabia Felix" ("Happy Arabia") because of the riches its trade generated; Augustus Caesar attempted to annex it, but the expedition failed, but Persian King of Kings were more successful and Yemen became a Persian province in 597/8 under a Persian satrap. In the 7th century, Islamic caliphs began to exert control over the area. After this caliphate broke up, the former north Yemen came under control of Imams of various dynasties usually of the Zaidi sect, who established a theocratic political structure that survived until modern times. (Imam is a religious term. The Shiites apply it to the prophet Muhammad's son-in-law Ali, his sons Hassan and Hussein, and subsequent lineal descendants, whom they consider to have been divinely ordained unclassified successors of the prophet.) Egyptian Sunni caliphs occupied much of north Yemen throughout the 11th century. By the 16th century and again in the 19th century, north Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire, and in some periods its Imams exerted control over south Yemen.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Yemen Yemen is a republic with a bicameral legislature. Under the constitution, an elected president, an elected 301-seat House of Representatives, and an appointed 111-member Shura Council share power. The president is head of state, and the prime minister is head of government. The constitution provides that the president be elected by popular vote from at least two candidates endorsed by Parliament; the prime minister is appointed by the president. The presidential term of office is 7 years, and the parliamentary term of elected office is 6 years. Suffrage is universal over 18. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was elected in 1999; the next presidential elections are scheduled for 2006. In April 2003 parliamentary elections, the General People's Congress (GPC) maintained an absolute majority. International observers judged elections to be generally free and fair, and there was a marked decrease from previous years in election-related violence; however, there were some problems with underage voting, confiscation of ballot boxes, voter intimidation, and election-related violence. The constitution calls for an independent judiciary. The former northern and southern legal codes have been unified. The legal system includes separate commercial courts and a Supreme Court based in Sanaá.

Governorates

:Main article: Governorates of Yemen Yemen is divided into governorates. Just as each governorate has a cultural and ethnic similarity to another so each has its cultural differences from the others, such as in its method regarding the Yamaani Music.

Geography

Yamaani Music Main article: Geography of Yemen Yemen is in Southwest Asia, in the south of Arabia, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, west of Oman and south of Saudi Arabia. It is considered to be one of the fifteen states that comprise the Cradle of Humanity.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Yemen At unification, both the YAR and the PDRY were struggling, underdeveloped economies. In the north, disruptions of civil war (1962-70) and frequent periods of drought had dealt severe blows to a previously prosperous agricultural sector. Coffee production, formerly the north's main export and principal form of foreign exchange, declined as the cultivation of qat increased. Low domestic industrial output and a lack of raw materials made the YAR dependent on a wide variety of imports. Remittances from Yemenis working abroad and foreign aid paid for perennial trade deficits. Substantial Yemeni communities exist in many countries of the world, including Yemen's immediate neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula, Indonesia, India, East Africa, and also the United Kingdom, and the United States. Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union and China provided large-scale assistance. In the south, pre-independence economic activity was overwhelmingly concentrated in the port city of Aden. The seaborne transit trade, which the port relied upon, collapsed with the closure of the Suez Canal and Britain's withdrawal from Aden in 1967. Since unification, the government has worked to integrate two relatively disparate economic systems. However, severe shocks, including the return in 1990 of approximately 850,000 Yemenis from the Gulf states, a subsequent major reduction of aid flows, and internal political disputes culminating in the 1994 civil war hampered economic growth. Since the conclusion of the war, the government entered into agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to institute an extremely successful structural adjustment program. Phase one of the IMF program included major financial and monetary reforms, including floating the currency, reducing the budget deficit, and cutting subsidies. Phase two will address structural issues such as civil service reform. The World Bank also is active in Yemen, with 22 active projects in 2004, including projects to improve governance in the public sector, water, and education. Since 1998, the government of Yemen has sought to implement World Bank economic and fiscal recommendations. In subsequent years, Yemen has lowered its debt burden through Paris Club agreements and restructuring U.S. foreign debt. In 2003, government reserves reached $5 billion. Marib oil contains associated natural gas. Proven reserves of 10 to 13 trillion cubic feet (283 to 368 km³) could sustain a liquid natural gas (LNG) export project.

