ame said:
Assalam-o-Alaikum ame,
I will add to what 'Amatullah' has written.
Since the Islamic calendar is purely lunar, as opposed to solar, the Muslim (Hijri) year is shorter than the Gregorian year by about 11 days & months in the Islamic (Hijri) year are not related to seasons, which are fundamentally determined by the solar cycle. This means that important Muslim festivals, which always fall in the same Hijri month, may occur in different seasons. For example, the Hajj and Ramadhan can take place in the summer as well as the winter. It is only over a 33 year cycle that lunar months take a complete turn and fall during the same season. here is a quote of some significance:
"It (the advent of the 15th century) is indeed, a unique occasion to ponder that the Islamic Era did not start with the victories of Islamic wars, nor with the birth or death of the prophet (PBUH), nor with the Revelation itself. It starts with Hijra, or the sacrifice for the cause of Truth and for the preservation of the Revelation. It was a divinely inspired selection. God wanted to teach man that struggle between Truth and Evil is eternal. The Islamic year reminds Muslims every year not of the pomp and glory of Islam but of its sacrifice and prepares them to do the same.''
[Mohammad Ilyas, "A Modern Guide to Astronomical Calculations of Islamic Calendar, Times & Qibla,'' Berita Publishing, 1984]
As far as festivals go, these are only the two Eids. 'Amatullah' has written about that. Please note that
all islamic dates begin at sunset the preceding evening. Some other important dates are:
Fasting is one of the pillars of Islam and is done for the whole month of Ramadhan, which is the 9th lunar month.
Hajj is another pillar of Islam and takes place during
8-12th Zul-Hajj.Zul-Hajj is the 12th and final lunar month. Today is 11th of Zul-Hajj.
10th of Moharram [called Aashura]. After his arrival in Madinah in the year 623, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) instituted fasting on the 10th of Muharram. A year later, this fasting was replaced with the mandatory fasting in the month of Ramadhan. However, fasting on 'Aashura' remained a voluntary fasting. Many Muslims fast on this day also.
The year 1426 of the Hijri calendar is going to start in less than 20 days. You can see the new calendar superimposed on the solar calendar here.
http://www.moonsighting.com/1426.html
Celebrating a new year isnt part of our tradition as far as i know. And, muslims definitely dont celebrate Christmas Amatullah . I think ame just wanted to know whatever similar events we had.
Hope this information helped ame.