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 ﷺ additionally encouraged Muslims to fast on the 9th day of Muharram. There are several `ahadeeth in which the Prophet ﷺ mentioned the great reward in fasting on the 10th of Muharram.
Among them is what Muslim reported in his Saheeh that the Prophet ﷺ said:
وَصِيَامُ يَوْمِ عَاشُوْرَاءَ أَحْتَسِبُ عَلَى اللهِ أَنْ يُكَفِّرَ السَّنَةَ الَّتِىْ قَبْلَهُ
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 ﷺ ate 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 ﷺ left the ark that he had built to escape the flooding of the Earth. Kufr first occurred on Earth around 1000 years after Prophet `Aadam ﷺ died. Then 1000 years after Prophet `Idrees ﷺ died kufr had become widespread and many people had started to worship idols. `Allaah sent Prophet Nooh ﷺ to 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 ﷺ lived among his people and called them to `Islaam for 950 years. Despite the great knowledge and wisdom of Prophet Nooh ﷺ and despite being supported by miracles, during this time only about 80 people embraced `Islaam. `Allaah ordered Prophet Nooh ﷺ to 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 ﷺ called Kan-^aan and the wife of Prophet Nooh ﷺ who did not embrace `Islaam.
On the 10th of Muharram Prophet `Ibraaheem ﷺ was 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 ﷺ to 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 ﷺ with his father Prophet Ya^qoob ﷺ after 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 ﷺ split 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 ﷺ came out of the belly of the whale. While on a ship at sea, Prophet Yoonus ﷺ was thrown off and swallowed by a whale. Prophet Yoonus ﷺ was relieved of this great hardship on the 10th of Muharram.
On this day Prophet `Ayyoob ﷺ was cured of his illness that he had been patient with for many years. Prophet `Ayyoob ﷺ suffered 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 ﷺ that 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 ﷺ Muhammad ﷺ died, a heartbreaking incident took place. The grandson of the Prophet ﷺ Husayn, radiyallaahu ^anhu, was murdered aged 56.
`At-Tirmidhiyy narrated in his Sunan that the Prophet ﷺ praised his grandsons saying:
الْـحَسَنُ وَالْـحُسَيْنُ سَيِّدَا شَبَابِ أَهْلِ الْـجَنَّةِ
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 Barzata `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.