The 10th of Muharram

Praise be to `Allaah, the Creator of the universe Who exists without being bound to
place or time. May `Allaah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬.
Muharram is the first of 12 lunar months in the Islamic calendar. Yaw-mu ^Aa-shoo-raa` is
the 10th day of Muharram and it is a day that is notable for a number of reasons.
`Allaah has made the 10th of Muharram a day on which fasting is recommended, but it is
not obligatory to fast on this day. And in a saheeh hadeeth narrated by Muslim the Prophet
‫ ﷺ‬additionally encouraged Muslims to fast on the 9th day of Muharram. There are several
`ahadeeth in which the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬mentioned the great reward in fasting on the 10th of

َْ ََ ُ َ ْ َ ْ ُ َ ْ ُ َ
Muharram. Among them is what Muslim reported in his Saheeh that the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬said:
َ َ َ ّ
‫ﷲ أن يُ َ ِف َر ا سنَة ال ِ ْ بْل ُه‬
ِ ‫َو ِصيام يَومِ شو َر َاء أح ِسب ا‬
This means: And as for fasting on the day of ^Aa-shoo-raa`, I hope that through fasting it
`Allaah will grant forgiveness of the (minor) sins from the past year.
Many important events occurred in the past on the 10th of Muharram. Among these events
is that on this day `Allaah accepted the repentance of Prophet `Aadam ‫ﷺ‬. While in
Paradise, Prophet `Aadam ‫ ﷺ‬ate from a tree from which `Allaah had forbidden him to eat.
However this mistake was not an enormous sin since Prophets are protected from kufr,
enormous sins and small sins which reflect bad character.
The 10th of Muharram is also the day on which Prophet Nooh ‫ ﷺ‬left the ark that he had
built to escape the flooding of the Earth. Kufr first occurred on Earth around 1000 years
after Prophet `Aadam ‫ ﷺ‬died. Then 1000 years after Prophet `Idrees ‫ ﷺ‬died kufr had
become widespread and many people had started to worship idols. `Allaah sent Prophet
Nooh ‫ ﷺ‬to these people and ordered him to warn them against a severe torture that would
befall them if they did not return to `Islaam. Prophet Nooh ‫ ﷺ‬lived among his people and
called them to `Islaam for 950 years. Despite the great knowledge and wisdom of Prophet
Nooh ‫ ﷺ‬and despite being supported by miracles, during this time only about 80 people
embraced `Islaam. `Allaah ordered Prophet Nooh ‫ ﷺ‬to build a large ark and then `Allaah
sent rain and flood waters which destroyed all the non-believers. All the non-believers
drowned, including one of the sons of Prophet Nooh ‫ ﷺ‬called Kan-^aan and the wife of
Prophet Nooh ‫ ﷺ‬who did not embrace `Islaam.
On the 10th of Muharram Prophet `Ibraaheem ‫ ﷺ‬was saved from the fire of an unjust ruler
who ruled at that time called Numrood. Prophet `Ibraaheem called the people to
`Islaam. However, an unjust king who claimed to be God ordered for a large fire to be
built and for Prophet `Ibraaheem ‫ ﷺ‬to be thrown into this fire, but the fire did not harm
Prophet `Ibraaheem ‫ﷺ‬. This is because fire does not create burning; `Allaah alone is the One
Who creates everything.
On this day `Allaah reunited Prophet Yoosuf ‫ ﷺ‬with his father Prophet Ya^qoob ‫ ﷺ‬after he
had been unjustly separated from his father at a young age.
Also on this day Prophet Moosaa was saved from Fir^awn. By the power of `Allaah
Prophet Moosaa ‫ ﷺ‬split the sea of `Al-Kulzum (the Red Sea) such that 12 clear paths
opened and allowed Prophet Moosaa and his followers to walk on the seabed.
The 10th of Muharram is the day on which Prophet Yoonus ‫ ﷺ‬came out of the belly of the
whale. While on a ship at sea, Prophet Yoonus ‫ ﷺ‬was thrown off and swallowed by a
whale. Prophet Yoonus ‫ ﷺ‬was relieved of this great hardship on the 10th of Muharram.
