Ashura

Day of Ashura
Ashura is the 10th day of Muharram, in the 1st month of the Islamic Hijri calendar.

History

  • Ashura marks the day of Hazrat Musa (A.S) was rescued from Pharaoh by Allah (SWT) creating a way to the sea.
  • It also marks the day of the Battle of Karbala, which led to Hazrat Imam Hussain (R.A), the grandson of the last Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), being martyred along with his companions and supporters.

Shia

  • In Shia Islam, Ashura is an important holy day and pilgrimage occasion.
  • Shia Imams are certain that Ashura should not be commemorated as a day of pleasure and celebration. Ashura must be honoured as a day of rest, mourning, and complete contempt for earthly affairs.
  • The yearly remembrance of Hazrat Imam Hussain R.A’s death, along with his family and followers, in the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram in the year 61 AH or 10 October 680 AD, is known as Ashura.
  • Mourning over the occurrence occurred practically as soon as the combat ended. During the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, poets wrote popular elegies to remember the Battle of Karbala, and the first public mourning rites took place in 963 AD during the Buyid dynasty.

Sunni

  • In Sunni Islam, fasting is encouraged but not required on this day.
  • Fasting at Ashura is advised but not required for Sunnis, as it has been overtaken by the Ramadan fast.
  • Ashura was previously recognised as a memorable day during which certain Meccan inhabitants used to observe traditional fasting, according to hadith records in Sahih Bukhari.
  • On the 10th Muharram, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) fasted in Mecca on Ashura Day. When fasting throughout the month of Ramadan became required, the Ashura fast was rendered optional.

Ashura has become a national festival in Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, Pakistan, and India, with numerous ethnic and religious groupings participating.

 

Shrine of Hazrat Imam Hussain (R.A) in Karbala, Iraq

Shrine Hazrat Imam Hussain (R.A)

The Shrine of Hazrat Imam Hussain R.A, also known as the Place of Imam Husayn ibn Ali R.A, is a mosque and burial place in Karbala, Iraq, dedicated to Husayn ibn Ali.