Muharram

The sacred month of Muharram is a blessed and important month. It is the first month of the Hijri calendar and is one of the four sacred months concerning which Allah says:

"Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve months (in a year), so it was ordained by Allah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them, four are sacred. That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein?"[al-Tawbah 9:36]

Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The year is twelve months of which four are sacred, the three consecutive months of Dhu'l-Qa'dah, Dhu'l-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab Mudar which comes between Jumaada and Sha'baan." (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2958).

Muharram is so called because it is a sacred (muharram) month and to confirm its sanctity. Allah's words (interpretation of the meaning): "so wrong not yourselves therein?" mean do not wrong yourselves in these sacred months, because sin in these months is worse than in other months. It was reported that Ibn Abbas said that this phrase (so wrong not yourselves therein) referred to all the months, then these four were singled out and made sacred, so that sin in these months is more serious and good deeds bring a greater reward. Qutadah said concerning this phrase (so wrong not yourselves therein?) that wrongdoing during the sacred months is more serious and more sinful that wrongdoing at any other time. Wrongdoing at any time is a serious matter, but Allah gives more weight to whichever of His commands He will. Allah has chosen certain ones of His creation. He has chosen from among the angels Messengers and from among mankind Messengers. He chose from among speech the remembrance of Him (dhikr). He chose from among the earth the mosques, from among the months Ramadan and the sacred months, from among the days Friday and from among the nights Laylat al-Qadr, so venerate that which Allah has told us to venerate. People of understanding and wisdom venerate the things that Allah has told us to venerate. (Summarized from the Tafseer of Ibn Katheer, may Allah have mercy on him. Tafseer of Surat al-Tawbah, aayah 36).

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) so keen to fast any day and give it priority over any other than this day, the day of'`Ashura', and this month, meaning Ramadan. (Reported by al-Bukhari, 1867). The meaning of his being keen was that he intended to fast on that day in the hope of earning the reward for doing so. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "For fasting the day of 'Ashura', I hope that Allah will accept it as expiation for the year that went before." (Reported by Muslim, 1976). This is from the bounty of Allah towards us: for fasting one day He gives us expiation for the sins of a whole year. And Allah is the Owner of Great Bounty.

Bidahs common on Ashura

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about the things that people do on 'Ashura', such as wearing kohl, taking a bath (ghusl), wearing henna, shaking hands with one another, cooking grains (hubub), showing happiness and so on. Was any of this reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in a sahih hadith, or not? If nothing to that effect was reported in a sahih hadith, is doing these things bid'ah, or not? Is there any basis for what the other group do, such as grieving and mourning, going without anything to drink, eulogizing and wailing, reciting in a crazy manner, and rending their garments? His reply was: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Nothing to that effect has been reported in any saheeh hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or from his Companions. None of the Imams of the Muslims encouraged or recommended such things, neither the four Imams, nor any others. No reliable scholars have narrated anything like this, neither from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), nor from the Sahabah, nor from the Tabi'een; neither in any sahih report or in a da'if (weak) report; neither in the books of Sahih, nor in al-Sunan, nor in the Musnads. No hadith of this nature was known during the best centuries, but some of the later narrators reported ahadith like the one which says, "Whoever puts kohl in his eyes on the day of 'Ashura' will not suffer from eye disease in that year, and whoever takes a bath (does ghusl) on the day of 'Ashura' will not get sick in that year," and so on.

They also reported a fabricated hadith that is falsely attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), which says, "Whoever is generous to his family on the day of 'Ashura', Allah will be generous to him for the rest of the year." Reporting all of this from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is tantamount to lying. Then he [Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him)] discussed in brief the tribulations that had occurred in the early days of this ummah and the killing of al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him), and what the various sects had done because of this. Then he said: An ignorant, wrongful group - who were either heretics and hypocrites, or misguided and misled - made a show of allegiance to him and the members of his household, so they took the day of 'Ashura' as a day of mourning and wailing, in which they openly displayed the rituals of jahiliyyah such as slapping their cheeks and rending their garments, grieving in the manner of the jahiliyyah.

We ask Allah to make us followers of the Sunnah of His Noble Prophet, to make us live in Islam and die in a state of faith. May He help us to do that which He loves and which pleases Him. We ask Him to help us to remember Him and be thankful to Him, to worship Him properly and to accept our good deeds. May He make us of those who are pious and fear Him. May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad and all his family and companions. www.islaam.net