The migration of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Median was accepted as the basis of the Islamic calendar, which starts with the first day of the month of Muharram, the anniversary of emigration from Mecca to Medina is being performed among Muslims as the Hejira New Year.

The migration [Hejira] of Muslims from Mecca to Medina, which was a milestone for Muslims, has opened a new chapter in history. The day of the anniversary of the Hejira in the period of the reign of Omar was deemed to be the beginning of the Hejira calendar with the proposal of Ali. From that day onwards, Muharram 1 was accepted as the beginning of the Hejira calendar in the Islamic world.

Mehmet Şenlik, Deputy Chairman of İttihad-ul Ulama [Union of Scholars], paid attention to the strengthening of Islam after the emigration of Prophet Muhammad with Abu Bakr to Medina.

Şenlik, which stated that the movement of state formation, organization and communion began with the migration, "Great events took place after the Hejira. The brotherhood principle, taking every decision in the masjid, turning the masjid into a base, the arrangement of all military movements with the directorship Prophet Muhammad, all have been done after the Hejira."

"The Islamic Brotherhood has been pushed back and forgotten"

Emphasizing that nationalism came forwards nowadays due to the disorganization of the Ummah, Şenlik said, "The Islamic Brotherhood has been pushed back and forgotten. We have to be back to our essence in order to overcome this. Returning to the essence means is the spirit of brotherhood, which Prophet Muhammad has established between Ansar [people from Medina who helped immigrated Muslims] and Muhajir [immigrants]. Just because we have forgotten the spirit of 'children of Islam', we keep calling each other as 'I am an Arab, I am a Persian, I am a Turk, I am a Kurd'."

"There are important events in the month of Muharram"

Şenlik stated that after the declaration that Hejira as a New Year's Eve, events were dated according to this order, added, "But they did not celebrate this year as a feast of festivals. The eve of Hejira is the first day of Muharram. The month of Muharram has a virtue in Islam. According to some scholars, the most virtuous day is the eve of Eid, according to some other scholars it is the day of Friday, and according to some other scholars, the day of Ashura is the most virtuous day. There are important events took place in Muharram. The ship of Noah has stranding on the day of Ashura. The repent of Adam had been accepted on this day. Prophet Yusuf had been freed from jail on this day. And Moses passed through the Red Sea on this day and escaped from the Pharaoh. Therefore, other beliefs also celebrate the day of Ashura. Because Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad was martyred on this day, Hussein comes to mind when talking about the day of Ashura. In this way, Ashura has changed its meaning. It turned into mourning day when it was the day of rejoicing and having fun." (ILKHA)