What does Hegira mean?

   Hegira is an Arabic word meaning the flight or departure. More particularly it is the date of Mohammed's flight from the holy city of Mecca, 622 A. D. The Muslims reckon time from the hegira, as we do from the birth of Christ. Their dates begin 622 years behind ours. In order to change from one time to the other, it is necessary to make an additional allowance for the shortness of the Arabic year, which consists of lunar months.