Foreign relations

The geography and ruling Imams of north Yemen kept the country isolated from foreign influence before 1962. The country's relations with Saudi Arabia were defined by the Taif Agreement of 1934, which delineated the northernmost part of the border between the two kingdoms and set the framework for commercial and other intercourse. The Taif Agreement has been renewed periodically in 20-year increments, and its validity was reaffirmed in 1995. Relations with the British colonial authorities in Aden and the south were usually tense. The Soviet and Chinese Aid Missions established in 1958 and 1959 were the first important non-Muslim presence in north Yemen. Following the September 1962 revolution, the Yemen Arab Republic became closely allied with and heavily dependent upon Egypt. Saudi Arabia aided the royalists in their attempt to defeat the Republicans and did not recognize the Yemen Arab Republic until 1970. Subsequently, Saudi Arabia provided Yemen substantial budgetary and project support. At the same time, Saudi Arabia maintained direct contact with Yemeni tribes, which sometimes strained its official relations with the Yemeni Government. Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis found employment in Saudi Arabia during the late 1970s and 1980s. In February 1989, north Yemen joined Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt in forming the Arab Cooperation Council (ACC), an organization created partly in response to the founding of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and intended to foster closer economic cooperation and integration among its members. After unification, the Republic of Yemen was accepted as a member of the ACC in place of its YAR predecessor. In the wake of the Gulf crisis, the ACC has remained inactive. Yemen is not a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council. British authorities left southern Yemen in November 1967 in the wake of an intense terrorist campaign. The people's democratic Republic of Yemen, the successor to British colonial rule, had diplomatic relations with many nations, but its major links were with the Soviet Union and other Marxist countries. Relations between it and the conservative Arab states of the Arabian Peninsula were strained. There were military clashes with Saudi Arabia in 1969 and 1973, and the PDRY provided active support for the Dhofar rebellion against the Sultanate of Oman. The PDRY was the only Arab state to vote against admitting new Arab states from the Gulf area to the United Nations and the Arab League. The PDRY provided sanctuary and material support to various insurgent groups around the Middle East. Yemen is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, and the organization of the Islamic conference. Yemen participates in the nonaligned movement. The Republic of Yemen accepted responsibility for all treaties and debts of its predecessors, the YAR and the PDRY. Yemen has acceded to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. The Gulf crisis dramatically affected Yemen's foreign relations. As a member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for 1990 and 1991,Yemen abstained on a number of UNSC resolutions concerning Iraq and Kuwait and voted against the "use of force resolution." Western and Gulf Arab states reacted by curtailing or canceling aid programs and diplomatic contacts. At least 850,000 Yemenis returned from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. Subsequent to the liberation of Kuwait, Yemen continued to maintain high-level contacts with Iraq. This hampered its efforts to rejoin the Arab mainstream and to mend fences with its immediate neighbors. In 1993, Yemen launched an unsuccessful diplomatic offensive to restore relations with its Gulf neighbors. Some of its aggrieved neighbors actively aided the south during the 1994 civil war. Since the end of that conflict, tangible progress has been made on the diplomatic front in restoring normal relations with Yemen's neighbors. The Omani-Yemeni border has been officially demarcated. In the summer of 2000, Yemen and Saudi Arabia signed an International Border Treaty settling a 50-year-old dispute over the location of the border between the two countries. Yemen settled its dispute with Eritrea over the Hanish Islands in 1998.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Yemen Unlike other people of the Arabian Peninsula who have historically been nomads or semi-nomads, Yemenis are almost entirely sedentary and live in small villages and towns scattered throughout the highlands and coastal regions. Yemenis are divided into two principal Islamic religious groups: the Shia Zaidi sect, found in the north and northwest, and the Shafa'i school of Sunni Muslims, found in the south and southeast. Yemenis are mainly of Semitic origin. Arabic is the official language, although English is increasingly understood in major cities. In the Mahra area (the extreme east), several non-Arabic languages are spoken. When the former states of north and south Yemen were established, most resident minority groups departed. There was once a sizeable Jewish minority in Yemen with a distinct culture. This community is reduced to a few hundred individuals. See article on Yemenite Jews. The country has one of the world's highest birth rates; the average Yemeni woman bears seven children. Although this is similar to the rate in Somalia to the south, it is roughly twice as high as that of Saudi Arabia and nearly three times as high as those in the more modernized Gulf Arab states.

Languages

While the national language is Arabic (spoken in several regional dialects), Yemen is one of the main homelands of the South Semitic family of languages, which includes the non-Arabic language of the ancient Sabaean Kingdom. Its modern Yemeni descendents are closely related to the modern Semitic languages of Ethiopia, including Amharic, the national language. However, only a small remnant of those languages exists in modern Yemen, notably on the island of Socotra and in the back hills of the Hadhramaut coastal region. Modern South Arabian languages spoken in Yemen include Mehri, with 70,643 speakers, Soqotri, with an estimated 43,000 speakers (2004 census) mainly on the island of Socotra, and Bathari (with an estimated total of only 200 speakers). English is used as foreign language and is taught in public schools, starting from grade 7, though the quality of instruction is suspect in public school. Private schools using a British or American system teach English and produce the most proficient English speakers in Yemen, but Arabic is the main language of communication. The new generation is proud to learn English, but the availability of English speakers is small compared to other Arab countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Yemen

