Muharram

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. The year opens with it. It is also one of the four sacred months Allah named in the Qur'an. The very name means forbidden, because fighting in it was set apart and forbidden of old.

The number of months with Allah is twelve, in the Book of Allah, from the day He created the heavens and the earth. Of these, four are sacred. (Qur'an 9:36)

So the year does not begin with noise. It begins with a sacred month. Allah marked the opening of the year the way He marked its other great seasons. He set it apart.

The day of Ashura

The tenth of Muharram is the day of Ashura. It carries an old mercy. It is the day Allah saved Musaعَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and his people from Pharaoh. When the Prophet ﷺ came to Madinah, he found the Jews fasting that day for exactly this reason.

This is the heart of Ashura. It is a fast of gratitude for the rescue of Musaعَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and his people. It is Allah's mercy remembered. The Prophet ﷺ kept it and told the Muslims to keep it.

Later he taught us to add the ninth alongside the tenth, to mark the day as our own.

The Prophet ﷺ passed away before the next year came. So the way of the Sunnah is to fast the ninth and the tenth together.

The day Karbala fell

The same date carries a second weight. The tenth of Muharram is also the day Husayn (radiyallahu anhu), the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ, was killed at Karbala. He was the boy the Prophet ﷺ carried on his shoulders. He was killed by the oppressors of his time rather than call a wrong right.

This is one of the saddest days the Ummah has known. We honour it soberly. We do not look away from it. We tell the full story in the sorrow of Karbala.

Keep the two clear. The fast of Ashura was taught by the Prophet ﷺ for Musaعَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and Allah's mercy, long before Karbala. Karbala came later, on the same date. Both belong to this day. Neither cancels the other.

How to keep the month

Honour the sacred month. Fast the ninth and the tenth of Muharram, in shaa Allah. Remember the rescue of Musaعَلَيْهِ السَّلَام and thank Allah for it. Honour the household of the Prophet ﷺ and grieve for Husayn (radiyallahu anhu) with the sorrow it deserves.

Do not let the day pull you into arguing. The household of the Prophet ﷺ is loved by every Muslim. Keep the day on the straight path: gratitude for Allah's mercy, love for the Prophet's family and grief held with dignity.