April 5th

Everywhere that Persian language and culture have ever been hegemonic, Muslims still celebrate the distinctly Persian holiday of Nawruz (however so spelled.) About a thousand years ago, al-Andalus had a holiday of its own: al-khamsa al-Abril, "April 5th."

There was no religious significance to the day - it was simply created as an excuse for Muslims to get drunk with Christian neighbors on Easter. (Doubtless there were April 5th jokes in all the years when it came later than that.) We know it existed for the very simple reason that the ulama felt a recurring need to remind everybody that it was a reprehensible bid'a and was never observed in the time of the righteous ancestors.

al-Andalus collapsed, obviously, and that collapse is a big part of why April 5th is no longer celebrated like that today. In Andalusada, just as obviously, it didn't collapse, and that holiday continued to be celebrated, for long enough that it wound up becoming a distinctive of Moorish civ, just as much as Nawruz is for the Persianate world.

Khamsa Abril in the UCNA

New Andalusia celebrates April 5th as its foundation day; Yusuf I promulgated the Charter of the Caliphate that day in 1805. It was fairly coincidental, but he chose it in part to tie it into the partying that would be going on anyways.

The holiday took a meaningful turn after Yusuf's death, when his former confidant Don Musa was caught in the power struggles surrounding the Regency. [details?] When the decision is made to oust the Regent (a move that's neither legal nor within his rights, or anybody's, to do), the Caliphal Household and Maxaha take baya from the new caliph on April 5th. This time, the date is chosen deliberately, to coincide with the celebration and to reassert the legitimacy of the caliphal usurper.

Over the next 125 years, the Fifth of April recurs so often in Andalusian history that it eventually becomes a customary thing. Anything relating to the Charter (whichever one it was) is announced on April 5th, or if not at least timed to take effect on April 5th.

Khamsa Abril and Mahdism

Mahdism, on the other hand, commemorates April 5th in a very different way: grieving. On April 5th, 182? [when?], al-Mahdi was killed in Almeria, leading to the collapse of Mahdism as a coherent force in world politics.

Given that Mahdism has a fair following in the UCNA, the holiday is fairly two-sided. A number of patricians made a habit of spending April 5th dressed all in black, lighting no fires, eating cold food and drinking themselves weepy. The plebs take this as an opportunity to poke fun at their masters.