Calendar · a Light

Four months of the twelve were declared off limits for war

The Qur'an states that the number of months with Allah is twelve, fixed on the day He created the heavens and the earth, and that four of them are sacred. The four are Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab, three consecutive and one standing alone. The truce they carried was older than Islam and was kept by tribes who agreed on very little else. Caravans moved, pilgrims travelled, and blood feuds paused for a quarter of every year. The verse confirms the arrangement rather than creating it. It is an early example of a calendar doing the work of a peace treaty, in a place where no authority was strong enough to enforce one.

Surah At-Tawbah, verse 36

Source · Qur'an 9:36