importance of navroz

8/14/2019 Importance of Navroz

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Origin of Navroz and Ismailism

Mumtaz Ali Tajddin S. Ali is an popular author, He has written many books on history and culture of Islam and Ismailism, Origin of Navroz and Ismailism is taken from his popular book

Encyclopedia of Ismailism, must read about Other Ismaili Occasions, Ismaili Imams, Ismailihistory, culture and Tradition.

Navroz is a Persian word, meaning new day of the year. The Arabs pronounced it as Niruz orNairuz. The Sogdians called it Nau-Sard (the new year), and also is called Nishat Afroz Jashan inIran. It is a spring festival, beginning with the first day of the Persian solar year, corresponding tothe vernal equinox and the entry of the sun into the sign of Aries, and continued until the 6th dayof the month. The last day was known as the Great New Year"s Day (al-Niruz al-Akbar).

On the day of Navroz the sun completes its cycle of passing through all the Celestial Stationswhich are twelve in number, and enters the first one which is known as haml. A celestial stationis known in Arabic as buruj. The names of the twelve celestial stations through which thecelestial bodies (the planets) annually pass are given below along with the Zodiac signs:-

1. Haml - Ram - Aries 31 days2. Thaur - Bull - Taurus. 31 days3. Jauz - Twins - Cemini. 31 days4. Sarthan - Crab - Cancer. 31 days5. Asad - Lion - Leo. 31 days6. Sumbula - Virgin - Virgo. 31 days7. Mizan - Balance - Libra. 30 days8. Aqrab - Scorpion - Scorpio. 30 days9. Quas - Archer - Sagittarius. 30 days10.Jadi - Goat - Capricorn. 30 days11.Dalv - Water-bearer - Aquarius 30 days12.Huth - Fishes - Pisces. 29 days

The days when the sun completes its stay in the last celestial station, i.e. huth and enters the firstcelestial station, i.e. haml, this day falls on 21st March, and is known as Navroz.

The Koran says: "Factually the number of months in the eyes of God, in the Book of God fromthe day He created the earth and the heaven, are twelve." (9:36)

The astrologers and astronomers have divided the year into twelve parts, taking into account themovement of the earth and the sun and each such part is known as the celestial station. After theentry of the sun in the celestial station (haml), it passes through all the other stations mentionedabove and also the durations as stated above. It takes the sun 365 days and nights, 5 hours, 28minutes and 50 seconds to complete the full circuit and to return to the celestial station (haml).This entry of the sun is known as the Tahweel-e-Shams (Sun"s entry). The first day of the sun"sentry in the celestial station (haml) falls on 21st March, and is a new year"s day and is Eid-e-Navroz.


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Considerable importance is attached to this day, for it was on this day that the sun shone brightlyfrom the celestial station (haml). On this day, God created the earth, the universe, the cold windsstarted to blow, and the earth became fertile to bear trees, vegetables and fruits, and othernecessities for mankind.

In 3266 B.C. reigned the first king of Iran, called Kumers. He determined the days and theseasons in a year and he also determined the first day of the sun in the celestial station (haml).The dates and the years came to be accounted since then, and he ordered all learned people topronounce and to proclaim the importance of that day. About hundred years after Kumers,Jamshed became the king of Iran, and he called this day Navroz. He celebrated his coronation onthis day, and observed the day as a festival of Eid.

Muhammad Bakir Majlisi quotes a number of traditions from the Imam in the 14th volume of hisBihar al-Anwar, who reports a tradition related by Moalla bin Khunais that Imam Jafar Sadik said: "It was on Navroz that Adam was created, that God made a covenant with the souls, thatAbraham destroyed the pagan idols, that the Prophet of Islam received first revelation, that the

Prophet took Ali on his shoulders to smash 360 idols in Mecca, and most important of all, that hedeclared Ali as his legitimate successor."

