The Islamic calendar and the 4 sacred Lunar months

The pre-Islamic Arabs used a combined Lunar/Solar calendar, and would periodically add a month in order to compensate for the shorter lunar year as opposed to the solar year. This resulted in fixing their rituals, like the yearly pilgrimage, to more convenient times from certain aspects. 

However, Islam banned the addition of such months 9:36-7. This meant that the month of Ramadan is now rotating through the year in a 33 year cycle. This avoids the convenient fixation of certain religious practices according to human whims, for purely worldly motives, violating God's established sacred months and allowing an ordinary month to be observed as sacred and vice versa. For example the pre-Islamic Arabs used this practice to avoid the disadvantages for their trade. Banning the intercalary month opens up the way for spiritual improvement, training one to perform his duties at all times of the year and under all circumstances. Also, from the viewpoint of the universality of religion, it is obvious that the periods of fasting and performing Haj cannot satisfy all if they be fixed, always falling in the same season and month in different places-summer or winter or very hot or very cold or rainy or dry or harvesting or sowing-year after year. 

The Islamic time-keeping system is in fact the most scientifically relevant, because it does not require intercallation and thus making its precise reference point known to the day. Lunar calendars are more accurate to keep track of the date, as one can determine dates based on simple observation of lunar phases, which come at the same time each month. Add to this the fact that the Islamic calendar is the only one that is divested from all elements of overt and parenthetical shirk, such as how the days of the week and the months of the year are named.

Much like the pre-Islamic pagan practice, the Hebrew month is based on the moon-cycle and therefore consists of 29/30 days. The year however is accounted for following the solarcycle, but because this creates a difference of +-11 days (Lunar year/354days vs solar year/365days), then adjustments needed to be made in order to allow the fixation of the different festivals (Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot) to certain seasons (spring, summer and autumn respectively). The solution to having a lunisolar calendar is to periodically insert an extra 30-day month into a year, creating a 13-month year. The Torah however never reckons the time of the sacred rituals and festivals using the sun cycle, but always on a monthly basis according to moon sighting 

Numb28:14"This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year" 

Ezek46:3"And the people of the land shall [also] prostrate themselves at the entrance of that gate on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons, before the Lord" see also Ps81:4,Ezra3:5etc. 

Neither is there mention of these practices and timing requirements. The reckoning of time is actually stated to be one of the primary function of the moon 

Ps104:19"He made the moon for the appointed seasons".

And a solar calendar isnt more practical that the lunar because of its alignement with the seasons. The lunar is based on the actual sighting of the phases of the moon which is pretty much visible everyday to determine the months, as stated earlier a moon phase occurs every month at the same time. A solar calendar is meant at ensuring that, for those locations that experience several seasons in a year, their seasons will follow a predictable yearly pattern, regardless of scientific accuracy, hence the arbitrary decisions as to what the length of each month is going to be: 28, 29, 30, or 31 days. It is an irrelevant system outdated for our time and age. For instance because a solar year lasts more than 365 days, every once a while a day must be added to catch up with the seasons, it is called a leap year. That day is arbitrarily added to february. 

By contrast, there is nothing arbitrary about the Islamic calendar. Every month is either 29 or 30 days, because the average length of the synodic month is 29.531 days. The extra half day is absorbed into the consideration that each recordable month in terms of whole days will either be 29 or 30 days, and this is determined precisely by the visibility of the observable crescent: it is an observation, not a definition. Thus the time-keeper never has to worry about a cumulative error, and thereby never has a need for intercalation. Furthermore and as already said, because of the regular and consistent motion of the Moon with respect to the Earth, the visibility of the crescent is predictable to a very high degree of accuracy, especially with modern technologies and instrumentation. 

In brief, for date keeping, the lunar calendar is better than the solar which was useful to ancient communities highly depending upon agriculture. To this day, the lunar calendar is highly relevant to Muslims around the world, since in Islam, time keeping is the priority. Religious festivals and sacred months depend on accurate moon sightings. Muslims living, or depending upon Western systems however have adopted the Gregorian calendar to synchronize their daily economic activities with the rest of the world.

