Ashura and Muharram: Fasting the Day of Ashura, Its History and Date

Muharram is the first month of the Hijri calendar and one of the four months that the Qur'an calls sacred. Qur'an 9:36 states that the number of months with Allah is twelve, that four of them are sacred, and that believers should not wrong themselves in them. Sahih al-Bukhari 4662 names the four as Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijjah and Muharram, which come in succession, and Rajab.

Britannica notes that the name Muharram comes from the Arabic root h-r-m, one of whose meanings is forbidden, and that it was traditionally one of the four months in which fighting was not allowed. The Federal Territory Mufti in Malaysia explains that in the sacred months the reward of worship is increased and wrongdoing is weighed more heavily, which is why they are a natural time for extra fasting, repentance and care over one's conduct.

Sources: [1] [4] [23] [15]

Voluntary fasting in Muharram is described as the best fasting after Ramadan. Sahih Muslim 1163a reports the Prophet saying that the most excellent fast after Ramadan is in Allah's month, al-Muharram, and the most excellent prayer after the obligatory prayers is prayer at night. The Malaysian Federal Territory Mufti explains that calling it Allah's month is a mark of honour.

No fixed number of days is set. Egypt's Dar al-Ifta states that there is no objection to fasting the whole of Muharram, since fasting is recommended in it and in the other sacred months. A manageable pattern, such as a few extra days each week or the days around Ashura, is easier to sustain than an ambitious plan that crowds out work, study and family duties.

Sources: [5] [15] [17]

Ashura is the tenth day of Muharram, and its fast recalls Allah's rescue of Musa and the Children of Israel from Pharaoh. Sahih al-Bukhari 2004 reports that when the Prophet came to Madinah he found the Jews fasting on Ashura and was told that it was the day on which Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy, so Musa fasted it. He replied that Muslims have a greater claim to Musa, fasted the day and told the Muslims to fast it.

The fast was known even earlier. Sahih al-Bukhari 2002 records Aisha saying that the Quraysh fasted Ashura before Islam and that the Prophet also fasted it; in Madinah he fasted it and ordered others to do so, and once the fast of Ramadan was prescribed, fasting Ashura became optional. In Sahih al-Bukhari 2006, Ibn Abbas says he never saw the Prophet seek out the fast of any day more eagerly than Ashura, apart from the month of Ramadan.

The rescue itself is described in the Qur'an. Qur'an 2:50 reminds the Children of Israel that Allah brought them through the sea, rescued them and drowned Pharaoh's people before their eyes, and Qur'an 26:63-65 describes the sea parting when Musa struck it with his staff, and Allah saving Musa and all who were with him.

Sources: [6] [7] [8] [2] [3]

Sahih Muslim links the fast of Ashura to expiation of the previous year's sins. In Sahih Muslim 1162b the Prophet, asked about fasting the Day of Ashura, said that it expiates the sins of the preceding year, and in Sahih Muslim 1162a he expresses his hope from Allah that it will do so. The same hadith gives the fast of the Day of Arafah a two-year expiation.

The Federal Territory Mufti's hadith series cites Ibn Hajar's explanation that the Arafah fast is given priority because it expiates two years, and that the Ashura fast is connected with Musa while the Arafah fast is connected with the Prophet Muhammad. The table sets Ashura beside the other voluntary fasts covered in MyDeenPath's occasion guides.

Sources: [10] [9] [16] [5] [11]

Adding the ninth is widely encouraged, because the Prophet intended to do so. Sahih Muslim 1134a reports that when he fasted Ashura and told people to fast it, the Companions mentioned that Jews and Christians revered the day, and he said that the next year, if Allah willed, they would fast the ninth; he died before that year came. Sahih Muslim 1134b records him saying that if he lived until the next year he would fast the ninth.

Published answers present the options as a scale of preference. The Jordanian Iftaa Department's Shafi'i answer ranks fasting the ninth, tenth and eleventh highest, then the tenth with the day before or after it, and calls fasting the tenth alone permissible; Darul Iftaa Birmingham's Hanafi answer, citing Ibn Hajar, gives a similar order. Egypt's Dar al-Ifta and the Malaysian Federal Territory Mufti both describe fasting Ashura with the day before or the day after it.

Sources: [12] [13] [19] [20] [18] [15]

Count ten days from the start of Muharram as established where you live. Because the Hijri calendar is lunar, Ashura moves through the seasons and cannot be fixed to a Gregorian date in advance. In Sahih Muslim 1133a, Ibn Abbas tells a questioner at Zamzam to count from the sighting of Muharram's new moon and to fast the ninth, confirming that this was how the Prophet observed it.

MyDeenPath's Hijri calendar is a calculated civil calendar: useful for planning, but not a religious announcement, and observed dates can differ from it by a day or more where months begin with a local sighting or an official decision. Check your mosque or national authority when Muharram begins. If you are unsure which start your community will follow, fasting the ninth and tenth, or all three days, also covers a one-day difference.

Sources: [14] [24]

Fasting is the practice clearly established by authentic hadith; other customs linked to the day rest on disputed reports or on local culture. The Federal Territory Mufti's hadith series examines the report that whoever applies kohl on Ashura will never suffer eye disease, and records Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Sakhawi, Mulla Ali al-Qari and others judging it fabricated. It also quotes Ibn Rajab saying that reports about kohl, adornment and bathing on Ashura are not authentic.

Spending generously on one's family that day rests on reports that scholars assess differently. Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam of Darul Iftaa Leicester notes that some consider them weak while others, including al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Hibban, accepted them, and concludes that generosity to one's family on Ashura is virtuous but should not be treated as firmly established. Where a custom has no reliable source, it is best understood as local culture rather than as Sunnah.

Sources: [16] [21]

For many Muslims the tenth of Muharram is also the anniversary of the martyrdom of al-Husayn ibn Ali, the Prophet's grandson. Britannica describes al-Husayn as the Prophet's grandson through his daughter Fatimah and Ali, and records that he and most of his small band of followers were killed by Umayyad forces at Karbala on that day, a date agreed upon by Shia and Sunni communities.

Britannica describes Shia Muslims commemorating his martyrdom during the first ten days of Muharram, culminating on Ashura, with gatherings, sermons and poetry recalling his life, and notes Sunni respect for al-Husayn as a member of the Prophet's family. This guide concentrates on the fast; for the history of Karbala and the ways it is remembered, consult reliable historical works and the scholars of your own community.

Sources: [23]

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