INTRO.
"On the day of Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, Imam Hussain was surrounded by his enemies. He was brave to the last. He was cruelly mutilated. His sacred head was cut-off while in the act of prayer. A mad orgy of triumph was celebrated over his body...He had 45 wounds from the enemies swords and javelin pierced through his breast. After all that agony, when his head was lifted up on a spear, his face was the placid face of a man of God..." (Ref: Imam Hussain and his matyrdom, by Abdullahi Yusuf Ali -d. 1952, p.41)

DAY OF ASHURA:MYTH OR REALITY?
According to a renowned arabic language scholar, Ibn Athir, the word "Ashura" was derived from "Ashara", arabic no. for 10. So could mean 10th day of any month.

However, a new meaning was given to 'Ashura' by Ahl-sunna who claimed that the holy prophet 'prescribed' fasting on that day for the muslims.
On the other hand, Shi'a argued it was the day Imam Hussain, the only surviving grandson of the holy prophet was unjustly killed. As usual both Islamic sects present their case but there can only be one TRUTH.

According to the Ahlusunna, there are many hadith reported by Ibn Abbas, Abu musa al-ash'ari, Abu hurayra, and Mu'awiya in sahih bukhari, muslim, tirmidhi and mishkatul masabih on 'fasting on Ashura', one of such hadith is as follows:

"When the prophet entered medina, he asked the jews why were they fasting on the day of ashura? They replied thus: 'it is an auspicious day; it is the day when God delivered the children of Israel from pharaoh, therefore moses fasted on that day. The holy prophet said I am worthier of moses than you are;thereupon he fasted on that day and ordered the muslims to fast. "one of the companions exclaimed 'O prophet of God but we are going to be copying the Jews, and the prophet replied: 'you are right;(but) from now on we will fast on the 9th and 10th" (ref: Bukhari vol 3 p 45, egypt Ed, Mishkatul masabih Delhi Ed 1307A.H p.172)

PREAMBLE: Mishkatul Masabih added that the holy prophet did not have the opportunity of fasting the following year as he breath his last. It is well known prophet died in the 10th year of Hijrah, why would the hadith gave impression that when "he entered medina", which was 1st year of Hijrah? Why should he waited till 9th year before he discovered the Jews were fasting? On the other hand, if it was 9th year of Hijrah the hadith refer to (as it says he died the following year), history had it there was not a single Jewish tribe left in Madina as far back as 7th year. So which Jewish tribe the hadith refers?

COMMENT: FIRST- There is no point saying the jew fasted on the 10th of muharram since they have and followed their own calendar and month. The 1st month of the Jew is Abib (later named Nisan) coincided with Rajab (Hebrew religion, London 1995
p.128). The 7th jewish month Tishri I coincided with Muharram and Ashura of Muharram synchronized with 10th of Tishri I, the jewish day of atonement- a day of fast.

With the aid of mathematical calculation as to the intercalation of both Jew and Arab calendars, it was deduced that the muharram of the 2nd year Hijra began 5th july, 624CE (al-munji'd 21st Ed). Months before Tishri I (coincide with sept-oct).

Ashura of muharram in that year (or for that matter during the prophet life at medina) had no significance whatsoever for the Jews.

SECOND: The jewish midrashic literature
relates the 10th day of the 7th month (Yom
Hakippurium-day of atonement) to the event of bringing the tablet of the covenant from mount sinai by moses. Never d day Israelite were delievered from pharaoh.

THIRD: The month in which God delivered the Israelite from pharaoh was Abib (coincided with Rajab)- Deut.16 v 1. So how could the Jew transfer an event of Abib (Rajab) to Tishri I (muharram) in open defiance of their Torah?

FOURTH: The holy prophet was sent with a religion to abrogate all previous religions and shariah (sura saff). How was it that he(saws)deigned to IMITATE the Jewish custom? 'He does nothing of his own accord or listens to anybody except his Lord(Qur'an).

HADITH NARRATORS
FIFTH: Ibn Abbas was only 3-4yrs old when the prophet arrived in medina (1st H). Ibn abbas was born 3yrs before Hijra. According to many scholars of hadith, a child is not exactly the most reliable resource.

