Solar and Lunar Years Miracles of The Holy Qur’an A presentation by Najib Khan Surattee najib_009@yahoo.com.sg 1 Muharram 1429H

All praises and thanks are to Allah, the Originator and Creator of the heavens and earth and Who created the universe from absolute nothingness. Peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.,his family and companions.

I dedicate this presentation to our late ulama, Ustaz Syed Abdillah Bin Ahmad Al Jufri, who had guided me on the interpretation of the Al Qur’an specifically verse 25 of Surah Al Kahf and who had encouraged me to do some mathematical calculation. My special thanks also goes to Ustaz Ahmad Sonhadji Muhamad for his explanation on this verse and encouraging me to do research on the scientific and mathematical aspects of the Holy Qur’an.

Brief History of the Hijr Calendar The Islamic Calendar (known as the Hijr Calendar) was established by Syedina Omar Al Khatab r.a. on the year 639 A.D., on the 4th year of his role as the caliphate. The Hijr Calendar started on the year our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. migrated from Mecca for Madina. This migration, known as hijrah, occurred in the month of Rabiulawal in 622 A.D.

Syedina Omar r.a. counted backwards and decided the 1st day of the Month of Muharram of that year (the year that the hijrah took place) to be called 1 Muharram 1H. In the Gregorian Calendar, 1 Muharram 1H correlated to 16th July 622 A.D. (Friday). (Please be aware that all the names and sequence of the 12 months of the Hijr Calendar had been established long before 1 Muharram 1H.)

Let us now look into the Holy Qur’an and interpret what Allah tells us about the relationship between the movement of sun and the moon and hence try to correlate the Solar and Lunar Years

“(He is the) Splitter of the daybreak and He has made the night for rest, and the sun and the moon for keeping an account (of time). That is the program of the All-Mighty, The All-Knowing.” (Surah Al An’am, 6: 96)

“It is He who made the sun to be a shining glory, and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for her, that you might compute the number of years and the count of time.” (Yunos, 10: 5)

“The sun and the moon run on their ordered (fixed) courses (exactly).” – (Ar-Rahman, 55: 5)

The story of the People of the Cave is narrated in Surah Al Kahf from verse 10 till verse 25. It is at verse 25 that Allah mentions the number of years they stayed in the Cave. In this particular verse lies a secret.

“And they stayed in their Cave three hundred Years, and add nine.” (Surah Al Kahf, 18:25)

It means that they stayed for 300 Solar Years or (300 + 9) = 309 Lunar Years One Solar Year = 365.2425 days (Gregorian Calendar) One Lunar Year = 12 months of the Hijr Calendar

Interestingly, the number of words from the first word of verse 10 i.e. “When” till the word “stayed” in verse 25 of Surah Kahf is exactly 309.

Hence, a Lunar Year has either 354 or 355 days Hence, one can calculate the number of days in an Islamic Lunar Year (Hijr) directly from the verse. Hence, a Lunar Year has either 354 or 355 days (When this verse was revealed, the Gregorian Calendar has been established and in use since 8 B.C. To compare with the Solar Calendar, we need to use the integer 365 rather than the exact 365.2425 days in a Solar Month)

The difference in number of days per year between the Gregorian Calendar and the Hijr Calendar is: 365 – 354.37 = 10.63 (bet. 10 or 11) Hence, 1st Muharram will always falls about 10 or 11 days earlier (based on the Gregorian Calendar) the next year.

