While we often think of New Year's as a fresh start in the new beginning, most major world religions do not place much emphasis on January 1st as a major religious holiday. So is happy new year religious? In fact the Gregorian calendar, which began in 1582 by Pope Gregory VIII, reinstated January 1st as the beginning of a new year from the previous Roman-based Julian calendar. You may be surprised to learn that it was not until 1752 when the US formally recognized January 1st to mark the new year. Let's take a look at the four major world religions including Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism and their takes on January 1st and the marking of a new year.

Christianity and the New Year

Christianity is the world's largest religion with approximately 2.4 billion followers. While December 25th has been firmly established as the birth of Jesus Christ, there is little significance given religiously to New Year's Eve or Day. The Anglican and Lutheran denominations do celebrate January 1st as the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, based on the Judaic practice of circumcising a baby boy eight days after its birth. While technically a holiday it is not given nearly the same significance as Easter or Christmas. While January 1st is considered a banking or federal holiday in most western nations, there is little worldwide celebration of New Year's Day as a major religious holiday.

Islam and the New Year

Islam, whose followers are known as Muslims, accounts for approximately 1.8 billion followers through out the world. Muslims account for the majority of practitioners in 49 countries around the world. The Islamic calendar shows New Year's Day to be the first day of Muharram, which is a lunar calendar, so dates may vary from year to year, much like Easter in Christianity. As of December 2020 the Islamic year is 1442 AH ( Anno Hegirae, "in the year of the Hijra"). The next Islamic New Year will be August 19th 2021. Clearly in the Islamic faith January 1st is of little celebratory significance, although all modern Islamic nations do follow the Gregorian calendar.

Hinduism and the New Year

Hinduism is another major world religion with over 1.25 billion followers. Known as an Indian religion along with Buddhism, most Hindus celebrate New Year with Diwali, which is yet another lunar-based holiday which falls in October or November, depending on moon cycles. It is observed on the 15th day of Kartik,the holiest day in the Hindu calendar, and as with most major world religions it is based on lunar cycles. In 2021 it will be celebrated on November 4th. It is a 5-day event that culminates with Deepavali.

Buddhism and the New Year

Let’s take a look, finally, with Buddhism. With over 500 million followers, it is the world’s 4th largest religion. The two major branches, Theravada (The School of the Elders) and Mahayan (The Great Vehicle) pay different reverence (or lack thereof) to the celebration of the new year. Simply put, the Mahayana followers celebrate on December 31 and the Theravada believers celebrate, once again, on a lunisolar calendar, which generally occurs in the early spring. Their next new year will be celebrated on April 27th, 2021.

A Special Case: Chinese New Year

Perhaps most famous New Year's not celebrated on January 1st would be the Chinese New Year which in 2021, will be celebrated on February 12th. Also known as “The Spring Festival”, it encompasses several belief systems including Chinese folk religion, Buddhist, Confucian, Daoist, and some Christian communities. With over 1.5 billion people, this is the largest non-January 1st New Year celebration on Earth.

Religious Happy New Year Greetings

Different cultures and religions attach certain themes to the New Year. In China, for example, attracting wealth is key, so one might say “Happiness and prosperity!”. In Islam they have a traditional greeting which translates to ‘I wish you well on this occasion every year’. In many western nations, including America, it is traditional to sing “Auld Lang Syne” at the stroke of midnight, which is a Scottish phrase that roughly translates to “old long since” which basically means “days gone by”.... Good to know!

So while it may feel perfectly natural to wish someone a “Happy New Year!” on January 1st, it is important to remember that many people do not actually celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1st. However, since the overwhelming majority of nations in the world (outside of North Korea and Saudi Arabia) use the Gregorian calendar, you will be quickly forgiven for using this greeting. So a “Happy New Year” to you, wherever you might be!