Holidays

Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks
January 1	New Year's Day
May 22	Day of National Unity		Celebrates Unification of Yemen
July 7	Unity Factory Day
September 26	Revolution Day 1962
October 14	National Day
November 30	Independence Day
Dates following the lunar Islamic calendar
Dhul_Hijjah 10	Eid al-Adha	Eid al-Adha	Islamic Festival
Shawwal 1	Eid al-Fitr	Eid al-Fitr	Islamic Festival
Muharram 1	Muharram		Start of Islamic New Year

- Music of Yemen

References

- CIA World Factbook
- US State Department [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5474.htm]

Miscellaneous topics

- Communications in Yemen
- Foreign relations of Yemen
- Islam in Yemen
- List of cities in Yemen
- Military of Yemen
- Transportation in Yemen

External links

Government
- [http://www.yemenpresident.com/ President of Yemen] General information
- [http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/ Arab Gateway - Yemen]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/784383.stm BBC News Country Profile - Yemen]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ym.html CIA World Factbook - Yemen]
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Middle_East/Yemen/ Open Directory Project - Yemen] directory category
- [http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c2423.htm US State Department - Yemen] includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/regional/countries/yemen/ Yahoo! - Yemen] directory category
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=90981 South Arabian Semitic languages] family tree from SIL's Ethnologue. Category:Middle Eastern countries Category:Southwest Asian countries Category:Arab League Category:Arabia zh-min-nan:Yemen ko:예멘 ms:Yaman ja:イエメン th:ประเทศเยเมน

ChristianIty

Christianity

Kaaba

The Kaaba (Ka'abah), (Arabic: الكعبة) also Bait ul Ateeq (Arabic: البيت العتيق ) and Bait ul Haram (Arabic: البيت الحرام ), is a building located inside the mosque known as Masjid al Haram in Mecca (Makkah). The mosque has been built around the Kaaba. The Kaaba is the holiest place in Islam.

Physical attributes and location of the Kaaba

The Kaaba is a large masonry structure roughly the shape of a cube. (The name "Kaaba" comes from the Arabic word meaning cube). It is made of granite from the hills near Mecca. The structure is approximately 15 m (50 ft) high, 10 m (35 ft) wide, and 12 m (40 ft) long. It is covered by a black silk cloth decorated with gold-embroidered calligraphy. This cloth is known as the kiswah; it is replaced yearly. [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/11/1044725746252.html] [http://members.tripod.com/worldupdates/newupdates10/id43.htm] kiswah] One of the cornerstones of the Kaaba is the Hajar el Aswad (the sacred "Black Stone"), which is generally thought to be a meteorite remnant. Inside the Kaaba, there is a marble floor. The interior walls are clad with marble half-way to the roof; tablets with Quranic inscriptions are inset in the marble. The top part of the walls is covered with a green cloth decorated with gold embroidered Quranic verses. Lamps hang from a cross beam; there is also a small table for incense burners. The building is otherwise empty. The caretakers perfume the marble cladding with scented oil, the same oil used to anoint the Black Stone outside. The global coordinates of the Kaaba are 21° 25′ 24″ N, 39° 49′ 24″ E.

The cleaning of the Kaaba

The building is opened twice a year for a ceremony known as "the cleaning of the Kaaba." This ceremony takes place roughly fifteen days before the start of Ramadan and the same period of time before the start of the annual pilgrimage. The keys to the Kaaba are held by the Bani Shaiba (يني شيبة) tribe. Members of the tribe greet visitors to the inside of the Kaaba on the occasion of the cleaning ceremony. A small number of dignitaries and foreign diplomats are invited to participate in the ceremony. The governor of Mecca leads the honored guests who ritually clean the structure, using simple brooms.

History of the Kaaba

global coordinates, Mecca (Hajj)]] According to Islamic tradition, Allah (God) ordained a place of worship on Earth to reflect the house in heaven called al-Bait al-Maa'mour (Arabic: البيت المعمور ). Muslims believe that Adam was the first to build such a place of worship. According to the Qur'an, the Kaaba was built by the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismail (Ishmael [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/002.qmt.html#002.127]). Some academic scholars will only say that it is a pre-Islamic house of native Arab worship. At the time of Muhammad, his tribe, the Quraysh was in charge of the Kaaba, which was at that time a shrine to numerous Arabian tribal gods. Desert tribesmen, the Bedouin, and inhabitants of other cities would join the annual pilgrimage, to worship and to trade. Caravan-raiding, common during the rest of the year, was suspended during the pilgrimage; this was a good time, then, for travel and trade. The Qur'an describes Mecca as a greenless wadi (Arabic: واد غير ذي زرع) where life is tough and resources scarce. Indeed, there is no evidence that Mecca was anything but a center of local trade and worship (see Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam, Patricia Crone, Blackwell, 1987). The Islamic prophet Muhammad, preaching the doctrine of monotheism and the promise of the Day of Judgment, faced mounting opposition in the city of Mecca. The Quraysh persecuted and harassed him continuously, and he and his followers eventually fled to Medina, in 622 C.E. After this pivotal migration, or Hijra, the Muslim community became a political and military force. In 630 C.E., Muhammad and his followers returned to Mecca as conquerors, and the Kaaba was re-dedicated as an Islamic house of worship. Henceforth, the annual pilgrimage was to be a Muslim rite, the Hajj. Hajj

