The Milwaukee Leader

THE MOHAMMEDAN YEAR.

Now that Christmas is past, we may look forward to the New Year -just a short time distant.

Each day that passes now will be a little longer-that is, the time will increase between sunrise and sunset. The increase of daylight is only two or three minutes a day; but it amounts to a good deal in a month. This increase will keep up until June 21 and 22. From the short days of December we pass to the long days of June.

Our New Year begins on Jan. 1, but it is not so in every part of the world.

The Moslems, for instance, will begin their next year on June 9. They are at present living in what they call "the year 1347."

The Moslem calendar dates from the time when a man named Mohammed stirred things up in Arabia. He had been a camel driver, but became what was called a prophet.

Mohammed taught the Arabs many things which he felt they ought to believe. In the year 622 by the Christian count, people showed the prophet that he was not liked in his home city. Fearing for his life, he fled with a few followers to the city of Medina.

After his flight to Medina, Mohammed won great success as a religious teacher. His words were believed by thousands. Today there are about 175,000,000 persons who belong to the church this man started. They live for the most part in Egypt, Turkey, Persia, India and China.

Moslems date their calendar from the time the prophet fled to Medina. In other words, that was the beginning of the year 1 for them.

The Moslem year does not have exactly the same length as ours. It is a little shorter, so the years count up more quickly.

Next—The Chinese Year.