THE VIRTUE OF MUHARRAM AND ITS MISCONCEPTIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS
In
the name of Allah the lord who created the creations and chose elites among his creations. The lord who created the months of
the year and made them twelve and chose four of the twelve as the sacred months.
Allah says in the holy Qur’an “indeed the number
of months in the sight of Allah is twelve in the book of Allah the day he
created the heavens and the earth, among them there are four sacred months”
The
messenger (P.B.U.H) of Allah also made statement about the sanctity of these
four months. He Muhammad (P.B.U.H) is reported to have said: “Allah has chosen elites from his creation: from among
the Angels He chose messengers, from among the mankind He chose the messengers,
from among speech He chose remembrance of Him (dhikr), from among the spaces on
earth He chose the mosque, from among the months He chose Ramadaan and the four
sacred months, from among the days He chose Friday and from among the nights He
chose laila tu khadir”
The
four sacred months are Rajab, Dhu’l Quada, Dhu’l Hijah and Muharram.
Muharram
is the first month of the Islamic Hijir calendar and one of the four most sacred months of Allah.
As the name implies “MUHARRAM” linguistically means something of value and virtue. The fast of the month of Muharram is the most important fast after Ramadan because Allah’s Messenger is reported to have said “Apart from Ramadan, the best fast is the fast of Muharram”
As the name implies “MUHARRAM” linguistically means something of value and virtue. The fast of the month of Muharram is the most important fast after Ramadan because Allah’s Messenger is reported to have said “Apart from Ramadan, the best fast is the fast of Muharram”
Haven
enlighten you about the greatness of Muharram and how valuable fasting in it is,
I also want to let you know that even thought the month of Muharram is sanctified
generally, the 10th day of Muharram which is called Ashoora is
the most sacred among all of its days. Fasting on this particular day expiates the
minor sins of the fater for the past year. The messenger of Allah is reported to have
said: “fasting the day of Arafah I hope Allah will
expiate there by for the year before it and the year after it, and fasting the
day of Ashoora I hope Allah expiate thereby for the year that came before it”
{Muslim, 1162.}.
The messenger of Allah used to be very keen
about fasting this day and the reason he fasted on it and ordered the
Muslims to do is; when He migrated to medina, he saw the Jews fasting on this
day then he asked them why. They replied by saying “this is a good day; it
is the day when Allah gave Moosa and the children of Israel victory over their
enemy so Moosa fasted it and ordered us to do so”. Then the messenger of
Allah said to them “we are closer to Moose then
you”. So He Muhammad (P.B.U.H) fasted on it and ordered the people
to do so.
At
first, before the command of the obligation of fasting the month of Ramadan,
fasting the day of Ashoora was compulsory. It only became optional after Ramadan
was made obligated. However it is recommended for Muslims to fast a day before or a
day after Ashoora in order to make a difference with the Jews who also fast on the
tenth of Muharram.
The prophet (PBUH) said he would have fasted the 9th and the 10th the following year but unfortunately he didn't live to see that year but the fact that he said it makes it part of Islam.
The Misconceptions
and Superstitions of Muharram
Like
any other event or period in Islam, Ashoora also has been misunderstood from
different angles based upon arrogance limited knowledge and traditions. As a result, there are innovations with no evidence in Islam which some people blindly follow out of ignorance.
Like
for example some traditions regard the day of Ashoora to be the day when
families provide more food for their members as unusual. This practice does not
have strong evidence in Islam; all the evidences that the actors base this
action on are very week, however very few scholars reconcile with this evidences
and approve their action.
Having said that above, there are other misconceptions that have absolutely no
authentic Islamic source. Some of them are:
1) They say that Ashoora is the day that Adam was created.
2)
Others claim that it is the day that Ibrahim (P.B.U.H) was born.
3)
They also claim that it is the day that Allah accepted the repentance of Adam.
4)
They predict that it is the day that Qiyaamah will fall.
5)
They also believe that whosoever takes bath in the day of Ashoora will never
get ill.
There
are many of such kind of unauthentic and baseless statements and belief about
this day but a careful and wise Muslim will not blindly follow these
innovations because there will be no credit unless when they are selected from
reliable sources.
Another
misconception of this month is that it is an evil and unlucky month because
Husain (May Allah be pleased with him) was killed in it. Due to that many
people do not conduct marriages in Muharram because they believe that the marriage
will not be blessed. This is another baseless misconception and innovation that
is contrary to the Sunnah. If we hold unto the claim that the death day of an
important personality is unlucky, therefore we must avoid ceremonies in such
days, then we will find it very rare to find a day out of the 365 days that is
not unlucky because one way or the other there is a historical death of an
eminent person attached to every single day.
Another
major wrong practice and misconception of this month and particularly the day
of Ashoora is the mouming ceremony of the Sayyidna Husain (May Allah be pleased
with him). His death is one of the sad and tragic events in the Islamic history but that does not mean that we should cross the line and involve into wrong
practices. The Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H) highly warned us against such
practice because it was the common behavior of the ignorant people before Islam
to cry limitlessly, tear their cloths beat or stab themselves for the death of
their beloved ones. It is also reported that Husain (May Allah be pleased with
him) himself advice his sister by saying “My dear sister, I swear that, in case I
die, do not tear your cloths, nor scratch your face, nor curse anyone for me or
pray for your death.” {Al-Kamil, ibn kathir vol. 4pg 24}
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| The mouming ceremony of the Sheates in memory of Husain on the day of Ashoora |
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| Mohammed A. Sumaworo Author |
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