Reconstructions of the Kaaba

According to some counts, the Kaaba has been reconstructed or undergone major repairs twelve times. The last reconstruction was done in 1996.

The Qibla and prayer

Hajj] The Qibla, for any point of reference on the Earth, is the direction of the Kaaba. In Muslim religious practice, supplicants must face this direction at prayer. It should be noted that Muslims do not worship the Kaaba or its contents any more than Christians worship churches or crosses; the Kaaba is simply a focal point for prayer. The Qibla points along the shortest path to the Kaaba. Because the Earth is approximately spherical, this path will be part of a great circle such as airplanes fly. The location of the Kaaba (at ) can be used together with spherical geometry to determine the Qibla for any given point on the Earth.

Shi'a beliefs about the Kaaba

Shi'a Muslims believe that Ali was born in the Kaaba.

External links

- Wikisource: [http://sources.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculation_of_the_Qibla Calculation of the Qibla]
- [http://groups.msn.com/islam4all/aboutkaaba.msnw Detailed history of Kaaba reconstructions]
- [http://www.toursaudiarabia.com/kaaba.html Information and Photos of the Kaaba and Black Stone]
- [http://www.islamonline.net/English/hajj/2002/01/stories/article2.shtml Short History of the Kaaba]
- [http://www.ezsoftech.com/hajj/hajj_article1.asp History of the Kaaba]
- [http://mb-soft.com/believe/txh/kaaba.htm Information about the Kaaba]
- [http://haqaonline.lightuponlight.com/pg/thumbnails.php?album=1 Pictures of Masjid al Haraam and the Holy Kaaba]
- [http://www.3dkabah.com A 3D model of the Kabaa and Haraam. With Pictures and Videos]
- [http://www.qiblah.us Qiblah In North America] Category:Islam Category:Mecca Category:Arabian mythology ms:Kaabah ja:カアバ th:กะอฺบะหฺ

Suraż

Suraż is a town in north-eastern Poland situated in the Podlasie Voivodship since 1999 and, from 1975 to 1998, in the Bialystok Voivodship. Category:Towns in Poland

570

Events

was probably created in the Henan province of China around 570, in the Northern Qi Dynasty.]]
- First mention of the Spear of Destiny (approximate date).
- Spoleto becomes the capital of an independent duchy under the Lombards.
- The Jews of Clermont-Ferrand are forced to convert to Christianity.
- Year of the Elephant, according to Islamic tradition.

Births

- April 20 - Muhammad the Prophet, founder of Islam (approximate date) (d. 632)
- Pybba of Mercia (possible date)
- Childebert II of Austrasia (d. 595)

Deaths

- Gildas (traditional date)
- Livva I, king of the Visigoths Category:570 als:570 ko:570년

571

Events

- The Monophysites again reject the Council of Chalcedon, causing another schism.

Deaths

- Emperor Kimmei, emperor of Japan

Births

- Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abulmottalib ibn Hashim, the Last Prophet of Islam

In Other Fields

- 571 is the area code for telephone numbers in the Northern Virginia region of the United States. It is overlaid by area code 703. It touches the 202 area code of Washington, DC as well as the 301 and 240 area codes of Southern Maryland. Other area codes in Virginia are 276, 434, 540, 757, and 804. Category:571 ko:571년

638

Events

- Islamic calendar introduced
- The Muslims capture Antioch, Caesarea Palaestina and Akko

Births

Deaths

- October 12 - Pope Honorius I Category:638 ko:638년

July 16

July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 168 days remaining.

Events

- 622 - The Prophet Mohammed begins his Hijra from Mecca to Medina. This marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
- 1661 - The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Bank of Stockholm.
- 1769 - Father Junipero Serra founds Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first mission in California. The mission later evolves into the city of San Diego.
- 1779 - American Revolutionary War: United States forces led by General Anthony Wayne capture Stony Point, New York from British troops.
- 1782 - First performance of Mozart's opera