Arabic historical references abound with discussion of what was called the month of Nasi', which the Holy Quran referred to in the verse: 'Indeed, the postponing [of the sacred months] is an increase in disbelief.'

Before Islam, Nasi' was used to adjust the timing of the beginning and end of the four seasons for those who used the lunar year, maintaining a permanent balance for agricultural seasons, winter and summer journeys, and harmonizing these with the solar year—to bridge the gap between the two calendars, which amounts to about 11 days each year. This prevented the seasons of the Hijri lunar year from falling out of their natural order, so that spring remained spring, cold months remained cold, Ramadan coincided with the hot summer (ramda), and Hajj occurred in the middle of winter at the end of the solar year.

To address this discrepancy, the pre-Islamic Arabs added a month they called Nasi'. They inserted it at the end of the year or after every three Arab years, aiming to close the gap between the lunar and solar years—an average of 11 days per year, about 33 days every three years—added to their calendars. Thus, agricultural, religious, and commercial seasons remained fixed in their times, the lunar year did not diverge from the solar year, and the seasons occurred in their natural times.

This practice is analogous to how the solar year is adjusted in the Gregorian calendar, where an extra day is added every fourth year, known as a leap year, making the Gregorian years uniform in all their components.

In the later period of the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) Islamic campaigns, some Arabian tribes began to manipulate the timing and meanings of that month, allowing them to postpone or prevent certain wars that fell during the sacred months (Dhu al-Qa'dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab). Then the noble verse was revealed: 'Indeed, the postponing [of the sacred months] is an increase in disbelief by which those who have disbelieved are led astray. They make it lawful one year and unlawful another year to correspond to the number made unlawful by Allah.' This led Muslims to forbid the existence of this month and completely abolish it. Consequently, the Hijri year became shorter than the solar year, and the timing of seasons shifted: spring months now occur in the middle of winter, Ramadan wanders from extreme cold to extreme heat, and the Hajj season no longer consistently falls in midwinter, sometimes occurring at the height of summer.

In truth, the reason I wrote about the month of Nasi' is an online interview I followed with the Egyptian historical thinker Youssef Ziedan, who spoke briefly about this month, criticized it, and attributed most of the problems experienced by Islamic countries to the removal of this month from the Hijri calendar!

Of course, I am not issuing a judgment here, nor am I engaging in legal permissibility or prohibition. I am merely raising this thorny topic as a kind of intellectual and awareness question about the reality of this month, the accuracy of what has been reported about it, and the effects of its abolition—which we indeed sense through the imbalance of our seasons and periods.

I raise my question here to the Muslim World League, hoping that they cease to sideline important fundamental issues that concern every Muslim on earth. I hope they will study this matter, correct any error if found, and confirm the truth in a scientific and practical manner, so that the Islamic world does not continue doubting the correctness of its seasons.

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