Ashura: On the Tenth Day of Muharram

Husayn ibn Ali standing before Yasid's army

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar, and Ashura is the tenth day of that month. 

Besides Ramadan, Muharram is considered to be the  most sacred month of the year.  Fighting is prohibited, and the Day of Ashura is especially honored.

It is a Sunni Muslim belief that Prophet Musa (Moses) and the Israelites were victorious over the Egyptian

Pharoah on this day.  Muhammad fasted on Ashura because of this, and asked others to do the same.  He

called for an additional day of fasting (either right before or right after Ashura) in order to distinguish Muslims from Jews who were fasting on Ashura for the same reason.

Muslims also honor the martyrdom of Muhammad’s grandson, Husayn ibn Ali, on this holy day.  He was

killed on the tenth day of Muharram in the year 61 AH (680 CE) for refusing to give allegiance to Caliph Yazid I (whom he considered to be openly defiant of Islam).  Knowing full well what awaited him, but faithfully believing that it was nevertheless necessary, Husayn ibn Ali deliberately went before the Caliph’s army.  His group of 72 family members and supporters (including women, children, and the elderly) were slaughtered by Yazid’s 100,000-strong army.  Their bodies were then deliberately mutilated.

This Battle of Karbala took place in what is now Iraq, and is commemorated by both the Shi’ah and the Sunnis.  Both groups fast during part or all of the first ten days of Muharram.  It is considered to be a period of remembrance and mourning.  Some also believe that the world will one day come to an end on the Tenth of Muharram.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Ashura

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Karbala

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muharram

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_of_Muharram

Copyright Decembeer 16, 2010 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved