Muharram

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Ashura commemorating martyrdom of Prophet's grandson, Tehran, 2016
Month number:	1
Number of days:	29-30 (depends on actual observation of the moon's crescent)
Significant day(s):	Ashura

Muḥarram (Arabic: ٱلْمُحَرَّم‎) is the first month of the Islamic calendar.^[1] It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after Ramadan.

The tenth day of Muharram is known as Ashura. Better known as part of the Mourning of Muharram, Shi'i Muslims mourn the tragedy of Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī's family, and Sunni Muslims practice fasting on Ashura.

Muslims mourn the martyrdom of Ḥusayn and his family, honoring the martyrs by prayer and abstinence from joyous events. Shiʿi Muslims eat as little as possible on the Ashura; however, this is not seen as fasting. Alevis fast twelve days, each day for one of the Twelve Imams of Shiʿa Islam, to commemorate and mourn the Imams, as if a very close relative has died. Some (excluding children, elderly or sick) don't eat or drink until zawal (afternoon) as a part of their mourning for Husayn.^[2] In addition there is an important ziyarat book, the Ziyarat Ashura about Ḥusayn. In Shiʿism, it is popular to read this ziyarat on this date.^[3]

Muharram and Ashura[]

The sighting of the new moon ushers in the Islamic New Year. The first month, Muharram, is one of the four sacred months mentioned in the Quran, along with the seventh month of Rajab, and the eleventh and twelfth months of Dhu al-Qi'dah and Dhu al-Hijjah, respectively, immediately preceding Muharram. During these sacred months, warfare is forbidden. Before the advent of Islam, the Quraish and Arabs also forbade warfare during those months.^[4] Muslims believe that in this month of Muharram, one should worship Allah a lot. For information, worship of Allah should be done at all times and while sleeping or awake. There is no particular month or day for the worship of Allah. The worship of Allah can be done by the method of spiritual practice prescribed by the true spiritual saint, who is said to be Bakhbar in Surat Al-Furqan 25:59 of the Quran. Prophet Muhammad never said that one should shed blood for Allah or hurt oneself. Nor is there any evidence of this in the holy scriptures of Muslim scriptures (Qur'an, Injil, Jabur etc.).^[5]

Muharram and Ashura to the Muslims[]

Shia Muslims in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in a Hussainiya as part of the commemoration of Muharram

Shia Muslim children in Amroha, India on camels in front of the Azakhana as part of the procession commemorating events on and after Day of Ashura

Muharram is a month of remembrance. Ashura, which literally means the "Tenth" in Arabic, refers to the tenth day of Muharram.^[6] It is well-known because of historical significance and mourning for the Shahadat (martyrdom) of Ḥusayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.^[7] Muslims begin mourning from the first night of Muharram and continue for ten nights, climaxing on the 10th of Muharram, known as the Day of Ashura. The last few days up until and including the Day of Ashura are the most important because these were the days in which Hussain and his family and followers (including women, children and elderly people) were deprived of water from the 7th onward and on the 10th, Husayn and 72 of his followers were killed by the army of Yazid I at the Battle of Karbala on Yazid's orders. The surviving members of Husayn’s family and those of his followers were taken captive, marched to Damascus, and imprisoned there.

Timing for Muharram[]

Conversion of Hijri years 1343 to 1500 to the Gregorian calendar, with first days of al-Muharram (brown), Ramadan (grey) and Shawwal (black) bolded, and Eid al-Adha dotted – in the SVG file, hover over a spot to show its dates and a line to show the month

The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, and months begin when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. Since the Islamic lunar calendar year is 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year, Muharram migrates throughout the solar years. The estimated start and end dates for Muharram are as follows (based on the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia):^[8]

Incidents that occurred during this month[]

Scenes in the Tajiya procession at the Muharram festival

• 1 Muharram: Seizure of the Grand Mosque in 1400 AH (1979 AD).
• 3 Muharram: Husayn ibn Ali enters Karbala and establishes camp. Yazid's forces are present. 61 AH (680 AD).
• 5 Muharram: Death anniversary (urs) of Baba Farid, a Punjabi Sufi saint, in 665 AH (1266 AD). His urs is celebrated for six days during Muharram, in Pakpattan, Pakistan.
• 7 Muharram: Access to water was banned to Husayn ibn Ali by Yazid's orders. 61 AH (680 AD).
• 8 Muharram: Referred to as the Muharram Rebellion, the Bengali Muslims of Sylhet lead one of the earliest anti-British uprisings in the subcontinent. 1197 AH (1782 AD).
• 10 Muharram: Referred to as the Day of Ashurah (lit. "the Tenth"), the day on which Husayn ibn Ali was martyred in the Battle of Karbala. Shia Muslims spend the day in mourning, while Sunni Muslims fast on this day, commemorating the rescue of the Israelites by Musa (Moses) from Pharaoh. Shia Muslims also mourn for the martyrs of Karbala.^[9] Many Sufi Muslims fast for the same reason as the Sunnis mentioned above, but also for the martyred dead in Karbala.
• 15 Muharram: Birth of Muhammad Sirajuddin Naqshbandi in 1297 AH (1879 AD).
• 25 Muharram: Zayn al-‘Ābidīn, fourth Shia Imam was martyred by Marvanian in 95 AH (714 AD).^[10]
• 28 Muharram: Death anniversary (urs) of Ashraf Jahangir Semnani, an Indian Sufi saint, in 808 AH (1405 AD).

See also[]

• Islamic Calendar
• Day of Ashura
• Mourning of Muharram
• Day of Tasu'a
• Hosay
• Rawda Khwani

References[]

Further reading[]

• Chelkowski, Peter J. ed. (1979). Ta’ziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran. New York: New York University Press.
• Cole, Juan (1988). Roots of North Indian Shiism in Iran and Iraq: Religion and State in Avadh, 1722–1859. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
• Kartomi, Margaret (1986). "Tabut – a Shia Ritual Transplanted from India to Sumatra", in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Indonesia: Essays in Honour of Professor J.D. Legge, edited by David P. Chandler and M.C. Ricklefs, Australia: Monash University, Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, 141–62.
• Mason, P.H. (2016) "Fight-dancing and the Festival: Tabuik in Pariaman, Indonesia, and Iemanjá" in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. Martial Arts Studies Journal, 2, 71–90. doi:10.18573/j.2016.10065
• Pinault, David (1992). The Shiites: Ritual and Popular Piety in a Muslim Community. London: I.B. Tauris.

External links[]

• Commemoration of Muharram is permissible
• Optional prayers for Muharram, especially Qalbi Zikr
• Muharram Quotes and Wishes
• Matam (beating the chest) in Muharram
• "Muharram" . New International Encyclopedia. 1997.
• A day of mourning for Shiites
• Muharram in West Sumatra
• What is Muharram ?