Navroz was marked in Damascus by exchange of gifts during the period of the Umayyads.Yaqubi (2:366) writes that caliph Umar II abolished the Navroz and Mihrjan gifts through aroyal decree he issued. Later, caliph Yazid II re-introduced in the state.

The Abbasid caliphs used also to give importance to this day. Caliph Mansur declared this day asEid and greetings were exchanged in the court to celebrate Eid-e-Navroz. The people during theAbbasid period rose early in the morning and went to the wells or streams, drew water in a vaseand poured it over themselves. Tabari (3:2163) writes that they also sprinkled water on each

other. In the time of caliph Mutawakkil, the Navroz was celebrated with great pomp andrejoicing. He is said to have struck five million dhirams, painted in various colours and showeredthem upon his officials. Masked actors (ashab al-samaja) appeared before the caliph, who flungcoins to them and distributed roses fashioned from red amber. Ibn Zubayr reports that at oneNavroz, the play of samaja was arranged for the caliph Mutadid, which cost 13,000 dinars. Avariety of sweet dishes, such as sabuniyya and lawzinaj were cooked, and the people thendistributed them to one another. Under caliph Mutawakkil, according to Tabari (3:1448), the poetBuhturi says: "the Navroz day has again become the same as was instituted by Ardasher." Notunlike the Persian kings, the Abbasid caliphs used to appear in their chambers, clad in gorgeousattire, in order to receive the present personally." It was also marked by an exchange of gifts.Tanakhi (d. 384/994) writes in his Nishwar al-Muhadara (8:145) that caliph Mutawakkil used tosit in his chamber from morning to the evening, accepting the gifts offered to him by the highofficials and other dignitaries.

In Baghdad, the common people, on this festive occasion, illuminated their houses with cottonpods (habb al-qutn) and clay censers (al-majamir al-tin), vide Nishwar al-Muhadara (1:143). Theroyal houses, at the same time, would be illuminated with pods of costly materials, such as zahricloth (the light cloths) soaked in oil of balsam (dahn al-balsan), and other fragrant and expensiveoils were burned in censers of stone (al-majamir al-biram).


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During the six days of Navroz festival, the people in Baghdad gathered in the streets and lit fires.Tabari (3:2163) writes that in 284/897, caliph Mutadid tried to prevent the unrestrained rejoicingin the streets during the summer weather, but after two days he was obliged to let public resumetheir customary practice. Ibn Hawkal (d. 367/ ) writes that in the 10th century in Jibal, the peoplecelebrated Navroz festival for seven consecutive days with much enthusiasm and gaiety. They

cooked a number of delicious dishes and donned elaborate costumes and spent a lot of money onthe festivities. They also indulged in various sports, organized singing parties, and feasted evenon the roofs of their buildings. Prof, Tritton quotes a passage in Sketches of Life under theCaliphs (MW, LXII, 1972, p. 145) from an unpublished text of Hilal al-Sabi"s Kitab al-Hafawatabout the Navroz during the Abbasid period at Baghdad. Sabit notes that the people in Baghdadhired a special cook to work during the night to have the dishes fresh in the morning, and gaveparties for relatives and friends, at which they served green melons, plums, peaches and dates.Women made a point of buying perfumes for the day, and tortoises were brought in to drivedevils from the house. Eggs were dyed in various colours. To sprinkle perfume on a man andtread seven times on him was a means of driving away the evil eye, laziness and fever. Antimonyor rue was used to improve the sight during the coming year; it was a good day for taking

medicine. Respectable people hit each other with water-skins or threw water about in theirhouses or gardens, while common folk did this in the streets. Makrizi writes in his Khitat that theAbbasid caliph Mutawwakil struck five million dhirams painted in various colours, red, yellowand black, for showering upon his officials. Masked actors, too, appeared before the ruler whoflung coins at them.

