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The exact date of the Prophet's birth(Peace be upon him)
SynopsisThe Prophets birth was recorded according to the then
existing calendar as 12th Rabiul
Awwal Monday in the Elephant year. The calculated date according
to AD is 2 !"!#$1AD.
This date does not correspond to 12!%!#%&'. The author
inspects this and gi(es a )ethod*or calculating the correct date o*
the Prophets birth. Those interested )ay try it and +nowthe
truth.The exact date of the Prophet's birth,Peace be upon hi)-The
exact date of the Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) birth has not
beendetermined so far and we do not know the correct date of his
birth accordingto the Christian calendar. Historians and
astronomers who had worked on thissub ect in the past ha!e gi!en
!arious dates for the Prophet"#$s birth. %!enthe famous
%nc&clopedia ritannica gi!es doubtful dates and puts a
uestionmark as to the &ear of his birth. rom this it is
clearl& known that the world isnot sure of the date on which
the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)* who claimed tobe the last of the
prophets* was born.
The commonl& accepted date for the Prophet"#$s birth is +,th
-pril /0 -1. 2tis said that the famous astronomer Mahmood Pasha of
%g&pt* who li!ed in the03th centur&* calculated this date.
Calculations re!eal that this date does nottall& with the date
recorded according to the -rabic calendar* which was sameas the
Hebrew calendar. The date of the Prophet's birth according to
thatcalendar is 0+th of 4abiul -wwal of the %lephant %ra.
The historic records sa& that the Christians had build a
church in order toattract the -rabs* but the 5a"#$aba attracted
more attention than the newl&built place of worship and -braha*
the 6o!ernor of 7emen* came to Mecca todestro& the 5a"#$aba*
the long re!ered place of worship of the -rabs. Hebrought an
elephant to facilitate the task. ut his plans were foiled and
allended in a disaster. The Hol& 8ur"#$an refers to this e!ent
in the chapter0, . 2t is recorded that the Prophet was born after
da&s of the e!ent*which occurred on the 0/th of Muharram in the
&ear /, -1.
The examination of the scientific records of the phases of the
moon for the&ear /, -1 re!eals that this date is Monda& the
th of Ma& /, -1. Themoon was eclipsed on Tuesda& the 9th of
Ma& /, ust before the infantMuhammad (pbuh) completed the first
da& of his life on the %arth: -ccording to the songs remembered
since time immemorial* it is Monda&* the0+th of 4abiul -wwal.
-t that time their calendar had a fixed number of da&sfor the
twel!e months; Muharram*
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calendar in which the dates must tall& with the phases of
the Moon.
The -rabic calendar is better than man& others of its kind*
because the erroraccumulated in +,,, &ears in it is onl&
one da&. The =ews use this calendare!en toda&.
2slam does not accept e!en this minute error in recording time.
- mistake inrecording historic e!ents can create a lot of confusion
to the posterit&. Theerror in calculating the date of the
Prophet"#$s birth is onl& due to thisconfusion. 2t had baffled
e!en the renowned astronomers and their calculationsha!e gone
wrong. People are made to belie!e a falsehood about the Prophet:How
can 2slam* which is the perfect code of life for mankind* tolerate
such aserious mistakeB ul 8aid* >ul ha * Muharram and 4a ab. The
8ur"#$an explainsthis automatic cease fire arrangement in the !erse
3E?9. -ll wars must ceasein these months* which allows a warring
people enough time to think of theafter effects of a war. The
Prophet abolished the use of a leap &ear andordered them to use
the dates of the natural calendar* which depended strictl&on
the ManFils (the phases) of the Moon. He wanted the calendar to be
full&natural so that there will not be an& ad ustments and
confusion in future. -llother calendars need periodical ad ustments
known as intercalation (Gasie)which is forbidden in the
8ur'an.(3E?/)
The 6regorian calendar* now in !ogue in the world for recording
the dates of
e!ents in histor& is not scientific. 2t accumulates errors
in course of time andthe accumulated da&s ha!e to be remo!ed at
inter!als. Dhene!er this is done*the method of calculation would
change and the calendar must be renamed.The present calendar was
known as the =ulian calendar in the beginning. 2n0 @+ -1 the Pope
6regor& 0? reformed it after remo!ing 0, da&s* which
hadaccumulated in that calendar b& then. 2t was renamed as the
6regoriancalendar.
The calculation methods in =ulian and 6regorian periods are
different.
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whether this date is correct b& simple calculations. The
date of theProphet"#$s demise is recorded correctl&* for he was
famous when he passedawa&* on Monda& the @th of =une 9?+ -1
corresponding to the 0+th of 4abiul-wwal in the -rabic calendar.
The span of the Prophet"#$s life can becalculated under two
calendars. The number of da&s in both the calendarsshould be
same if the dates are correct. 2t should be remembered that the
0+th of the -rabic calendar corresponds to the 0Ath of the
2slamic calendar. 1emiseE ,@ ,9 ,9?+ -1 J 0+ ,? ,,00 -H irthE +, ,A
, /0 -1 J 0+ ,? ,, ? H K He passed awa& on Monda& in the
middle of 4abiul -wwal (full moon) K Hi ra took place in 4abiul
-wwal after ? &ears of the %lephant %ra. Gow this has to be
con!erted in to da&s to see whether both are e ual. Thenumber
of da&s in the Christian and the -rabic &ear is ?9 .+ (?9
.+A++ truefigure to be used for long periods) and ? A.?9/0 da&s
respecti!el&.ThereforeE -H 9A x ? A.?9/0 J ++9/3.A3 da&s -1
90 x ?9 .+ L , J ++??3.+ da&s 1ifference J ?A,.+A da&s This
difference of ?A,.+A da&s is because the dates in both the
calendars arenot correct. Therefore the mistake must be in the
calculation of the =ulian datefor the Prophet"#$s birth. Gow we can
examine the Prophet"#$s date of birth (, , , /, -1)which we ha!e
arri!ed at b& following the ancient historic records. 1emiseE
,@ ,9 ,9?+ -1 J 0+ ,? ,,00 -H irth E , , , /, -1 J 0+ ,? ,, ? H
,? ,0 ,,9+ &ears J ,, ,, ,,9A &earsGow let us con!ert
this in to da&s so that both could be compared 9+ x ?9 .+ L ?0
L? J ++9/3. ,, da&s -ccording to Christian %ra 9A x ? A.?9/0 J
++9/3.A3A da&s -ccording to Muslim %ra.The absence of
disparit& pro!es that both the dates are correct.
Gow we can cross check this b& using another method of
calculation and see ifwe can get the same date. The Prophet"#$s
migration (Hi ra) to Madeenah isan important e!ent in the
histor&. This is called the Hi ra and Hi ra %ra beganwith this
incident. The Prophet was ? &ears old at that time. De can take
thedate of Miladunnabi of 0333 for this calculation.1ate of
Miladunnabi of 0333 J +/ ,9 0333-1 J 0A ,? 0A+,-H
Hi ra %ra attained 0A+, lunar &ear on +/ ,9 0333.
