Safar
Medina, the city to which Muhammad migrated from Mecca (see Hijrah)
Native name	صَفَر (Arabic)
Calendar	Islamic calendar
Month number	2
Number of days	29 or 30 (depends on actual observation of the moon's crescent)
Significant days	Hijrah
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Ṣafar (Arabic: صَفَر) also spelt as Safer^[1] in Turkish, is the second month of the lunar Islamic calendar. The Arabic word ṣafar means "travel, migration", corresponding to the pre-Islamic Arabian time period when Muslims fled the oppression of Quraish in Mecca and travelled (mostly barefooted) to Madina.

Most of the Islamic months were named according to ancient Sabean/Sabaic weather conditions; however, since the calendar is lunar, the months shift by about 11 days every solar year, meaning that these conditions do not necessarily correspond to the name of the month.

Timing

The Islamic calendar is a purely lunar calendar, and its months begin when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. Since the Islamic lunar year is 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year, Safar migrates throughout the seasons. The estimated start and end dates for Safar are as follows (based on the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia^[2]):

Islamic events

• 01 Safar 61 AH, prisoners of Karbalā entered Yazid's Palace in Syria
• 10 Safar 61 AH, death of Sakina bint Husayn, youngest daughter of Hussain ibn Ali and a prisoner of Karbalā
• 17 Safar 202 AH, martyrdom of Ali al-Ridha according to one tradition
• 18 Safar, Grand Magal pilgrimage is celebrated at Touba, Senegal, commemorating the departure of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba
• 18, 19 and 20 Safar, Death Anniversary (urs) of Ali Hajveri is celebrated at Data Darbar, Lahore
• Every 20 or 21 Safar, Arba'een or Chehlum (the 40th day after Ashura)
• 27 Safar 1 AH, Migration was started (Hijrah) from Mecca to Medina by Muhammad with Abu Bakr
• 27 Safar 589 AH, death of Salahuddin al-Ayyubi
• 28 Safar 11 AH, Muhammad fell deathly ill^[3]
• 28 Safar 50 AH, Martyrdom of Imam Hasan ibn ‘Alī, grandson of Muhammad