Navroz was celebrated also in Syria and Egypt under the Fatimids, vide Makrizi"s al-Khitat(4:241-2). Its celebration in Cairo appears to have been well established at the time of theFatimid conquest of Egypt. On that occasion, the Imam rode to the Azhar mosque under a goldenparasol (mizalla mudhahhaba), carrying the staff (qadib), wearing a white turban and a cowl(taylasan), and girded with a sword. He was accompanied by five thousand men in a procession.The Imam also presented costumes with siglaton robes. A grand banquet was then followed. Thechief steward (sahib al-ma"ida) and his servants carried trays from the palace, containing onehundred collections of wide bowls covered by silk round pieces, on top of which were matsscented with a light musk (misk fatih). When the banquet was over, each person took what wasleft over "for honour and blessing" (al-sharaf wal-baraka). Prince Tamim (337-374/948-984), theeldest son of Imam al-Muizz was one of the renowned poets. In his Diwan (ed. M.M. al-A"zami,Cairo, 1957), he eulogizes the Imam that:-

If Navroz is a festival of joy and delight, it is through your light that it has come to be so.

In Egypt, the festival of Navroz was celebrated with great pomp. It must be known that Egyptunder the Fatimid remained largely a Sunni country and Ismailism won only a limited followingamong the population. Cairo alone housed a large Sunni population. When Imam al-Muizz foundthat the general Muslims took less interest publicly in the festival, he prohibited public festivitieson Navroz in 363/974. Thus, the celebration first moved to the streets of Cairo, to the Azhar, and,finally, to the palace itself. These changes show in part how a popular celebration movedprogressively close to the Ismaili centre of Cairo and ultimately was assimilated into theceremonial of the court. The general population probably did not desist from its customary


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practices on the festival, but the ceremony that took place at court was stripped of all popularelements.

The Ottoman Turks had adopted it for the feast which ended the fast, which was called the Feastof Sugar (sheker-bairami). It was originally held at the summer solstice, on the 21st June, but

gradually, in consequence of the difficulty of correcting the calendar, it was shifted towards thespring equinox, and the reform of Jalaluddin Malik Shah fixed it on the 21st March, the datewhich the Nauruz-i Sultani has kept to the present.

The Navroz was also celebrated in India during the period of the Mughal empire. On theoccasion of Navroz, the most picturesque ceremony in the court was the weighing of emperorAkbar against seven kinds of grain, coral and gold. Emperor Akbar and Jhangir festiviated withgreat pomp, but Aurengzeb had abolished it. He substituted for Navroz another imperial feast,which was to begin in the month of Ramazan and to continue upto the Eid al-Fitr. This wascalled as Nishat Afroz Jashan. But the later Mughal emperors revived the Navroz festival, whichwas celebrated for nine days. On the first day, the emperor gave away a gold chain of an elephant

in alms and sit on the weighing scale. In the court, he occupied the peacock throne, and pearlsand rubies were scattered among those present. Outside the court, the procession of the elephantsand horses passed before the emperor. The nobles presented gifts. On one occasion, Shams ad-Dawla Khan-i Dauran Mansur Jang, offered the emperor Muhammad Shah, one lac of rupees anda garland of pearls worth of twenty-five thousand of rupees each. The emperor on his parthonored them with the khilats. Next day, the emperor again took his seat on the throne and thenobles again offered presents who missed on the first day. On the third day again the emperortook his seat on the throne and witnessed dance and music party. Thus, during these nine days allsorts of recreative festivities were organized and gifts were exchanged.

Navroz is seen to be celebrated by a number of Shi"ites and the Sufis. The Bektashi Sufi order in

present day in Turkey, for instance, celebrate Navroz (pronounced nevruz in Turkish) notbecause of the new year it is to herald, but to commemorate the birthday of Imam Ali bin AbuTalib, also in his capacity as the symbolic founder of most Sufi orders throughout Islamichistory. Navroz is observed among the Turks of Anatolia at the time of the equinox, on the ninthday of March.

