When Muhammad was piecing together his new religion, he borrowed heavily from Judaism and Christianity. He lifted the idea of a single God, prophets, and angels straight from them. But for political clout among the Arabs, he kept hold of the Ka’aba and Hajj pilgrimage—stuff that already carried weight in the region.
One old Arab habit was marking four “sacred months” out of the twelve lunar ones, where fighting and raiding trade caravans was off-limits. This wasn’t some divine spark; it was pure economics. Caravans could roll safely during those peaceful stretches, letting tribes swap goods without getting looted.
The pre-Islamic Arabs cooked up this system themselves to keep trade humming, later slapping it onto their idol gods as if the statues had ordered a no-bloodshed truce. They ran on a lunar calendar too—flawed as hell, clocking in 10-11 days short of the solar year. That mess screwed with everything: Hajj might land in scorching summer or freezing winter, and weather-sensitive trades (spices, fabrics) got wrecked in off-seasons.
The Jews had the same lunar setup but fixed it smartly: every three years, they’d tack on an extra month to sync with the solar cycle. Even the pagan Arabs picked up this trick from their Jewish neighbors, shuffling the sacred months around to match good weather for Hajj and trade.
But the Quran’s author (Muhammad) didn’t just stick with the busted lunar calendar—he banned tweaking those sacred months too. Why? Because he was neck-deep in that ignorant Arab culture, with no all-knowing God upstairs to set him straight. Double whammy in the Quran:
Quran 9:36-37 “Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allah since the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four months are sacred. That is the correct religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them. And fight against the disbelievers collectively as they fight against you collectively. And know that Allah is with the righteous [who fear Him]. Indeed, the postponing [of sacred months] is an increase in disbelief by which those who have disbelieved are led [further] astray. They make it lawful one year and unlawful another year to correspond to the number made unlawful by Allah and [thus] make lawful what Allah has made unlawful.”
No divine smarts here—just Muhammad fumbling:
- First blunder: He locked in the defective lunar calendar over the superior solar one (which existed elsewhere, but Arabs like him were clueless about solar years). (Note: Solar calendars were around globally by Muhammad’s time, but his desert bubble kept him in the dark.)
- Second whopper: He claimed these 12 months were baked into the universe from creation day.
Come on—how?
- No Earth, Moon, days, nights, or months at the Big Bang.
- Earth formed 9 billion years after the universe kicked off.
- Moon showed up even later, after Earth.
So the “cosmic system” orbiting 12 lunar months from eternity? Laughable. Muhammad had zero clue about cosmology. Heck, even the solar year has zilch to do with “heavens” since the Sun wasn’t around at creation either.
Why pick these 4 months as “sacred”?
Muslims have scratched their heads for 1,400 years over why these specific four—Dhul-Qa’dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab—got the holy tag. Ramadan? Not even on the list.
Three run back-to-back (Dhul-Qa’dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram) for safe Hajj caravans. Rajab covered the Umrah trade run to the Ka’aba.
Pre-Islam, raiding was life—tribes hit caravans for loot. Sacred months? Truce time for business. But Islam unified Arabia under one banner—no more raids year-round. Sacred months became pointless relics.
So why didn’t an all-wise Allah make all 12 months sacred, banning war and looting full-stop? Half-measures make zero sense for a God. Why greenlight bloodshed eight months a year?
Post-unification, no one raids anyway, so modern Muslims barely grasp these months. Truth: they’re tied to Arabian weather and trade, not eternity. If Allah decreed them from creation, why no mention in Jewish/Christian texts? No Hajj, Umrah, 12 lunar months, or sacred quartet there—because Jews/Christians skipped annual pilgrimages.
The lunar gig was global in ignorance days, but only pagan Arabs needed sacred months for their Hajj hustle. Everyone else? Nah.
Apologists’ Cop-Out: “Lunar Calendar Breaks Bad Habits”
They claim it’s no flaw—Allah picked lunar on purpose to shake routines, forcing Hajj in brutal weather and fasting in heat or cold. Builds character, see?
Bunk. Allah never said that; apologists cooked it up later.
If “repetition” is evil, why does nature loop seasons? Why do crops sync to them? Birds migrate on solar cue? Nature mixes repeat and variety—longer summer days mean later bedtimes, seasonal prayer shifts.
Repetition is key: annual cycles feed crops, trade, life. Bucking nature wrecks farms (can’t ditch fields for Hajj). Islam’s “challenge” just means misery—Hajj in 50°C or blizzards? Divine prank?
The Weekly System: Islam’s Borrowed Flop
Dividing a 29.53-day lunar month into four weeks? Math fail—can’t slice evenly.
Lunar year traces to Sumerians, baked into Babylonian calendars (21st century BCE). They split months into four seven-day chunks (phases: full, waning half, new, waxing half), padding the end. Seven tied to visible “bodies”: Sun, Moon, five planets.
Islam aped it—lunar roots from Sumer/Babylon, ignorance-era holdover. Jews picked Saturday sacred (Shabbat); Islam grabbed Friday. Muhammad claimed Friday was holy for prior nations, but they “deviated.”
Sahih Muslim, Hadith 856b “Allah’s Messenger said: We were guided to Friday, but those before us were diverted from it.”
He even said Adam was created, booted from Eden, and died on Friday.
Sahih Muslim, Hadith 854b “The best day the sun rose on is Friday: Adam created, entered Paradise, expelled, and the Hour will be on no other day.”
Wrapping It Up
Muhammad’s lunar lock-in and sacred-month freeze? Borrowed ignorance, no divine glow-up. Jews fixed their lunisolar with leap months every few years. Arabs cribbed it pre-Islam for weather-sync. But Quran banned tweaks (9:37), calling it “disbelief increase.” Result: drifting seasons, botched Hajj timing.
Cosmic 12-month claim from “creation”? Universe predates Earth/Moon by billions—pure fantasy. Sacred months? Pagan trade hack, not eternal edict. Week? Sumerian leftover.
No God upstairs—just a man remixing old Arab/Jewish scraps, flaws and all. Islam’s “perfect” calendar? A relic of ignorance, dragging believers into seasonal chaos.