“Surely the number of months with Allah is twelve months so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth;….” (Surah At-Taubah, 9: 36) One Lunar Year = 12 Lunar Months

Hence, the number of days in a Lunar month is 354.37/12 = 29.53 (min 29 and max 30) In Astronomy, 29.53 is also known as the Synodic Month. “A synodic month is 29.53 days (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 2.8 sec) and is measured from New Moon to New Moon” – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia From NASA’s Cosmos: “A Synodic Month = 29.53 days”

Narrated Ibn ‘Umar (r. a. ): The Prophet s. a Narrated Ibn ‘Umar (r.a.): The Prophet s.a.w said, “We are an illiterate nation; we neither write nor know counts. This month is like this i.e. sometimes 29 days and sometimes 30 days.” – Sahih Al Bukhari (This Hadith tallies with the numbers derived from the Qur’an)

“Do they not consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much contradictions.” – (An-Nisa, 4: 82)

Now, we can calculate the Sidreal month: 1/Tsynodic = 1/TMoon, rev – 1/TEarth, rev 1/TMoon, rev = (1/Tsynodic + 1/TEarth, rev)-1 1/TMoon, rev = (1/29.53 + 1/365.2425)-1 = 27.32 days (Here we use the exact value of 365.2425 solar days since we use the exact value of 29.53 lunar days also. The extra 0.2425 days in the Gregorian Calendar was achieved because this calendar has 97 leap years in every 400 years)

“A Sidreal Month = 27.32 days” 27.32 days is also known as a Sidereal Month. “A sidreal month is measured by observing how long it takes the moon to pass a fixed star on the celestial sphere and is exactly 27.32 days (27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, 11.6 sec)” – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia From NASA’s Cosmos: “A Sidreal Month = 27.32 days”

But we have never seen the other side of the Moon without the aid of the satellite. It is always facing the Earth with the same side as it revolve around the Earth. Hence, the Moon must be rotating on its own axis taking exactly 27.32 days to complete one complete rotation. .

The Two Sides of the Moon The Near Side The Far Side It is the Near Side that would reflect light from the Sun uniformly with full brightness till you see it as if it is a “flat circle” in the sky. The Far Side is unable to reflect in this way.

No of Solar Days per year is 365.2425 However, based on books of Astronomy today, No of Solar Days per year is 365.2425 Max no of days between the Solar and Lunar years = 365.2425 – 354 = 11.2425 Hence, it takes 365.2425/11.2425 = 32.49 years for the Solar and Lunar Calendar to get back in synchronization.

It means that for each and everyone of us, “our Gregorian date of birth” will meet again “our Hijr date of birth” when we reach our (32.49 x 2) i.e. 65th Solar years birthday (or 67th Lunar years birthday)

I was born on 9 September 1967 (4 Jamadilakhir 1387) Example 1 (Adding 65 years to the Gregorian Calendar): I was born on 9 September 1967 (4 Jamadilakhir 1387) I can only experience these two same dates meeting again in my lifetime when I am 65 solar years (or 67 lunar years) old (InsyaAllah!). So, come 9 September 2032, the date in the Hijr Calendar will also be 4 Jamadilakhir 1454 (Note: 1967 + 65 = 1454)

Example 2 (Adding 67 years to the Hijr Calendar) Al Marhum Ustaz Syed Abdillah Al Jufri was born on 29 Zulhijjah 1356H (2 March 1938) Adding 67 years to 1356H, we get 1423 H. Hence, on 29 Zulhijjah 1423 H the Gregorian Calendar was also 2 March 2003. (FYI, I discovered this theory on 2 March 2003, 2 months after Al Marhum Ustaz Syed Abdillah passed away (4th Jan 2003) while writing an article on his teachings). May Allah always bless him. Amin! (2nd March 2003 has a nice eight digit number i.e. 02032003)

With the aid of a Gregorian-Hijr Calendar Conversion Software (easily found in the internet), try to check for your own birthdates. Take note that you might get a day later or earlier. Remember the Islamic day starts at Maghrib, so it is still on the same day. Anyway, on your 65th birthday, you get closest to the original date and never on any other year in your lifetime!