As stated earlier, a lunar month accounts for a little less than 30 days on average. In terms of evenly observable moon phases, one could either divide the month into 2 half moons, or into 4 quarters. The interval between 4 quarters seems less lengthy than between 2 halves and thus makes for a better time-keeping method. 4 cycles of 7 days in a month, corresponding to 4 observable moon quarters, is a practical division of time. Such an arbitrary division of a month into 4 weeks is only relevant in recent human development. Effectively, we see that the Quran only attests to the division of an earthly year into 12 lunar months, stating it is a system established since the heavens and earth were created. This of course is an accurate statement, based on observable astronomical phenomena independent of human whims. Unlike the Bible in the context of creation, the Quran therefore does not speak of the division of days within a week. The prophet however in a hadith, named 7 weekdays in which certain earthly arrangements were finalized. The hadith isnt speaking of the creation of heavens and earth, rather selects 7 things that occurred on the earth after its completion, and which were finalized on different weekdays. Had the computation of time known to him been available then, the day at which the selected things were made would correspond to the days listed in the hadith.

Regarding the pilgrimage months.

Ibrahim's struggles and efforts in the way of Allah, he always went through them with prayers revealing his sublime spiritual virtues which led him to become God's Friend and the universal Imam: his prayer for himself in the beginning of his life; his prayer at the time of his emigration to Syria; his invocation to keep his good name alive; his prayer for his progeny and parents, and for the believing men and women; his invocation, after building the House, for the residents of Mecca; his prayer and pleading for a Prophet to be sent from among his progeny. 

Many of the devotional acts of the hajj practiced by the descendants of Ishmael but corrupted with the passage of time, were later restored by the last Ishmaelite prophet as originally practiced and intended, while others were introduced in commemoration of the events that had happened to Ibrahim, representing the remarkable stands taken by him and his family 

3:97"In it are clear signs, the standing place of Ibrahim, and whoever enters it shall be secure". 

Pilgrimage to the Kaaba, an endeavor requiring spiritual will and strength in preparation to a journey of physical and mental sacrifices in remembrance and emulation of some of Ibrahim's experiences, the prototype believer whose example every pilgrim strives to come close to, became an obligatory duty to all individuals able to do it, till the day of resurrection 

"every one who is able to undertake the journey to it; and whoever disbelieves, then surely Allah is Self-sufficient, above any need of the worlds".

The modern era Saudi clan that has overtaken the custody of the holiest sanctuary, clearly are unworthy of that heritage. This is true from their behavior on all levels, whether political, spiritual or even economical. They have locked a surfeit of sustenance within their own dynasty, that could otherwise be a relief for the entire Muslim nation as per Ibrahim's prayer. 

This recklesness is even reflected in their adopted timing for the yearly pilgrimage. 

The Quran places the pilgrimage within a known interval of 2 to 4 days depending on the individual 2:203,22:28 anywhere within known months (plural for 3 or more) 2:197. Inexplicably, these inviolable known months marked for the one willing to dedicate a few days for the hajj, have been restrained to the single month of Dhul Hijja, thus resulting in obvious economical advantages for the corrupt elite but also creating the major known problems associated with such a congested gathering of millions of people. This forcefully led authorities to progressively restrict access to the site and adopt yearly quotas for every country, with a quota high enough to maintain the economical advantage of having millions gathered instead of spreading them over several months, but not too high so as to reach uncontrolable danger levels. And yet the Quran says that any able Muslim should be freely allowed to go there within the appointed months should he so desire, not whether he qualifies for an arbitrary quota 3:97.

Allah states that since the heavens and the earth were created, meaning everything in the universe was finalized, a year is made of 12 months. This is speaking from a human perspective on the earth, as only in our world does a year consist of 12 months. 4 of them were then appointed as hurum/inviolable 9:36.
This must include, at least the aforementioned "known months" of hajj, which the traditions state are only 3. But yet the traditions name these 4 months as being Dhul Qaadah, Dhul Hijjah, Muharram and  Rajab, making Shawwal, which now stands excluded from those 4 months decreed by God, and which they admit is among the "known hajj months", as a month in where the prohibitions can be violated like any other month. 

Another issue is that they have disconnected the last of those 4 months, ie Rajab, from the previous 3 that succeed eachother (Dhul Qaadah, Dhul Hijjah, Muharram). This is a similar attitude than the pre-islamic practice that found it too long to have 3 consecutive months of truce, and so they used to violate the prohibition to fight in the 3rd of those months, Muharram, by postponing the prohibition to the next month, that of Safar.

The Quran's words on the other hand tends more towards making these 4 hurum/inviolable months of God as succeeding one another uninterrupted.

