| 26 December 2003
Current
calendar and its usage
Currently
the main official calendar of the Maldives is the Gregorian
calendar with the year counted in the Christian era.
While Christianity is illegal in the Maldives, it appears that Maldive officialdom would fall apart without the Christian era and a calendar instituted by the order of Pope Gregory XIII on 24 February 1582. As such, the Papal Bull inter gravissimas issued on that date holds the force of law in and over the Republic of the Maldives.
The civil and fiscal year corresponds
to the Gregorian calendar year. The current constitution
of the Maldives came into force on 1 January AD 1998-
the beginning of a calendar year. Political tenures
are measured in Gregorian years and the age of eligibility
to such office is also determined in Gregorian years.
Official letters and other documents
have reference numbers ending with the Christian year.
When a Gregorian date with the Christian
year is written in Divehi language documents, it is
conventional to add a Thaana (Maldive) letter meemu
(M) following the year, in much the same way as AD (Anno
Domini). The meemu stands for meelaadee
(which means "of birth" in Arabic) and refers
to the birth of Christ. This is probably the only way
official Maldives celebrates Christmas!
While Christianity is illegal in the Maldives, it appears that Maldive officialdom would fall apart without the Christian era and a calendar instituted by the order of Pope Gregory XIII on 24 February 1582. As such, the Papal Bull inter gravissimas issued on that date holds the force of law in and over the Republic of the Maldives.
| Christmas
Usually
most Maldivians are paranoid about even mentioning
the word Christmas in the presence of other Maldivians,
lest they be accused of being Christians.
At least one Maldive research student in New Zealand
makes it a point to be online using his university
account during most of Christmas day, probably
for fear that he may be accused of celebrating
the dreaded Christmas. The religious police back in
the Maldives would know that this student is not
out doing what he is not supposed to be on December 25.
Maldivians go to extraordinary lengths not to wish people "merry Christmas". They would wish you "season's greetings" and "happy new year" around Christmas. The irony is that when they say "happy new year" they are referring to the Christian new year. While they shun Christmas, they are quite happy to count years from the birth of Christ.
Christmas is marked in the Maldive tourist resorts.
In all walks of life, outsiders are shown a façade
of open-mindedness. |
Historic
Maldive calendars
From 1962 until about 1983 only the Gregorian calendar
and the Christian year were used for official purposes.
Under pressure from brotherly Arabs with petrodollars,
lip-service is now paid to the Islamic lunar calendar
of the Hegira (Islamic) era. A complete restoration
of the lunar calendar was deemed impractical because of
the clumsiness and unpredictability of the Islamic calendar.
With the current arrangement, brotherly Arabs are kept
happy and at the same time sanity of chronology prevails.
The current regime that conceived this duplicitous solution
must be credited for its pragmatism in this instance.
In 1959, the Gregorian calendar and the Christian year
were adopted for certain official purposes while still
retaining the clumsy Islamic lunar calendar. In 1962 the
Islamic calendar was abandoned altogether from official
use.
There is no doubt that the Islamic calendar was introduced
for ecclesiastical use with the Islamic conversion in
the twelfth century AD. However there is little evidence
as to when it was fully adopted for civil and official
use. Until 1933 when a written constitution was adopted
and the administration of government organised along much
the same lines as it is now, many official documents,
particularly those called Faiykolhu (royal edicts)
used the Islamic calendar but not the Hegira year. Years
were counted from the accession of the reigning monarch.
When the Islamic calendar was the only one used for official
purposes, the fiscal year began on 7 Rajab. All other
fiscal months too began on the seventh day. That way the
vagaries of the sighting of the new moon were circumvented.
The
Nakaiiy seasonal calendar
Largely as a result of the clumsiness of the Islamic calendar
Maldivians had found it necessary to retain a more sensible
pre-Islamic system to determine the seasons. This was
the Nakaiiy system which corresponds to the Gregorian
calendar.
There are 28 nakaiiy (literally constellation)
periods in the year. With some exceptions, most nakaiiy
bear the Maldive names of celestial constellations.
