Is It Correct to Designate December as a Month of Sorrow in Islam?

Designating December as a Month of Sorrow: Is This Permissible in Islam? | Understanding Islamic Views on Mourning

Question: Many people consider December to be a month of sorrow. Is it correct to designate a specific month as a month of sorrow?

Answer: Muslims have no connection with the month of December because it is an English month, and English months have no relation to Islam. Islam is connected with the Arabic calendar. In the Arabic calendar, there is no day or month designated for sorrow. Muslims who designate any date or month as a day of sorrow are opposing Shariah and imitating non-Muslims. During the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), he faced many hardships, but he never designated any month, day, or time as a time of sorrow, nor did he instruct his followers to observe any kind of mourning. Islam commands celebrating happiness, but there is no command to observe sorrow. Mourning is actually a practice of non-Muslims, and we are prohibited from imitating non-Muslims. Those who imitate non-Muslims are considered part of them.

It should be noted that some historians have referred to the year in which the Prophet’s uncle Abu Talib and his wife Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) passed away as the “Year of Sorrow” (عام الحزن). However, this term is not correct because there is no evidence for it in the Quran and Sunnah.

 Sheikh Maqbool Ahmed Salafi (may Allah preserve him)

❪Jeddah Dawah Center, Hayy Al-Salamah – Saudi Arabia❫