al-Nasīʾ (Intercalation)
النسيء
Al-Nasīʾ: shifting the sacred months to fit seasonal interests until the Hajj realigned in 10 AH — the Qurʾan abolished it as ‘an excess of disbelief’.
At a glance
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Tradition versus cultureSacred time
Overview
Nasi': the Jahiliyya's advancing and delaying of the sacred months to suit the needs of war and trade — until the hajj matched its truth in year ten, then the Qur'an abolished it.
The story
The people of the Jahiliyya would advance one month and delay another; they swapped the status of a sacred month with another month when war or work required it, and when they wanted the nasi' their people stood at the hajj season and profaned the sacred month and made Safar sacred 1.
This tampering continued until the hajj of year ten of the Hijra matched its truth, and the Prophet performed the Farewell Pilgrimage with the months on their original order 1.
In the Qur'an
He Almighty said: "The nasi' is only an increase in unbelief, by which those who disbelieve are led astray — they make it lawful one year and forbid it another, to agree with the number of what God has made sacred" (al-Tawba 37) 1.
For young visitors
People used to change the order of the sacred months whenever they wished; the Qur'an fixed the months to their unchanging number.
Connections
- Revealed in
- Qur'an 9:37
People and things also explored
al-Anwāʾ (Star Rains)Divining Arrowsal-Hāma (Vengeful Owl)al-HumsJāhilī Marriage FormsSoothsaying & AuguryMaysar (Gambling)Consecrated Livestock
Sources
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “al-Nasīʾ (Intercalation)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/nasi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.