On this day Prophet `Ayyoob ‫ ﷺ‬was cured of his illness that he had been patient with for
many years. Prophet `Ayyoob ‫ ﷺ‬suffered from a severe illness for many years, but this
illness was not a repulsive one that would prevent others from approaching him to receive
knowledge. It is impossible for Prophets to suffer from repulsive illnesses. Thus it is not
correct to say about Prophet `Ayyoob ‫ ﷺ‬that he suffered from an illness which caused an
unpleasant odour to be emitted from his body or worms to emerge from his face.
On Friday the 10th of Muharram (an honourable day) in the year 61 AH, about 50 years
after the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬died, a heartbreaking incident took place. The grandson
of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬Husayn, radiyallaahu ^anhu, was murdered aged 56.
`At-Tirmidhiyy narrated in his Sunan that the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬praised his grandsons saying:
ْ َْ َ َ ََّ ُْ َ ُ ْ َ ُ َ َ ْ
‫اب أه ِل الـ َجن ِة‬
ِ ‫الـﺤسﻦ والـﺤس س ِيدا شب‬
This means: `Al-Hasan and `Al-Husayn are the leaders of the youth of Paradise.
After ^Aliyy radiyallaahu ^anhu was killed, Hasan became the caliph and abdicated a
short while later to allow Mu^aawiyah the son of `Aboo Sufyaan to become the caliph;
Hasan did this to prevent further fighting among the Muslims. Later on, Hasan was
poisoned and died in Madeenah. Mu^aawiyah had a son called Yazeed who was born in
the year 25 AH. After Mu^aawiyah died, Yazeed was given the pledge of allegiance by the
followers of Mu^aawiyah. However, several companions such as Husayn `ibn ^Aliyy and
^Abdullaah `ibn Zubayr did not accept to pay allegiance to Yazeed as he was not
religiously qualified to be the caliph. Then the people of Koofah in ^Iraaq wrote a letter to
Husayn requesting him to come to them so that they could give him the pledge of
allegiance and accept him as the caliph. Husayn decided to leave Madeenah with his
family to meet the people of Koofah. However, the news of Husayn’s departure reached
Yazeed `ibn Mu^aawiyah. Yazeed placed ^Iraaq under the governorship of ^Ubaydullaah
`ibn Ziyaad and ordered him to confront and fight Husayn. Thus `Ibn Ziyaad entered
Koofah before the arrival of Husayn and then sent an army to confront him. This army
was headed by ^Umar `ibn Sa^-d. When Husayn got to Karbalaa`, around 50 miles
from Koofah, he did not find anyone among those who had written to him. The inhabitants
of Koofah had let him down. Husayn met with ^Umar `ibn Sa^-d and said to him, ‘I can do
one of three things: I can go and fight alongside the Muslims at the borders; I can go and
directly meet Yazeed; or I can return from where I came’. ^Umar `ibn Sa^-d agreed to
accept one of these three, but `Ibn Ziyaad did not and said, ‘I will not accept until he
pledges allegiance to Yazeed’. Husayn said, ‘This will never happen’. The next morning
was the 10th of Muharram. ^Umar `ibn Sa^-d and his army prepared themselves for battle
against Husayn and his supporters. Husayn had with him 32 men on horseback and 40
on foot, so in total they were 72. Our Master Husayn radiyallaahu ^anhu fought the unjust
group alongside his cousins, sons and nephews and some others from his tribe. The army
against them comprised of 4000 well-equipped soldiers. The fighting commenced and
became very severe and most of those who were with Husayn were killed. Husayn bravely
defended himself against those to his right and those to his left, until a man called Zur-^ah
`ibn Shurayk struck him on his left arm and another hit him on his shoulder. Then Sinaan
`ibn `Anas stabbed him with a spear. Our Master Husayn fell to the ground and one from
among the army of `Ibn Sa^-d beheaded Husayn . It was mentioned that when the body
of our master Husayn was found, he had 33 wounds from a sword and 34 stab wounds.
The head of Husayn was transported to Yazeed in Damascus. It is mentioned that when
Yazeed received the head, he started playing with the front teeth of Husayn with a stick. A
companion called `Aboo Barzadaa `Al-Aslamiyy was present and said, ‘You are playing
with the mouth of Husayn! I swear by `Allaah, there is no God but He, I saw the lips of
the Prophet kissing these lips and you are playing with them with your stick. O Yazeed,
you will come on the Day of Judgement with `Ibn Ziyaad as your intercessor and Husayn
will come and his intercessor will be the Prophet ‫’ﷺ‬. Then he stood up and left. The
body of Husayn was buried in Karbalaa` and his head was buried in Damascus.
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