FASTING IN MUHARRAM (THE FIRST MONTH OF ISLAMIC
YEAR)
Fasting in the month of Muharram is highly desired,
especially on the tenth day, Aashooraa . The Messenger of
Allah (p.b.u.h.) has been reported as saying when asked
which prayer is better after obligatory prayer: "Prayer in the
middle of the night." He was asked again which fast is
better after Ramadan. He said: "In the month that is called
Al-Muharram ." (Ahmed, Muslim, and Abu Dawood)
This Hadith clearly indicates the importance of voluntary
fasting in Muharram, among all the months. The Prophet
(p.b.u.h.) however, emphasizes the fast of the tenth day,
Aashooraa.
The word "Aashooraa" is derived from Ashara , which means
ten. The observation of this day goes back to Prophet
Moosa Bin Emran (p.b.u.h.). In a Hadith related by Ibn
Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) “when the
Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.) came to Madinah, he found
the Jews fasting the day of Aashooraa. He inquired why
they did so. They replied that it was a good day, the day
which Allah delivered Prophet Moosa (p.b.u.h.) and the
children of Israel from their enemy. As gratitude Moosa
(p.b.u.h.) fasted that day. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.)
responded: 'I have more right to Moosa than you.’ He
fasted the day and commanded the believers to
fast." (Bukhari and Muslim)
This Hadith indicates that the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) was in
complete agreement with Prophet Moosa (p.b.u.h.) as well
as the other prophets. The point here is that the Messenger
of Allah would always do an act of worship if it was
prophecy reported from any of the prophets. Earlier, we see
how he told us that the best voluntary fast is the fast of
Dawood.
This is why the following Hadith is of great interest to us.
Ibn Abbas related when Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.)
observed the day of Aashooraa and commanded his
followers to observe it, they asked him: "O Messenger of
Allah (p.b.u.h.) this is the day the Jews, and Christians
respect and honor... The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) promised them
that ‘Next year Allah willing, we shall fast the ninth,
tasuu'aa, along with the tenth.’ By the next Muharram, the
Prophet (p.b.u.h.) had already passed away. Because the
believers, desire to emulate Prophet Moosa in fasting on
Aashooraa do so with the desire not to participate in the
festivity of the People of the Book, who have reduced the
day to a mere formality. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) decided to
remove this ambiguity with the fast of the ninth day.”
Our Ulama (Muslim scholars), analyzing all reports from
the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) regarding Muharram, stated the fast
of Muharram can be viewed in three ways:
1 . Fasting three days of Muharram, the ninth, tenth and
eleventh.
2 . Fasting on the ninth and tenth days because of two
previous Hadiths.
3 . Fasting on the tenth day alone.
Of much interest to us Muslims these days should be the
fasting of the 9th and the 10th of Muharram. The Prophet
(p.b.u.h.) said about the voluntary fasting on the Day of
Aashooraa: "It expiates the sins of the preceding
year." (Muslim)
"The day of Aashooraa was the day when Moosa and his
men got freedom from the hands of the Pharaoh and it was
in the sacred memory of this great event that the Muslims
observed voluntary fasting. The idea underlying this is to
stress the affinity amongst the messengers of Allah and to
show that religious devotion is a constant flow from one
generation to another. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) came not to
abrogate all the earlier religious practices but to codify and
preserve them for all times to come in ideal forms."