SSC
The ninth month of the Islamic (Hijri) calendar is:
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Answer: Option A — Ramadan
Detailed Solution
Ramadan (also spelt Ramzan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the holy month of fasting for Muslims.
About Ramadan:
During Ramadan, adult Muslims who are healthy fast from dawn to sunset every day. They do not eat, drink or smoke during daylight hours.
The pre-dawn meal is called "Suhoor" (Sehri), and the meal that breaks the fast at sunset is called "Iftar".
Fasting (Sawm) during Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The other four are Shahada (declaration of faith), Salah (prayer), Zakat (charity) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).
Muslims believe that the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad during Ramadan. The night of this revelation is called "Laylat al-Qadr" ("Night of Power"), which falls in the last ten days of the month.
Special night prayers called "Taraweeh" are performed during Ramadan.
Ramadan ends with the sighting of the new moon, and the next day, the first day of the tenth month, Shawwal, is celebrated as Eid al-Fitr (Eid-ul-Fitr), the "festival of breaking the fast".
About the Islamic calendar:
It is a lunar calendar of 12 months, each beginning with the sighting of the new crescent moon.
An Islamic year has about 354 or 355 days, about 11 days shorter than the solar year. So Ramadan and other Islamic festivals move about 11 days earlier each year in the Gregorian calendar.
It is called the Hijri calendar because it starts from the "Hijrah", the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE.
Important months:
- 1st month: Muharram (Islamic New Year; Ashura on the 10th day, marking the martyrdom of Imam Hussain at Karbala in 680 CE).
- 3rd month: Rabi al-Awwal (birth of the Prophet, celebrated as Milad-un-Nabi in some traditions).
- 9th month: Ramadan.
- 10th month: Shawwal (Eid al-Fitr).
- 12th month: Dhu al-Hijjah (the Hajj pilgrimage, and Eid al-Adha or Bakrid on the 10th day).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Muharram is the first month.
- ✗Shawwal is the tenth month, beginning with Eid al-Fitr.
- ✗Rabi al-Awwal is the third month.
Quick tip
Remember: Islamic months: 1 = Muharram (Ashura), 3 = Rabi al-Awwal, 9 = Ramadan (fasting), 10 = Shawwal (Eid al-Fitr), 12 = Dhu al-Hijjah (Hajj and Eid al-Adha); Hijri era from 622 CE.
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Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.