Dang it, I'm the resident suspected terrorist! It's ok, that turned out quite helpful when I was living on Queenston street (the ghetto in St. Catharines)
Anyway, to answer Raisa's original question: The holiday was the Islamic new year, since we use a different calendar based on the lunar cycle. In the Islamic calendar (a.k.a. Hijri calendar) the year is 1428.
Here's a link to
Hijri & Gregorian calendar translations.
Our calendar begins from the Islamic migration from Mecca to Yathrib (a.k.a. Al-Madina Al-Munawwara, which translates to "The City of Lights" or "The Enlightened City"). Pretty cool story, it was the turning point for Muslims; they went from being oppressed and persecuted to becoming independent.