In 9:2-5 it says that, starting from "the day of the great pilgrimage" and until the 4 hurum/inviolable months have passed the treaty violators will be given respite. This means "the day of the great pilgrimage" can only be at the start of the 1st of those 4 hurum/inviolable months after which the respite expires. Several new moons potentially signal the start of hajj, not a single one, which strengthens the notion that hajj may occur within several months 2:189.

The deliberate appointment of a 4 months truce in 9:2-5 cannot be coincidental (why not 2, 5 or 6?) and unconnected to God's decreed 4 hurum/inviolable months, much less so if one considers that the start of these 4 months is at the 1st day of hajj, with the hajj explicitly said to be occurring within a period of 3 or more months. There would have been no reason for the Muslims not to fight the treaty violators who attacked them first and thus reinitiate an open conflict, had this treaty breach not happened very close to the hajj months (3 or more). The Muslims, not wanting to infringe upon the inviolable months (they are only allowed to fight back during an inviolable month if they are aggressed within an inviolable month), decreed that during these 4 consecutive months, they will be a truce after which these treaty violators among the pagans will be fought wherever they are found. There would have been no reasons for the Muslims to issue a 4 months truce starting with the 1st day of hajj, had the known hajj months been only 3 consecutive ones as traditionally believed. They could have just decreed 3 inviolable months after which they would have resumed fighting.

The 4 months are qualified as inviolable because during this entire and complete period, there is a prohibition that must remain in place, uninterrupted, and the only one among all the temporary prohibitions of hajj that applies is the prohibition to initiate war 2:217, hence the Muslims' 4 month truce decreed above. Also, it is the only prohibition that is said to apply for the whole length of the month (among other months during which no fighting is allowed 2:194) contrary to the other prohibitions, like hunting, sexual intercourse or misconduct that only apply during the performance of hajj. 

We see again an obvious connection of those 4 months with the hajj because, besides the direct context of 2:217 which is all about the hajj, the verse itself states that the object of the prohibition is to allow people to go unhindred to the masjid al haram, the inviolable masjid, inside which stands the Kaaba. People from countless nations and tribes flock at this specific location during the prescribed pilgrimmage, some of them inevitably in conflict with one another, since ancient times until today, hence the necessity to observe a truce therein, putting all differences aside and allow each and everyone to freely perform his/her religious duties at anytime during the months marked for hajj. Truce ends after these 4 months have passed, and justice or retaliation, which sometimes requires violence is allowed. 

There is very little room to assume that the 4 hurum/inviolable months of truce 9:2-5 are not the same 4 hurum/inviolable months within a year decreed by Allah 9:36, that they do not succeed eachother and that the "known hajj months" do not span the complete 4 months period 2:197. These months being the 3 traditionally accepted ones of Shawwal, Dhul Qaadah, Dhul Hijjah with the 4th being Muharram, as denoted in the name itself.

One might try arguing that the 4th hajj month, instead of being Muharram could equally be at the start of the accepted 3, ie Ramadan. This is bellied by the simple fact that, for all Muslims, except those living in Mecca itself, they need to travel to do their hajj. Traveling invalidates a fast and so by saying that Ramadan is one of the hajj months makes it impossible for most Muslims willing to hajj therein to perform their obligation to fast.  

Haram carries different implications than sacred/muqaddas. Ramadan is not an inviolable month, because it does not contain an uninterupted prohibition, the prohibition to eat for example is temporarily restricted to an interval of time within each day of the month. In addition, this sacred and blessed month is the only month referred to by name in the Quran, without ever being called haram.

More subtly, 9:28 speaks of a 4months truce related to fighting only, not to the permissibility or not to enter the masjid. That is why, during these 4 months the treaty violators are allowed to freely roam the land 9:2. At the end of that truce, these specific pagans who broke the agreements are to be fought wherever they are found, and this includes in case they are in masjid al haram.

The others pagans, those spoken of in the sura that have been truthful to their pledges and with whom there are different terms to observe and respect 9:4,7 they can still have access to the masjid after the truce, but even they will eventually be banned from entering it, and this ban will be enforced at the end of the year in which this particular proclamation is made. It was made after the hajj season.

In other words the 4months truce ends after the 4 hajj months, when Muharram has passed, after which fighting can resume with the belligerent elements among the polytheists only, while the others, those that respected the agreements will be left free until the end of the year (Safar until the end of Dhul hijjah).