Question:
History says that on Muharram 10, Prophetﷺ Musa was saved from Pharaoh. But the Hijri calendar was established during Prophetﷺ Muhammad’s time. How does this calendar apply to Musa’s time?
Answer:
This is a good question. If Musa was saved on Muharram 10, then Musa or his people must have known Muharram. Otherwise, how can we say Muharram 10? For example, if someone is born on a date in one calendar, we can calculate the equivalent date in another calendar by conversion.
Globally, the calendar system has been observed in different regions and yet the calculations were in par with other regions. Similarly, the Jews preserved the date of Musa’s rescue in their own calendar. When they migrated to Madinah, they compared their calendar with the Arabic calendar and calculated the equivalent date, which corresponded to Muharram 10.
So Muharram already existed before Islam. The Arabs used these months even before Islam. Islam did not create Muharram; it confirmed existing months. When the Jews came to Madinah, they continued to observe the day Musa was saved. They calculated its equivalent in the Arabic calendar and observed fasting on Muharram 10.
When the Prophetﷺ saw them fasting, he asked why. They said it was the day Musa(Alahis Salam) was saved. The Prophetﷺ accepted this and said Muslims have more right to Musa and encouraged fasting. So Muharram 10 was determined by converting their calendar date into the Arabic lunar calendar. There is no confusion in this.