Each nakaiiy is either 13 or 14 days long. For a time,
a system of 29 nakaiiy was in use.
| Nakaiiy |
Starts
on |
Highlights |
| Assidha |
April 8 |
Westerly winds become predominant |
| Burunu |
April 22 |
|
| Kethi |
May 6 |
|
| Roanu |
May 20 |
|
| Miyaheliya |
June 3 |
|
| Adha |
June 17 |
|
| Funoas |
July 1 |
|
| Fus |
July 15 |
|
| Ahuliha |
July 29 |
|
| Maa |
August 11 |
|
| Fura |
August 24 |
|
| Uthura |
September 7 |
|
| Atha |
September 21 |
|
| Hitha |
October 4 |
|
| Hey |
October 18 |
|
| Vihaa |
November 1 |
Native sea birds hatch |
| Nora |
November 14 |
|
| Dhorha |
November 27 |
|
| Mula |
December 10 |
|
| Fura Halha |
December 23 |
Easterly winds become predominant |
| Uthura Halha |
January 6 |
|
| Huvan |
January 19 |
|
| Dhinarha |
February 1 |
|
| Hiyavihaa |
February 14 |
|
| Fura Badhuruva |
February 27 |
|
| Fas Badhuruva |
March 12 |
|
| Reyva |
March 26 |
|
| Curiously,
the easterly (mainly dry) season or the north
east monsoon called Iruvai begins
on the day after the northern winter solstice. |
|
By the middle of the last century, only one official occasion
was observed according to the Nakkaiy calendar even though
all Maldive calendars, even today, include the nakaaiy.
Badi-helun (handling of the cannons) ceremony
took place on Mula 3 (December 12). The royal militia
went on a war footing on that day. Fortification walls
were checked for repairs and the royal artillery hardware
received its annual service commencing on that day. Foreign
invaders who came from the neighbouring sub-continent
always took advantage of the prevailing easterly winds
between December and April.
Historic
examples of the inconvenience of the Islamic calendar
The Maldives was not the first Muslim country to recognise
the clumsiness of the Islamic lunar calendar.
In AD 1677 the Ottoman Empire adopted the Julian calendar
for civil use while still counting the years from the
fleeing of Mohamed from Mecca to Medina (Hegira). At
that time the large Christian populations of the Ottoman
Empire still used the Julian calendar. Under the Ottoman
system, the Julian month names (identical to the Gregorian
month names) were slightly Turkified but retained with
the new year's day falling on March (Mart)
1. This was called the Marti system in Turkish.
With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey adopted
the Christian era in 1921 while still retaining the
Julian calendar until 1927 when the Gregorian calendar
was adopted.
Persia (Iran) too, having experienced a more advanced
and civilised culture before being conquered and colonised
by Islam, found the Islamic calendar clumsy and anachronistic.
They modified and retained the old Persian calendar
(now called Jaloli) which corresponds to the
Gregorian calendar. The present Jaloli calendar was
devised in the 11th century AD by Omar Khayam
and others and adopted into official use by Shah
Reza of the Pahelavi Dynasty in 1925. The Persian month
names were retained while counting the years from the
Hegira. Iran (in spite of the mullahs) and Afghanistan
still observe the Jaloli calendar for civil and official
use. The Jaloli new year's day (1 Farvardin) falls on
21 March.
The Islamic
Calendar
Until the time of Mohamed, the Arabs
used a luni-solar calendar similar to that of the Jews.
Each month began at sunset on the day of the birth of
the new moon. A purely lunar year such as the Islamic
year is approximately 11 days shorter than the solar
(e.g.: Gregorian) year. For this reason the Arabs inserted
an intercalary (leap) month from time to time. The intercalation
was arbitrary and was abused by the priests and sheikhs
for pecuniary and fiscal advantage. This was justifiably
recognised as a grievance and a source of continued
exploitation.
In typical knee-jerk fashion the intercalary
month was abolished and the physical sighting of the
new moon by at least two male Muslims who are not slaves (or 4 non-menstrual female Muslims who are not slaves or prisoners of war kept for sex)
was instituted in the Sharia as evidence of the birth
of the new moon. These two factors made the Islamic
lunar calendar illogical for civil use.
The Islamic calendar is based on two verses of the Koran.
They are verses 36 and 37 of Surah el-Tawbah
according to the Usman version of the Koran shown below,
with translation by Yusuf Ali.
The number of months
in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year)- so
ordained by him the day he created the heavens
and the earth; of them four are sacred: that is
the straight usage. So wrong not yourselves therein,
and fight the Pagans all together as they fight
you all together. But know that Allah is with
those who restrain themselves. (36).
Verily the transposing (of a prohibited month)
is an addition to unbelief: the unbelievers are
led to wrong thereby: for they make it lawful
one year, and forbidden another year, in order
to adjust the number of months forbidden by Allah
and make such forbidden ones lawful. The evil
of their course seems pleasing to them. But Allah
guideth not those who reject faith (37). |
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