Tarikh (al-Tabari) 890
The Prophet's emigration ﷺ
اتَّفَقَ الصَّحَابَةُ ؓ فِي سَنَةِ سِتَّ عَشْرَةَ - وَقِيلَ: سَنَةَ سَبْعَ عَشْرَةَ أَوْ ثَمَانِيَ عَشْرَةَ - فِي الدَّوْلَةِ الْعُمَرِيَّةِ عَلَى جَعْلِ ابْتِدَاءِ التَّارِيخِ الْإِسْلَامِيِّ مِنْ سَنَةِ الْهِجْرَ ةِ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عُمَرَ ؓ، رُفِعَ إِلَيْهِ صَكٌّ، أَيْ حُجَّةٌ، لِرَجُلٍ عَلَى آخَرَ، وَفِيهِ أَنَّهُ يَحِلُّ عَلَيْهِ فِي شَعْبَانَ، فَقَالَ عُمَرُ: أَيُّ شَعْبَانَ ؟ أَشَعْبَانُ هَذِهِ السَّنَةِ الَّتِي نَحْنُ فِيهَا، أَوِ السَّنَةِ الْمَاضِيَةِ، أَوِ الْآتِيَةِ ؟ ثُمَّ جَمَعَ الصَّحَابَةَ فَاسْتَشَارَهُمْ فِي وَضْعِ تَأَرِيخٍ يَتَعَرَّفُونَ بِهِ حُلُولَ الدُّيُونِ، وَغَيْرَ ذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ قَائِلٌ: أَرِّخُوا كَتَارِيخِ الْفُرْسِ. فَكَرِهَ ذَلِكَ، وَكَانَتِ الْفُرْسُ يُؤَرِّخُونَ بِمُلُوكِهِمْ وَاحِدًا بَعْدَ وَاحِدٍ. وَقَالَ قَائِلٌ: أَرِّخُوا بِتَارِيخِ الرُّومِ. وَكَانُوا يُؤَرِّخُونَ بِمُلْكِ إِسْكَنْدَرَ بْنِ فِيلِيبُّسَ الْمَقْدُونِيِّ، فَكَرِهَ ذَلِكَ. وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ: أَرِّخُوا بِمَوْلِدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ. وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ: بَلْ بِمَبْعَثِهِ. وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ: بَلْ بِهِجْرَتِهِ. وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ: بَلْ بِوَفَاتِهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ. فَمَالَ عُمَرُ ؓ، إِلَى التَّأْرِيخِ بِالْهِجْرَةِ لِظُهُورِهِ وَاشْتِهَارِهِ وَاتَّفَقُوا مَعَهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ. وَقَالَ الْبُخَارِيُّ فِي " صَحِيحِهِ ": التَّارِيخُ وَمَتَى أَرَّخُوا التَّارِيخَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مَسْلَمَةَ، ثَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، قَالَ: مَا عَدُّوا مِنْ مَبْعَثِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ وَلَا مِنْ وَفَاتِهِ، مَا عَدُّوا إِلَّا مِنْ مَقْدَمِهِ الْمَدِينَةَ. وَقَالَ الْوَاقِدِيُّ: حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ: اسْتَشَارَ عُمَرُ فِي التَّأْرِيخِ فَأَجْمَعُوا عَلَى الْهِجْرَةِ. وَقَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ الطَّيَالِسِيُّ، عَنْ قُرَّةَ بْنِ خَالِدٍ السَّدُوسِيِّ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِيرِينَ، قَالَ: قَامَ رَجُلٌ إِلَى عُمَرَ فَقَالَ: أَرِّخُوا. فَقَالَ: مَا أَرِّخُوا ؟ فَقَالَ: شَيْءٌ تَفْعَلُهُ الْأَعَاجِمُ يَكْتُبُونَ: فِي شَهْرِ كَذَا مِنْ سَنَةِ كَذَا. فَقَالَ عُمَرُ: حَسَنٌ فَأَرِّخُوا. فَقَالُوا: مِنْ أَيِّ السِّنِينَ نَبْدَأُ ؟ فَقَالُوا: مِنْ مَبْعَثِهِ. وَقَالُوا: مِنْ وَفَاتِهِ. ثُمَّ أَجْمَعُوا عَلَى الْهِجْرَةِ، ثُمَّ قَالُوا: وَأَيَّ الشُّهُورِ نَبْدَأُ ؟ فَقَالُوا: رَمَضَانَ. ثُمَّ قَالُوا: الْمُحَرَّمَ فَهُوَ مُنْصَرَفُ النَّاسِ مِنْ حَجِّهِمْ وَهُوَ شَهْرٌ حَرَامٌ. فَاجْتَمَعُوا عَلَى الْمُحَرَّمِ. وَقَالَ ابْنُ جَرِيرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، ثَنَا نُوحُ بْنُ قَيْسٍ الطَّاحِيُّ، عَنْ عُثْمَانَ بْنِ مِحْصَنٍ، أَنَّ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ كَانَ يَقُولُ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: وَالْفَجْرِ وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ [ الْفَجْرِ: 2، 1 ]. هُوَ الْمُحَرَّمُ فَجْرُ السَّنَةِ. وَرَوَى عَنْ عُبَيْدِ بْنِ عُمَيْرٍ قَالَ: إِنَّ الْمُحَرَّمَ شَهْرُ اللَّهِ، وَهُوَ رَأْسُ السَّنَةِ، يُكْسَى بِهِ الْبَيْتُ، وَيُؤَرِّخُ بِهِ النَّاسُ، وَيُضْرَبُ فِيهِ الْوَرِقُ. وَقَالَ أَحْمَدُ: حَدَّثَنَا رَوْحُ بْنُ عُبَادَةَ، ثَنَا زَكَرِيَّا بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ دِينَارٍ، قَالَ: إِنَّ أَوَّلَ مَنْ أَرَّخَ الْكُتُبَ يَعْلَى بْنُ أُمَيَّةَ بِالْيَمَنِ، وَإِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَدِمَ الْمَدِينَةَ فِي رَبِيعٍ الْأَوَّلِ وَإِنَّ النَّاسَ أَرَّخُوا لِأَوَّلِ السَّنَةِ. وَرَوَى مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، وَعَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ صَالِحٍ، عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ، أَنَّهُمَا قَالَا: أَرَّخَ بَنُو إِسْمَاعِيلَ مِنْ نَارِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، ثُمَّ أَرَّخُوا مِنْ بُنْيَانِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ الْبَيْتَ، ثُمَّ أَرَّخُوا مِنْ مَوْتِ كَعْبِ بْنِ لُؤَيٍّ، ثُمَّ أَرَّخُوا مِنَ الْفِيلِ، ثُمَّ أَرَّخَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ مِنَ الْهِجْرَةِ، وَذَلِكَ سَنَةَ سَبْعَ عَشْرَةَ أَوْ ثَمَانِيَ عَشْرَةَ وَقَدْ ذَكَرْنَا هَذَا الْفَصْلَ مُحَرَّرًا بِأَسَانِيدِهِ وَطُرُقِهِ فِي " السِّيرَةِ الْعُمَرِيَّةِ ". وَلِلَّهِ الْحَمْدُ. وَالْمَقْصُودُ أَنَّهُمْ جَعَلُوا ابْتِدَاءَ التَّارِيخِ الْإِسْلَامِيِّ مِنْ سَنَةِ الْهِجْرَةِ، وَجَعَلُوا أَوَّلَهَا مِنَ الْمُحَرَّمِ، فِيمَا اشْتُهِرَ عَنْهُمْ، وَهَذَا هُوَ قَوْلُ جُمْهُورِ الْأَئِمَّةِ. وَحَكَى السُّهَيْلِيُّ وَغَيْرُهُ، عَنِ الْإِمَامِ مَالِكٍ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: أَوَّلُ السَّنَةِ الْإِسْلَامِيَّةِ رَبِيعٌ الْأَوَّلُ; لِأَنَّهُ الشَّهْرُ الَّذِي هَاجَرَ فِيهِ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ. وَقَدِ اسْتَدَلَّ السُّهَيْلِيُّ عَلَى ذَلِكَ فِي مَوْضِعٍ آخَرَ، بِقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى لَمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى التَّقْوَى مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ [ التَّوْبَةِ: 108 ] أَيْ; مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمِ حُلُولِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ الْمَدِينَةَ وَهُوَ أَوَّلُ يَوْمٍ مِنَ التَّارِيخِ، كَمَا اتَّفَقَ الصَّحَابَةُ عَلَى أَوَّلِ سِنِيِّ التَّارِيخِ عَامَ الْهِجْرَةِ. وَلَا شَكَّ أَنَّ هَذَا الَّذِي قَالَهُ الْإِمَامُ مَالِكٌ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ مُنَاسِبٌ، وَلَكِنَّ الْعَمَلَ عَلَى خِلَافِهِ، وَذَلِكَ لِأَنَّ أَوَّلَ شُهُورِ الْعَرَبِ الْمُحَرَّمُ، فَجَعَلُوا السَّنَةَ الْأُولَى سَنَةَ الْهِجْرَةِ، وَجَعَلُوا أَوَّلَهَا الْمُحَرَّمَ كَمَا هُوَ الْمَعْرُوفُ; لِئَلَّا يَخْتَلِطَ النِّظَامُ.