Now, let us be more accurate and calculate the exact correlation between the Solar and the Lunar Years One Solar Year = 365.2425 days With this exact number, using verse 25, One Lunar Year = 365.2425 x (300/309) = 354.6043689 days Their difference = 365.2425 – 354.6043689 = 10.6381311 days

For one cycle: No of Solar Years = 354.6043689/10.6381311 = 33.333333 years = 33 years 4 months (exactly) No of Lunar Years = 365.2425/10.6381311 = 34.333333 years = 34 years 4 months (exactly) This means that for every 33 years and 4 months that passed in the Solar Calendar, the Lunar Calendar has passed 34 years and 4 months, exactly one year apart!

It simply means that only when you reach the age of 33 years and 4 months old, you can say that, in lunar calendar, you are already 34 years and 4 months old (exactly one year more!) And when you are 65 years old exactly, you can look at both the Gregorian and Hijr Calendars and see both your birthdays. (You would be 2 years older in the Hijr Calendar).

Metonic Cycle Let us now calculated how many lunar months are there in 19 solar months based on verse 25 of Surah Kahf: One Solar Year = 12 months (ref.) Hence, 19 Solar Years = 19 x 12 = 228 months This is equivalent to 228 x 309/300 = 234.84 Lunar Months

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “Meton of Athens was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, geometer and engineer who lived in Athens in the 5th century BCE. He is best known for the 19-year Metonic cycle which he introduced in 432 BCE into the lunisolar Attic calendar as a method of calculating date. Meton found that 19 solar years are almost equal to 235 lunar months or 6940 days.” (What Meton did not know is that 300 Solar Years equals exactly 309 Lunar Years!!)

In short, based on Surah Al Kahf, 18:25 and Surah At-Taubah, 9: 36 from the Holy Qur’an, we derived: A sidereal month takes 27.32 days A synodic month takes 29.53 days one can expect his birth date in both the Hijr and the Gregorian calendars to meet again at his 65th birthday of the Gregorian Calendar (or 67th birthday of the Hijr Calendar) 19 Solar years = 234.84 Lunar months (The Holy Qur’an provides an accurate calculation of the Metonic Cycle)

Some interesting discoveries from the Qur’an: 1. The word “qamar” (means Moon) is mentioned 27 times in the Qur’an. There are another 2 verses which refer to the Moon but without using the word “qamar”. (One Sidereal Month = 27 days, One Synodic Month = 29 days) 2. The Surah entitled “Al Qamar” or “The Moon” is in Part (Juz) 27

3. The word “hilal” is mentioned (2:189) before any word ‘qamar” is mentioned. (Hilal means New Moon. That is the shape of the Moon we see first. This word also comes before any verse containing the Sun appears in the Qur’an. It signifies a day in Islam begins with the night)

4. Both the Moon and the Sun are first mentioned in the same surah (Al Baqarah) in separate verses, second in same surah (Al An’am) in separate verses and last mentioned in the same surah (Ash Shams) in separate verses. (They have separate paths (orbits) yet they are coordinated) 5. They are both mentioned in Part 1, 7, …..30 (1, 7 and 30 representing 1 day, 1 week, 1 month) 6. On the 19th occasion when the word “qamar” appears, the verse contains the name “Allah”. No other verses about the Moon mentions “Allah”. This verse mentions both “qamar’ and “shams” twice.

7. The Sun is mentioned 33 times 7. The Sun is mentioned 33 times. It is always mentioned before the Moon except for one verse (71:16). 8. The first verse (2:258) describes when the Sun is rising (That is how we first see the Sun at the beginning of each day) 9. There are 19 verses that mention the Sun and the Moon is one sentence. (Remember the Metonic Cycle?)

10. On the 19th verse (in Surah Al Qiyamah) in which they are mentioned in the same verse, they are described as “join together” or “co-join”. (Every 19 years, the earth, sun and the moon will be in phase!) 11.If we take the mean number of Moon and Sun mentioned in the Qur’an we get (27 + 33)/2 = 30 (30 days per month!) If we take the mean of the Lunar calendar and Solar calendar, we’ll also get (29 + 31)/2 = 30 (30 days in a month!)

“Say: If the whole of mankind and jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.” – (Al Israk, 17: 88)

End Of Presentation Thank You!