The Revolution of the Prophet

THE REVOLUTION OF THE PROPHET occurred in the month of Ramadan, A.H. 8. The Prophet was now the ruler of the whole of Arabia. He could have put an immediate end to all the Quraysh’s innovations. But instead, he bided his time. There were just two years remaining until the completion of the full thirty-three-year course of nasi’. The Prophet waited for these two years, and although he was the conqueror of Makkah, he did not perform Hajj during that time. Only in the third year after the conquest of Makkah (A.H. 10) did he participate in the pilgrimage. That was the year when Hajj was performed on the correct date of Dhu’l-Hijjah, in accordance with the system established by Abraham. This was the Prophet’s farewell pilgrimage, and during it, he announced that, in future, Hajj would be conducted the same way as in that year. Thus he ended the manipulation of the lunar calendar for all time. “Time has run its full course,” he announced. “It is now in the same position as when God created the heavens and the earth. And there are twelve months to a year in the sight of God.”69 There was a profound reason for the Prophet’s delay in introducing this reform. People who have adhered to a particular religious practice for many years consider it sacred and find it extremely difficult to change their thinking. In two years, Hajj would fall on the day desired by the Prophet, so he avoided taking any premature initiatives, which would have made an issue of the matter. When the time came for Hajj to fall naturally on its proper day, he announced that this was the right day of the year for Hajj to