Translation
✧ The Companions ؓ agreed in the year sixteen—and it is said: in the year seventeen or eighteen—during the ʿUmarī state to make the beginning of the Islamic calendar from the year of the Hijrah. This was because a deed, that is, a legal instrument, was brought before the Commander of the Faithful ʿUmar ؓ, in which one man had a claim against another, and it stated that it was due in Shaʿbān. So ʿUmar said: Which Shaʿbān? Is it Shaʿbān of this year in which we are, or of the past year, or of the coming year? Then he assembled the Companions and consulted them about establishing a dating system by which they could know the due dates of debts and other matters. One person said: Date as the Persians date. He disliked that, for the Persians dated by their kings, one after another. Another said: Date by the calendar of the Romans. They used to date by the reign of Alexander son of Philip the Macedonian. He disliked that. Others said: Date from the birth of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Others said: Rather, from his sending as a prophet. Others said: Rather, from his emigration. Others said: Rather, from his death ﷺ. ʿUmar ؓ inclined toward dating by the Hijrah because of its clarity and fame, and they agreed with him on that. Al-Bukhārī said in his Ṣaḥīḥ: The calendar and when they began dating: ʿAbd Allāh b. Maslamah narrated to us; ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us, from his father, from Sahl b. Saʿd, who said: They did not count from the sending of the Prophet ﷺ, nor from his death; they counted only from his arrival in Madinah. Al-Wāqidī said: Ibn Abī al-Zinād narrated to us, from his father, who said: ʿUmar consulted about the calendar, and they unanimously agreed on the Hijrah. Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī said, from Qurrah b. Khālid al-Sadūsī, from Muḥammad b. Sīrīn, who said: A man stood up to ʿUmar and said: Date. He said: How date? He said: Something the non-Arabs do; they write: in such-and-such a month of such-and-such a year. ʿUmar said: Good, so date. They said: From which year shall we begin? Some said: From his sending. Others said: From his death. Then they unanimously agreed on the Hijrah. Then they said: With which month shall we begin? Some said: Ramaḍān. Then they said: Al-Muḥarram, for it is when the people return from their pilgrimage, and it is a sacred month. So they agreed upon al-Muḥarram. Ibn Jarīr said: Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl narrated to us; Qutaybah narrated to us; Nūḥ b. Qays al-Ṭāḥī narrated to us, from ʿUthmān b. Miḥṣan, that Ibn ʿAbbās used to say regarding His saying, exalted be He: "By the dawn and the ten nights" [al-Fajr: 1–2]: It is al-Muḥarram, the dawn of the year. And it is related from ʿUbayd b. ʿUmayr who said: Indeed al-Muḥarram is the month of Allah, and it is the head of the year; with it the House is clothed, and by it people date, and in it silver is minted. Aḥmad said: Rawḥ b. ʿUbādah narrated to us; Zakariyyā b. Isḥāq narrated to us, from ʿAmr b. Dīnār, who said: The first person to date documents was Yaʿlā b. Umayyah in Yemen, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Madinah in Rabīʿ al-Awwal, and the people dated from the beginning of the year. Muḥammad b. Isḥāq related, from al-Zuhrī, and from Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ, from al-Shaʿbī, that they both said: The descendants of Ismāʿīl dated from the fire of Ibrāhīm; then they dated from the building of the House by Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl; then they dated from the death of Kaʿb b. Luʾayy; then they dated from the Elephant; then ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb dated from the Hijrah. That was in the year seventeen or eighteen. We have mentioned this section in its redacted form with its chains of transmission and paths in "al-Sīrah al-ʿUmariyyah." And to Allah belongs praise. The point is that they made the beginning of the Islamic calendar from the year of the Hijrah, and made its first month al-Muḥarram, as is well known from them. This is the saying of the majority of the imams. Al-Suhaylī and others related from Imam Mālik that he said: The first month of the Islamic year is Rabīʿ al-Awwal, because it is the month in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ emigrated. Al-Suhaylī adduced as evidence for that in another place the saying of the Exalted: "A mosque founded on piety from the first day" [al-Tawbah: 108]—that is, from the first day of the Prophet's ﷺ arrival in Madinah, which is the first day of the calendar, just as the Companions agreed on the first year of the calendar as the year of the Hijrah. There is no doubt that what Imam Mālik, may Allah have mercy on him, said is fitting, but the practice is contrary to it. That is because the first of the months of the Arabs is al-Muḥarram, so they made the first year the year of the Hijrah and made its beginning al-Muḥarram, as is well known, so that the system would not become confused.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.