Assalamu Alaykum
Muharram is one of our sacred months in the Islamic calendar and it is generally encouraged to fast throughout this month. The Prophet Muhammad (sall Allahu – alayhi was sallam) said:
“The best of fasting after Ramadan is fasting during Allah’s month. Muharram”
Allah stated in the Quran:
“Indeed, the number of months with Allah is 12 months in the register of Allah[from] the day He created the heavens and earth: of these, four are sacred (1st;7th;11th and 12th months of the Islamic Calendar) That is the correct religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them.”
The day of ‘Ashura falls on the 10th of Muharram, ‘Ashura is the day when Allah (subhānahu wa taʿālā) saved Bani Israel (Children of Israel) and Musa (‘alayhi al-Salām) from the Firʿaun (Pharoah). Regarding this day, Ibn ʿAbbās (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) reports:
“The Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) came to Madīnah and observed that the Jews were fasting on the day of Ashura. He asked: ‘What is this?’ They replied: ‘This is a righteous day; it is the day when Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemies, so Mūsa fasted on this day.’ He (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) replied: ‘We have more right to Mūsa than you’, so he fasted on that day and commanded the Muslims to do likewise.”
In a hugely symbolic act, the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) stated his intention to be distinct from other religions by fasting the 9th of Muharram also. ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbbās (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhumā), said:
“When the Messenger of Allah (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) fasted on Ashura and commanded the Muslims to do likewise, they said: ‘O Messenger of Allāh! It is a day that is venerated by the Jews and Christians.’ The Messenger of Allah (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) replied: ‘If I live to see the next year, inshāAllāh, we will fast on the ninth day, too.’ But it so happened that the Messenger of Allah (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) passed away before the next year came.’
This year, 9th and 10th of Muharram 1439, corresponds to 29th and 30th of September 2017 respectively.
The Prophet Muhammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) was so keen to observe this fast when he stated: “For fasting the day of Ashura, I hope that Allah will accept it as expiation for the year that went before.”
