Dear fellow believers! Brothers and sisters!

By the grace of Almighty Allah, with sunset on June 15, 2026, the year 1447 AH comes to an end, and the new year 1448 AH according to the Islamic calendar begins. The Hijra is a unique system of timekeeping that originates from the migration of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from Mecca to Medina. This event became a milestone in the history of Islam and marked the establishment of the Muslim ummah as a single community.

In the outgoing year 1447 AH, the entire Muslim world celebrated the 1500th anniversary of the birth of our holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and Russian Muslims held mawlids, published and distributed works about the personality of this great man, revived his Sunnah, and followed it. "Whoever revives any of my Sunnahs, and people begin to follow it, will receive a reward equal to the reward of all those who follow it," said the Messenger of Allah ﷺ (Ibn Majah).

The new year begins with the month of Muharram, which is one of the four sacred and forbidden months of the Islamic calendar. Almighty Allah said in the Holy Quran: "Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [in a year] — so was it ordained in the Scripture of Allah on the day He created the heavens and the earth. Four of them are sacred." (9:36). Muharram opens this sacred cycle. The month which the Prophet ﷺ called "the month of Allah" calls us to humility, prayer, repentance, and spiritual renewal.

A special place in the first month of the new year is occupied by the day of Ashura — the tenth of Muharram. This is the day on which Almighty Allah granted salvation to Prophet Musa (Moses) and his people. In remembrance of this great mercy of Almighty Allah, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ observed a voluntary fast and urged his companions to do the same. The Day of Ashura reminds us: no matter how difficult the trials on the path to truth, those who place their trust in Allah will not be forsaken.

From the history of the Hijra, we draw primarily the lesson of the practical embodiment of the humanistic principles of Islam. In Medina, the Prophet ﷺ created a community in which people of different beliefs and backgrounds found their place, united by the desire for justice, peace, and construction. This example is especially important today, when the name of religion is sometimes used to incite hatred and commit crimes. A Muslim should be a builder, not a destroyer; a peacemaker, not a sower of discord. "Do not cause corruption on the earth after it has been set in order," the Almighty Himself calls us (7:56).

Dear fellow believers!

The coming year 1448 AH is another period of time given to us by Allah. Let us use it to draw closer to Him: in sincere prayer, in care for family and neighbors, in honest work, in service to our society and Fatherland.

I pray to the Almighty and Most Merciful Allah to accept all our good deeds and intentions, to grant peace and security to our homes and our country, to bestow health upon us and our loved ones, and to strengthen the unity of the Muslim ummah of Russia and the entire world. I prayerfully wish each of you, dear fellow believers, to spend the coming year 1448 AH in worship of the Almighty, in good deeds, happiness, and prosperity. Amin!

Grand Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin