Encyclopedia of Islam

Navruz

 

(Persian: new day; Nawruz, 

Nowruz, Nevruz)

Navruz is the ancient Persian New Year’s holiday, 

traditionally celebrated in i

ran

 and neighboring 

countries from Turkey to Uzbekistan at the time 

of the spring equinox (around March 21). Origi-

nally, it was an ancient Zoroastrian festival that 

was adopted by the Persian kings before Islam’s 

appearance in the seventh century 

c

.

e

. It was 

celebrated widely in Middle Eastern cultures as a 

public holiday. It is now celebrated over a period 

of 12 to 14 days in late March by people who have 

grown up in Persianate cultures and households, 

regardless of religious affiliation. This includes the 

majority of Sunni and Shii Muslims, Christians, 

and Jews living in Iran, or in communities influ-

enced by the Persian cultural heritage.

Navruz is a time for family visits and exchang-

ing gifts. The home has become one of the main 

centers for celebrating it. After people do a 

thorough housecleaning, they set up the haft-sin

(seven food items beginning with the letter “s”) 

with a mirror and candles on a table in a common 

area where visitors can see it. An older custom is 

to place these items on a carpet or cloth that has 

been spread on the ground. Seven is considered a 

lucky number and the food items placed on the 

table are said to be auspicious for the coming year, 

representing good health, happiness, prosperity, 

fertility, and long life. There is some variation 

among the symbolic items displayed, but they 

often include sabzi (green sprouts), sib (apples), 

samanu (a sweet, creamy pudding), sir (fresh gar-

lic), sumaq (a sour berry used in Persian cuisine), 

sirkeh (vinegar), and sinjid (oleaster, or jubjube 

K  524  

Navruz

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fruits). It is also common to put a book of wis-

dom on the haft-sin table. It might be the Quran, 

the Bible, the Zoroastrian Avesta, the Persian epic 

poem  Shahnama, or a collection of poetry by 

Hafiz (d. ca. 1380). Fortunes are often divined at 

this time by reading randomly selected passages 

from one of these books. Other auspicious objects 

placed on the table may include flowers, coins, 

nuts and sweets, a basket of painted eggs, and a 

goldfish in a bowl. In Afghanistan a dish consist-

ing of seven kinds of fruits and nuts is prepared 

instead of the haft-sin.

Navruz is also an occasion for public cel-

ebrations. On the last Wednesday of the old year 

people set bonfires in the streets or parks and 

take turns jumping over them, celebrating the 

increased spring daylight and the good things 

connected with it. Like Halloween in America, 

children wearing shrouds representing the spirits 

of the dead go door to door, banging on pots and 

pans and collecting treats. This is related to a 

tradition of driving away the forces responsible 

for causing bad luck. A clown named Hajji Firuz 

sings and dances in the streets announcing the 

arrival of the New Year. People customarily wear 

new clothes for this popular holiday. The end 

of the holiday period is marked by a picnic and 

disposal of green sprouts that were grown for this 

occasion.

Even though Navruz is not an Islamic holiday, 

it nonetheless has taken on Islamic associations in 

the past, especially among the Shia. According to 

Navruz haft-sin display in a Persian home 

(Venus Nasri)