# Why the Islamic Calendar Matters | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine

**Author:** Tom Facchine
**Series:** Imam Tom Live
**Published:** 2025-06-25
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/UclDA6Akd_o
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/imam-tom-live/why-the-islamic-calendar-matters-snapshots-wit-imam-tom-facchine
**Topics:** Divine Decree, Faith

## Description
Imam Tom Facchine sits down with Paul Williams from Blogging Theology for a conversation on truth, God, Christianity, liberalism, identity, and how Islam reframes it all.

## Transcript
**[0:00]** With Muharram coming up and the new Islamic year, it's always a good reminder that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has declared our calendar to be based on the lunar months. That this

**[0:16]** is not merely an administrative innovation that Umar ibn Khattab (رضي الله عنه) did, though he did choose when the hijrah calendar started. However, the months themselves, the number of months and even those months being lunar months is something that is given to us in the shari'ah.

**[0:34]** It is normative. That means that that's what Allah wants us to follow. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah At-Tawbah actually, the translation of which could mean, certainly the number of months for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala are twelve months and they are lunar months as we know. That's not said in the text, but

**[0:52]** it's implied. Twelve months in Allah's book, fi kitabi Allah, it could mean according to some of the interpretations, it could mean in Allah's decree because kitab can also mean decree or it can also mean in the Lawh al-Mahfuz as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala willed it. That the day that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created the heavens and the earth, this is the way

**[1:08]** that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made it to be. That we have these days and these are all to mark time and to tie us to a sacred calendar. Now let's be frank, the average Muslim or at least the average Muslim in the West, you probably become conscious of the Islamic calendar, maybe in Rajab or in Sha'ban. Then everyone wants to argue about the moon

**[1:26]** sighting and then you kind of keep a little bit, you know, Shawwal, you're kind of aware of Shawwal, then it starts to fade, then Hajj time and you're aware of it again. But the time in between Eid al-Adha and the next Sha'ban in Ramadan, we're usually turned off. We're

**[1:43]** not paying attention to the Islamic months whatsoever because most of us follow the common Gregorian, whatever you want to call them, months that aren't our months. They're solar months, they're administrative months from the nations in which we live. Whether it's your fiscal quarters or your holidays, not the ones that you celebrate hopefully, but

**[1:59]** the ones that you have to take off from work. That's your marching orders. That's what you are moving to. So it's very important. It's very important for you to register the significance. Just like we say this when people talk about celebrating birthdays and whatnot. If you're raising a child, you don't want any celebration in your child's life to be bigger than Eid.

**[2:20]** If it were, then your child would lose appreciation and respect for Eid and they would look forward to that other celebration more. The same thing goes for the lunar Islamic calendar. You want to make sure that the main thing that your heart is tied to and your family's hearts are tied to are the Islamic months. We can do a better job of that by better commemorating

**[2:40]** some of the things that happened, even if it's just Islamic history. We're not talking about making new Eids and stuff like that. We're not talking about that. We're saying that even an awareness, just like within non-Muslim culture, you have Black History Month and you have this month and you have that month. We can remember that certain things

**[2:57]** happened in certain dates and have a better grasp on Islamic history in order to keep us grounded in that sacred time that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala willed for us and commanded us to. That if you don't, then you're going to have a weakened identity. You're going

**[3:12]** to live mapped onto a different time that really doesn't speak to your soul and you're going to feel disconnected. So there's lots of tools now, especially with people very savvy with things online. I'm not one of them, but I'm sure that there's lots of calendars and things that you could do and print out and different things to do in your home, even

**[3:31]** resurrecting the sunnah of moon sighting, going out and sighting the moon every month to see when the new lunar month starts. All of this keeps you grounded in the community. It connects you to the community worldwide of Muslim believers and it connects you to the time the way that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wanted you to experience it.

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