Reasons why Islamic New Year is not celebrated with happiness

[Ruhi_Rose]

We all know that Islam follows the lunar calendar while Christianity follows the solar calendar.  Also, as we know, the Islamic calendar starts from the time Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) migrated from Makkah to Medinah.  From here begins the first year of the Islamic calendar known as 'Hijri' or Migration.  The Islamic calendar was organized and began being presented as a calendar by the second righteous Caliph of Islam, Umar bin al-Khattab.  Thus, according to the Hijri calender (or the Islamic calendar), Muharram is the first month of the Islamic year. 

Many of my non-Muslim acquaintances have asked me the question, why isn't the Muslim new year celebrated with happiness and in ways similar to the Christian new year or the new year of other cultures. 

There are some very important reasons for this which we as Muslims cannot ignore. 

First of all, Islam has a different concept of celebration where permissive-style dancing of men and women together is not acceptable.  Neither is consumption of alcohol or any other intoxicant allowed.  All celebrations in Islam start with the remembrance of Allah and offering thanks to HIM.  The style of celebration must be in accordance with the values of the Quran.  Therefor, we are prohibited from celebrating in a way that would make us pass into a state where we have little or no control over ourselves.  Practices that take away our faculty of being aware of Allah and our duties and responsibilities are totally disallowed.  For this reason, all Muslim celebrations differ greatly from various modern-day non-Muslim celebrations. 

Coming back to the exact topic of celebrations during the Muslim new year: The second righteous Caliph of Islam, Umar bin Khattab was assasinated on the 1st of Muharram after almost 20 years as one of the greatest rulers of the world.  He was also a close friend and a relative of the Prophet (pbuh).  Umar bin Khattab's death is one of the most unfortunate and sad incidents in the history of Islam.

In chronological history, the first 10 days of the month of Muharram consist of the suffering and the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the beloved grandson of the beloved Prophet, along with his entire family of women and children in the battlefield of Karbala.  This is an extremely tragic incident that changed the course of Islamic history. 

Thus, the first day and first month of Muharram bring very sad memories for all Muslims.  It would be highly insensitive to celebrate this month with happiness simply because it is the first month of the year.  In any case, as Muslims we also think, first month of the year is nothing exceptional.  We know time is constantly passing and with each passing day, our final journey to The Almighty is coming closer too.  That's the important thing to remember.


Related posts:

Ashura, the 10th day - who was Hussein?
Battle of Karbala art gallery.
The traditional declaration of fasting on the 10th of Muharram .... the motive behind it.
Emergence of Ommayads and destruction of many Islamic values.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Thank u for putting this up sister rose.  I'm also asked this question by my non-Muslim friends every so often.  I think from now on I'll just send them a link to this post.  You'll explained it very thoroughly. 
Walaikum Salam.