Haji (month)

Haji is the Achehnese name for the twelfth month of the Mohammedan year — Arabic Du’l-ḥijjah (also written Dhu al-Hijjah), known in Achehnese also as Doy Hijah. C. Snouck Hurgronje records the name in the calendar of Achehnese months given in The Achehnese, where the Arabic names of the months are matched with their Achehnese popular equivalents.

Place in the Calendar

The Mohammedan year, as observed in Acheh, comprises twelve lunar months, whose Arabic names and Achehnese equivalents are:

1. Muḥarram — Achehnese Asan-Usén (also the month of the kanduri Ashura)
2. Ṣafar — Achehnese Sapha
3. Rabī’ al-awwal — Achehnese Mo’lot (month of the birth of the Prophet)
4. Rabī’ al-ākhir — Achehnese Adbe Mo’lot (“Younger Brother of Mo’lot”)
5. Jumādā al-awwal — Achehnese Mo’lot Seumeulheueh (“Final Mo’lot”)
6. Jumādā al-akhir — Achehnese Kanduri boh kayee (“kanduri of fruits”)
7. Rajab — Achehnese Kanduri Apam (also Rajab or Ra’jab); includes the kanduri Aja Eseutiri
8. Sha’bān — Achehnese Kanduri Bu (also Cha’ban or Saban)
9. Ramaḍān — Achehnese Puasa (the fasting month, also Kamalang or Ramalan)
10. Shawwāl — Achehnese Urôë Raya (the feasting month, also Chaweuët)
11. Dū al-Qa’dah — Achehnese Meuapèt (“pinched, shut in”; also Doy Ka’idah)
12. Dū al-Ḥijjah — Achehnese Haji (also Doy Hijah)

The Month of the Pilgrimage

The Achehnese name Haji directly translates the Arabic Dū al-Ḥijjah, “the possessor of the pilgrimage,” so called because the annual pilgrimage to Mecca is performed in its first ten days. The great feast of the sacrifice, the ‘Īd al-aḍḥā — known in Achehnese as the feast of the sacrifices — falls on the 10th day of this month, and the three following days are the Tashrīq days. These dates constitute the Hajj proper, the central act of which is the sacrifice commemorating the submission of Abraham.

Local Observance

In Acheh, the month of the pilgrimage is observed chiefly by those who are themselves making the journey to Mecca, by the family and dependents of intending pilgrims, and by the religious officials who superintend the slaughter of the sacrificial animals on the 10th day. The uleebalang derives part of his income from the fees paid for the certificates required for the issue of passports and those for the haj, so that the approach of the month of the pilgrimage brings with it a small annual harvest to the territorial chiefs. The non-pilgrim Achehnese who can afford it performs the sacrifice at home, and the meat is distributed according to the rules of the Mohammedan law — a third to the household, a third to friends, and a third to the poor.

See Also

• Hajj
• Haj
• Hari Raya Kurban
• Maulud
• Puasa
• Kanduri Bu
• Kanduri Apam
• Kanduri Aja Bseutiri

Source

The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.