The eight Ismaili Imams flourished in Alamut in Iran for about 171 years. The eighteen Imamsthen also resided in different villages during post-Alamut period for about 582 years. Iran is theoriginal home of Navroz celebration, and it is most probable that the Iranian Ismailis continuedto celebrate Navroz with other Shi"ites. Thence, it appears that the ceremony took its root inSyria, Central Asia and India.

Today the essence of Navroz is captured in its nation-wide celebrations which are spread overmore than two weeks of holidays when all Iranians, irrespective of their religion, ethnic originsor age participate in festivities. It commences fom the last Wednesday of the year popularlycalled Chahar-shambeh suri until the thirteenth day called sizdah-bedar after the New Year. Theperpetual bringers of the tidings of New Year are the clowns of the traditional folk theatre calledHaji Firuz. Apparelled in red jester-like satin costumes, with faces blackened by charcoal, andplaying a tambourine, several persons dressed as Haji Firuz dance through the torchlit streets


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during the Navroz period singing and dancing to the rhythm of the tambourine, from street tostreet and town to town, to the delight of all. In some province of Iran, starting a month beforeNavroz, special troupes of singers move from province to province singing special songsheralding the joyous coming of the New Year.

On New Year"s eve, the exact second of the change of the old to the new year, known asMowqey-e-tahwil-e-sa"l is astrologically calculated and noted. To await this moment, all familymembers dressed in new clothes and finery must be together. For this occasion, the house is fullof the heavy scent of the burning of aloe-wood and other fragrant incenses. Typical Iranianmusic emanating from the tar (a lute with long neck and six springs), santur (dulcimer playedwith two sticks) and ney (reed flute) entertains the guests. Sugar-plums, pistachio-nuts, almondsand takhmeh (melon seeds) are distributed to all eagerly awaiting the New Year. As the chimesof the clock broadcast over the radio or television, toll out the old year, recitation of Koranicverses and special prayers usher in the New one. At this moment, family members approach eachother, embrace, kiss and congratulate one another with greetings of Eid-e-shoma Mubarak, Sa"l-e-shoma Mubarak (may your Eid and New Year be blessed), Tabrik arz Mikonam (accept my

New Year wishes). Everyone resolves to bury their differences of the past 12 months and to startafresh. Gifts are exchanged and all gather round the banquet table for a feast. It is customary tolay on a table a ceremonial display called Sufreye-Nawruz, consisting of a mirror, a copy of theKoran, live goldfish in a bowl, green sprouts of wheat grain and lentils, coloured eggs, and Haft-Sin, which is a large platter filled with seven dishes (haft sin). Each dish bears in haft-sin thename, beginning with the Persian letter sin i.e., sib (apple), sir (garlic), sumak (sumac), sinjib(jujbe), samanu (a kind of sweet-dish), sirka (vinger) and sabzi (greens), which are placed on acloth spread on the floor in front of a mirror and candles in company with dishes of certainfoods.

The Navroz holidays officially last 13 days when all Iranians visit many friends as possible and

exchange Eidy or festive gifts. The first day is reserved for respected elders of the family who inturn return the visit. Everywhere a festive mood prevails; tea, sweetmeats, ajil (dried fruits andnuts), conversation and music flow.

The thirteenth day of Navroz called sizdah bedar (thirteenth out of doors) is traditional spent outin the woods or parks. Every Iranian family leaves home early in the morning, and equipped withmats, picnic materials and musical instruments, search pleasant sites. Each family has broughtthe sprouted wheat and lentils from their Navroz Sufreh, which they will cast away for goodluck. It is considered lucky to eat a special thick soup ash, made from noodles on this day. Thesoup and its accompanying garnish fried onions, garlic, yoghurt, white cheese, sauce andvinegar is taken along. At lunch time, meat and an array of vegetable stews to eat with rice,simmered with delicate spices to a rich goodness, are laid out. To round off the substantial mealis an assorted collection of freshly-picked fruits (miveh), grapes, pears, apples and cherries. Thethirteenth of Navroz is never complete without young girls tying knots in the grass found in theplains to ensure they will find husbands during the New Year.

importance of navroz

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