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Muharram is the first
month of the Islamic calendar that is commonly known as
the Hijrah calendar. The name Muharram means sacred.
Muharram is one of the four sacred months
mentioned in the Holy Qur-an by Allah (God).
Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve
months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allah on
the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them
four are Sacred (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the
12th months of the Islamic calendar).
Surah
(Chapter)
at-Tawbah (Repentance) Qur-an
9:36
The
four sacred months are not named in the Holy Qur-an, but their names are available
from Ahadith (Sayings of Muhammad S).
Messenger
of Allah S in his farewell Khutbah
(Sermon) and said: “Time has completed its cycle and is as
it was on the Day when Allah created the heavens
and the earth. The year is twelve months, of which four
are sacred, three consecutive months Dhul Qa’dah,
Dhul Hijjah
and Muharram
– and the Rajab of Mudar
which comes between Jumad al Ukhrah
and Sha’ban.”
Sahih Bukhari, Sahih
Muslim
Allah
(God) has also commanded about maintaining
the sanctity of the sacred months:
O
you who believe! Violate not the sanctity of the Symbols
of Allah, nor of the Sacred Month,...
Surah (Chapter) al-Ma"idah (Table
Spread with Food) Qur-an 5:2
Muslims
should live by a code of conduct ordained by Allah (God)
that was demonstrated by His last Rasul (Messenger) all the time.
But they should pay special attention to respect the four
months, because Allah (God) has given them a special
status.
After
migrating to Madinah, the
Messenger of Allah, Muhammad
S saw the local Jews observe fasting on ‘Ashurah
(Tenth
day of Muharram).
Upon enquiry, he found out that the Jews fast to commemorate
the day when Allah (God)
freed Musa
A (Moses) and his followers from the
clutches of their tormentors. The Messenger of Allah,
Muhammad
S then began fasting on ‘Ashurah (Tenth day of Muharram) and
commanded Muslims
to do the same.
Ibn
‘Abbas R narrated: “The Prophet S came to Madinah and
saw the Jews fasting on the day of ‘Ashurah. He asked, ‘What is this?’ They said, ‘This
is a righteous day, it is the day when Allah saved
the Children of Israel from their enemies, so Musa
fasted on this day.’ He said, ‘We have more right to Musa
than you,’ so he fasted on that day and commanded [the Muslims]
to fast on that day.”
Bukhari
There
are several more reports on this topic. Muslim reported it as follows:
“This
is a righteous day” [the Jews said:]
“This is a great day, on which Allah saved Musa and his people, and drowned Pharaoh and
his people.”
“Musa
fasted on this day… in thanksgiving to Allah, so
we fast on this day.”
Another
report from Ahmad adds:
“This
is the day on which the Ark
settled on Mount
Judi, so Nuh
fasted this day in thanksgiving.”
According
to a tradition of ‘A”ishah bint
Abu Bakr R, the Quraysh
of Makkah also fasted on the day
of ‘Ashurah (Tenth day of Muharram).
The
Jews of Madinah celebrated
the day of ‘Ashurah
(Tenth
day of Muharram) with great fanfare.
The
day of ‘Ashurah (Tenth day of Muharram) was
venerated by the Jews, who took it as a festival.
Muslim
The
people of Khaybar (the Jews) used to
take it as a festival and their women would wear their jewellery
and symbols on that day.
Muslim
The
Messenger of Allah, Muhammad S asked Muslims
to be different from the Jews and observe fast.
‘So
you (Muslims) should fast on that day.’”
Bukhari
Fasting
on the day of ‘Ashurah
(Tenth
day of Muharram) is Mustahab (Desirable).
Ibn
‘Abbas R narrated: “I never saw the Messenger of Allah
S so keen to fast any day and give it priority over any
other than this day, the day of ‘Ashurah,
and this month, meaning Ramadan.”
Bukhari
The
Messenger of Allah, Muhammad S expressed his desire to fast for two consecutive
days of Muharram.
‘Abdullah
ibn ‘Abbas
R narrated: “When the Messenger of Allah S fasted
on ‘Ashurah
and commanded the Muslims to fast as well, they said, ‘O
Messenger of Allah, it is a day that is venerated
by the Jews and Christians.’ The Messenger of Allah
S said, ‘If I live to see the next year, InshaAllah,
we will fast on the ninth day too.’ But it so happened that
the Messenger of Allah S passed away before the next
year came.”
Muslim
It is Mustahab
(Desirable) to observe fast on both the
ninth and tenth days of the month of Muharram, because the Messenger
of Allah, Muhammad S fasted on the tenth day,
and made intention to fast on the ninth.
It
is highly desirable to make up for the missed Fard (Compulsory)
fasts from the month of Ramadan before observing Nafl (Extra
Obligatory) fast like the one on the ninth and
tenth day of Muharram.
Coincidentally,
on the tenth day of Muharram in the year
61H (Hijrah),
fifty years after the demise by the Messenger of Allah,
Muhammad S, his grandson Husayn bin
‘Ali R achieved Shahadah
(Martyrdom).
A
group of ignorant Muslims
began associating the day of ‘Ashurah
(Tenth day of Muharram)
to this tragedy and instituted another set of Bid’at
(Innovations)
with the day.
They
go for exaggerated grieving and mourning, spend the day
without water, eulogizing and wailing, reciting poems of
grief in a very sentimental manner, and tearing off their
garments. They also slap themselves of their cheeks, beat
their chests, hit themselves with chains and sharp objects,
put dust in their hair and do excessive grieving and wailing.
The
Messenger of Allah, Muhammad S strictly forbade such display of sorrow and grief,
as these were traditions from the days of pre-Islamic Jahiliyah (Ignorance).
Many
Bid’at (Innovations) have been associated
with the day of ‘Ashurah
(Tenth
day of Muharram) by another group of ignorant
Muslims who celebrate
the day like ‘Id. Some of the Bid’at
(Innovations)
are applying Kohl and Henna, shaking
hands with each other and cooking grains (Hubub)
or other special dishes.
There
is absolutely no evidence to this effect in any Sahih Hadith
(Authentic
Tradition of Muhammad S) or Da’if (Weak) tradition, nor is any evidence
of this being done by any of his Sahabah (Companions). None
of the Khulafa” (Caliphs) of the
Muslims or anyone from the Tabi’in encouraged or recommended such things.
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