Safar (Arabic: صَفَر, romanizedṢafar), also spelt as Safer in Turkish,[1] is the second month of the lunar Islamic calendar. The Arabic word ṣafar means "travel, migration", corresponding to the pre-Islamic Arabian time period when Muslims fled the oppression of Quraish in Mecca and travelled (mostly barefooted) to Madina.

Safar
Medina, the city to which Muhammad migrated from Mecca (see Hijrah)
Native nameصَفَر (Arabic)
CalendarIslamic calendar
Month number2
Number of days29 or 30 (depends on actual observation of the moon's crescent)
Significant daysHijrah

Most of the Islamic months were named according to ancient Sabean/Sabaic weather conditions; however, since the calendar is lunar, the months shift by about 11 days every solar year, meaning that these conditions do not necessarily correspond to the name of the month.

Timing

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The Islamic calendar is a purely lunar calendar, and its months begin when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. Since the Islamic lunar year is 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year, Safar migrates throughout the seasons. The estimated start and end dates for Safar are as follows (based on the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia[2]):

Safar dates between 2021 and 2025
AH First day (CE/AD) Last day (CE/AD)
1443 08 September 2021 06 October 2021
1444 28 August 2022 26 September 2022
1445 17 August 2023 15 September 2023
1446 05 August 2024 03 September 2024
1447 026 July 2025 023 August 2025

Islamic events

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References

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  1. ^ Yaşaroğlu, M.Kâmıl (2008). Safer - An article published in Turkish Encyclopedia of Islam (in Turkish). Vol. 35 (Resuliler - Sak). Istanbul: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. pp. 450–451. ISBN 978-97-53-89457-9. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  2. ^ Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia
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