Abu Musa al-ashari came from the tribe of Ashar in Yemen. He converted to Islam before Hijra and since that day till khaybar, he was no where to be found. The prophet sent him back to yemen to spread Islam and he was never with the holy prophet in the 1st year of Hijra.

Abu hurayra converted to Islam 3years before the demise of the holy prophet(saws) in Sham (Syria) and was only seen in medina after khaybar which occured in 7th year hijra. If one werent at the event then how can one narrate what happened?

Muawiyyah converted to Islam in the 8th year of hijra which was 7th yr after the mentioning of the hadith relating to Ashura.
Thus can one label muawiya a reliable source? Somebody whom the holy prophet (saws) said: "“At the time of his death, Mu’awiyah shall not be counted as member of my Muslim Ummah.” (Al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir. Ta'rikh Al-Rusul Wa'l-Muluk(Vol. 8, Pg. 186))

One feels constrained to mention here that this and other such hadith (that Adam was forgiven, ark of noah was safely landed, Yunus was saved from the whale on the day of Ashura etc) were forged by the camp - follower of the Banu Umayyad, after the matyrdom of Imam Hussain as part of their campaign to turn the 10th of muharram into a day of rejoicing, merriment and fasting.

Ashura was NEVER a day of fasting or merriments rather a day of mourning and sadness to every conscious muslim who truly love 'Muhammad and his household' whose love has been made obligatory in Qur'an. It was the day Imam hussayn "the lord of the youth of paradise(hadith)" and members of the family of the holy prophet (saws) was brutally killed and to hide this heinous crime, the Umayyad fabricated so many hadiths ascribed to the 'Mercy of the world' (s.a.w).

Salam

Imam Ali ibn Musa al-ridha (a.s) said in a famous
hadith:

"...Muharram is such a sacred month that even the
Arab of the age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) too respected its sanctity and forbade oppression and bloodshed in it. But these people (the ummayads) did not honour the sanctity of this month nor of their prophet. In this month, they killed the son of their prophet and imprisoned the women-folk after looting and plundering their belongings, verily Allah will never ever forgive this crime of theirs"

Peace be upon Hussain the day he was born, the day he died and the day he will be resurrected.

1. Charles Dickens

"If Husain fought to quench his worldly desires, then I do not understand why his sisters, wives and
children accompanied him. It stands to reason
therefore that he sacrificed purely for Islam."

2. Robert Durey Osborn

"Hosain had a child named Abdallah, only a year old. He had accompanied his father in this terrible march. Touched by its cries, he took the infant in his arms and wept. At that instant, a shaft from the hostile ranks pierced the child's ear, and it expired in his father's arms. Hosain placed the little corpse upon the ground. 'We come from God, and we return to Him!' he cried; 'O Lord, give me strength to bear these misfortunes! ' .
Faint with thirst, and exhausted with wounds, he
fought with desperate courage, slaying several of his antagonists. At last he was cut down from behind; at the same instance a lance was thrust through his back and bore him to the ground; as the dealer of this last blow withdrew his weapon, the ill-fated son of Ali rolled over a corpse. The head was severed from the trunk; the trunk was trampled under the hoofs of the victors' horses; and the next morning the women and a surviving infant son were carried away to Koufa. The bodies of Hosain and his followers were left unburied on the spot where they fell.
For three days they remained exposed to the sun and the night dews, the vultures and the prowling
animals of the waste; but then the inhabitants of a
neighbouring village, struck with horror that the
body of a grandson of the Prophet should be thus
shamefully abandoned to the unclean beasts of the
field, dared the anger of Obaidallah, and interred the body of the martyr and those of his heroic friends."

3. Edward Gibbon

"In a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the
death of Hosein will awaken the sympathy of the
coldest reader."

4. Thomas Carlyle

"The best lesson which we get from the tragedy of
Karbala is that Husain and his companions were the
rigid believers of God. They illustrated that numerical superiority does not count when it comes to truth and falsehood. The victory of Husain despite his minority marvels me!"

5. Mahatma Gandhi

" My faith is that the progress of Islam does not depend on the use of sword by its believers, but the result of the supreme sacrifice of Husain, the great saint."

