Ashura

The story behind the day

Ashura falls on the tenth of Muḥarram, the first month of the Islamic year. For Shia Muslims it is the climax of days of mourning for Imam Husayn, the Prophet's grandson, who was killed at Karbala in 680. For Sunni Muslims it has long been a voluntary day of fasting, kept by many together with the day before or after, and Sunni preachers also remember Husayn with sorrow. One date thus carries two memories, which each tradition keeps in its own way.^[1–5]

Origins

Karbala plain 680, tents and the river kept from the camp, no figuresIllustration · AI-generated

Muḥarram, whose name means inviolable, is one of the four sacred months of the Islamic year. Sunni teaching, as Egypt's Dar al-Ifta presents it, holds that earlier prophets such as Noah and Moses fasted on the day, and Muslims associate it with the escape of Moses and the Israelites from Egypt. The second memory is later. In 61 AH, corresponding to 680 CE, Husayn, the son of ʿAlī and grandson of the Prophet, was killed with his companions in a battle at Karbala, a city in the south of Iraq.^{[2, 6–8]}

How it came to be

For Shia Muslims Ashura commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn, grandson of the Prophet, who died on the tenth of Muḥarram. Sunnis do not hold the Shia mourning rites, but they honour Husayn: a sermon from Turkey's Diyanet recalls the sorrowful incident at Karbala and remembers him with mercy and respect, and a study of Sunni sources finds opinions ranging from compassion for his tragedy to more cautious positions. In 962 CE the Buyid dynasty declared Ashura a day of public mourning in Baghdad. Commemorative gatherings called majālis, and later the dramatic genre called taʿziyah, a passion play, became established ways of recalling the story of Karbala. Among Sunnis the day was kept as a voluntary fast, a status it holds today.^{[2–3, 5, 9–11]}

How it is kept

Muharram majlis, black cloth, water standsIllustration · AI-generated

Sunni fasting household at AshuraIllustration · AI-generated

For Shia Muslims the mourning rituals begin on the first of Muḥarram and climax on the tenth. Many wear black, gather at ceremonies to hear the martyrdom of Husayn recited, join processions and beat their chests in grief, and some travel to the shrine of Imam Husayn at Karbala. Sunni Muslims fast on the tenth, together with the day before or after, and Egypt's Dar al-Ifta cites the Prophet's wish to fast on the ninth as well. The traditions differ even on the fast. Diyanet advises fasting on Ashura, while the rulings of Ayatollahs al-Sistani and Makarem Shirazi classify a fast kept on ʿĀshūrāʾ as disapproved. Where Sunni teaching stresses the fast, Shia practice stresses mourning and remembrance.^{[4, 10, 12–16]}

Sources

Each statement above was checked against published sources; the verdict says whether it stood as written, was corrected or was hedged.