"Everyday is Ashura and EveryLand is Kar'bala"
~Imam Ali ibn Hussain Zaynul Abideen (a.s)

Injustice, mischief and tyranny... on the innocent were the summary of what happened on the day of Ashura in the land of Kar'bala; this is what happen daily on everyland.

Don't mean to troll, is it not possible that same 10th of muharam cud be the day that the grandson of the prophet was matyred as u claim, and also the day that Adam was created and Yunnus wa saved from the big fish and the ark of Nuh landed etc.
I think without solid intel on the history of that day, one cannot say with authority what did or did not happen. I see no point in taking a risk to say so and so didn't happen on that day just because one does not trust d narration, because it is possible that even if the narrators intended a lie, Allah may have done all those things on that one day.
Allah knows best, asalam alaykum. *on a sidenote I see u and lagosshia are really going all out to sensitize muslims about the parts of islamic history that may not be easaily palatable. I wud implore u too to be more open minded, so that u may also learn from others

Akin d archi: Don't mean to troll, is it not possible that same 10th of muharam cud be the day that the grandson of the prophet was matyred as u claim, and also the day that Adam was created and Yunnus wa saved from the big fish and the ark of Nuh landed etc.
I think without solid intel on the history of that day, one cannot say with authority what did or did not happen. I see no point in taking a risk to say so and so didn't happen on that day just because one does not trust d narration, because it is possible that even if the narrators intended a lie, Allah may have done all those things on that one day.
Allah knows best, asalam alaykum. *on a sidenote I see u and lagosshia are really going all out to sensitize muslims about the parts of islamic history that may not be easaily palatable. I wud implore u too to be more open minded, so that u may also learn from others

Salam dear brother,
I admire your intelligence. May Allah increase you in knowledge.
Let's assume the hadith of Ashura that God did this and that for this and that prophet is true!

1. The question here is what was the blessing Muhammad, Imam (leader) of all prophets, leader of mankind, the last and the greatest prophet, what was the blessing he received?

After all he's own blessing should be far superior than others because of his qualification and the fact that "it is He who has sent His prophet with guidance and religion of truth; to supersede all other deen...".

There's nothing other than the brutal killings of the member of his household. Umm salam (R) said: "I dreamt (one day) after the demise of the holy prophet. I saw him wailing, disturbed! His face filled with dust...upon my inquiry, he (saws) said my son has just been murdered. I woke up, went straight to the soil he (saws) gave me to keep; and I saw its been filled with blood; then I realized 'Hussain has been killed'.

There are other traditions which reported that all the prophets of Allah from Adam to Jesus, all accompanied the holy prophet to karbala to mourn Hussain death.
Do you know who Hussain was? Sibt Rasul! Rayhani Rasul! Sayyidu shababi ahle Jannah!

2. Our mission (LagosShia and I)
Honestly I only knew LagosShia exactly the way I knew you (on nairaland) but it seems our mission is the same. Am not here on nairaland to play or have fun. Am here to do my best in awakening the dead intellect that Islam want us to think and vigilant on the path we thread. Am here to correct the 'international anthem' of Shia are kafir, kill shia because they believe this and that et al. And am here to present the true facts about shia perhaps other sects would open up their heart, understand us more and sincerely accept us as brethren.
May Allah bless the soul of Sheik Mahmud Shaltoot, the grand sheik of Al-Ahzar University who accepted Shia fiqh into the already established Sunni fiqh in the curriculum of Al-Ahzar university in 1965 after fully convinced of the faith of Shi'ism as a result of scholarly dialogue between him and a shia Ulama, Sayyid Sharafadeen Musawi.

3. I AM AN OPEN BOOK
I read/listen to my brothers argument attentively. I always open my mind, heart, and intellect to see the side of his viewpoints. Islamic dialogue is not about Win or Lose. Its all about awakening that will eventually lead to salvation( or perdition). If your view and arguments with reliable evidence are stronger than mine, I will be doing myself injustice if I remain adamant.
What I however hate most is hypocritical attitude. People will derail from the main topic and bring another issue they knew no knowledge of just to incite anger and hatred into other's heart.

May Allah refine us.

Salam