Honoring The Sacred Month Of Muharram And The Day Of Āshūrā

The Sacred Month of Muharram and the Virtue of Āshūrā

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His servants whom He has chosen.

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

Indeed it is the favour of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala upon us that He has brought another new year that has dawned. Our lunar Hijri year — we are now going through the month of Muharram. This past Sunday was the first of Muharram, and insha'Allah this coming Tuesday will be the tenth of Muharram, the day of Āshūrā. So since we are going through this blessed time, it is a great opportunity for us to reflect on the blessings of this month, the virtues of this month, and how we can take benefit from these blessed days. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to take benefit and grant us the tawfīq.

The Twelve Months and the Four Sacred Months

First of all, this āyah that I present before you, from Sūrah al-Tawbah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Verily the number of the months in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is twelve. Amongst them, four are sacred.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the sole creator of time and space and everything in between. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the only one who has the authority to declare some as sacred over others. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the sole one who creates, and He is the sole one who chooses and selects. No one else has the authority, no one else has the jurisdiction to declare certain days to be more sacred than others, to grant honour to some days over others, and to declare anything to be more sanctified.

So when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has selected this month to be a sacred month, then we need to — out of respect for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — respect His selection, respect His choice. And an example that our scholars give is that if we love someone, and they say they love a particular food, then we should go out of our way to purchase that food, prepare that food, cook that food. If they like a particular colour, we go out of our way to ensure that we buy a dress for them in that particular colour, and so on.

So if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying that this is a sacred month — a month that He has declared sacred — and if there is no change in our schedule, then this is a disrespect to the choice of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It literally is an indication that — na'ūdhu billāh — we may not say with our tongues, but through our actions we are demonstrating that we could, na'ūdhu billāh, not care about it, or could care less. And this would be a great deprivation and mahrūmiyyat for us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us from that.

Which Are the Four Sacred Months?

As the Prophet ﷺ said, three of them are consecutive — thalāthatun mutawāliyāt. We have Dhul-Qa'dah and Dhul-Hijjah, the last two at the end of the year, and Muharram at the beginning of the year. These three are consecutive. And then we have Rajab al-Fard — Rajab, which stands by itself.

So even in the era of Jāhiliyyah, when everyone's life was in danger, no life was held sacred, highway robbery, hijacking, killing and murder was rife in society — still in these months they would not engage in warfare. This is what the meaning of Muharram and Harām comes from.

The Word "Harām" and Its Meanings

Some may say that harām is something negative, because typically when we come across the word harām, we know that this is something forbidden. So how can this month be called hurum, and why is the month called Muharram? The reason is that violations of the orders of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala are even more harām in these months.

Just as this month is called the month of Muharram, we also have the place called the Haram — Haram al-Makkī and Haram al-Madanī. What happens when you enter the boundary of the Haram? Otherwise permissible actions like hunting become harām. Uprooting even a tree or a plant in the Haram is declared harām. So actions which are permissible outside are now harām and prohibited within the Haram al-Makkī and Haram al-Madanī.

Just like when we are going to perform salāh, there is a first takbīr that we perform — Allahu Akbar. This takbīr is known as Takbīr al-Tahrīmah. It comes from the same root: harama yuharrimu tahrīm. So Muharrim and Muharram. Tahrīm means to declare something harām. Walking is permissible, but after Allahu Akbar we cannot walk. Talking is permissible, eating, drinking — all of these permissible actions — we make harām upon ourselves after we make the first takbīr. That is why the first takbīr is known as Takbīr al-Tahrīmah.

Then we have the takbīrs throughout the prayer — those are known as Takbīr al-Intiqāl. Intiqāl means to move. When a person dies, it is also known as intiqāl, because they are not ending their life but moving on — passing on from the worldly life to the hereafter, from Dār al-Fanā' to Dār al-Baqā', from this temporary abode to the permanent abode.

The Prohibition of Fighting in the Sacred Months

Even in the era of Jāhiliyyah, they would declare all warfare to be harām during these months. They would take a break. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

They ask you regarding the sacred months — fighting in them is prohibited, unless of course you are being attacked, in which case you can defend yourselves. Because:

The fitnah — stopping it is more important than the prohibition of fighting.

The Evil Practice of Al-Nasī' — Tampering with the Calendar

The people of Jāhiliyyah used to play around with the calendar. This was — na'ūdhu billāh — such a bad practice that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about it in the Quran. They had created this rule that you cannot fight in the four sacred months, but if they were in the middle of a battle or wanted to start one, they would unilaterally declare, "You know what, this is not Muharram anymore, this is Safar, this is Rabī' al-Awwal." This practice is known as Nasī'. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

They just came up with this formula — since it is impermissible to fight for four months, we'll mess around with the calendar and change it whenever we feel like it. And this is why when in the tenth year of Hijrah, Rasulullah ﷺ was addressing the Sahaba — Ridwānullāh 'alayhim — in his Khutbah of Arafah, on the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah, he asked them: Ayyu shahrin hādhā? — Which month is this?

Typically the Sahaba would say, Allāhu wa rasūluhū a'lam — Allah and His Messenger know best. But in this case, why didn't they simply say it is Dhul-Hijjah? Because the calendar had been distorted so many times that they really did not know what the actual true month was. They had kept on playing around with it for so long.

So Rasulullah ﷺ informed them that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had finally realigned things — the distortions had been occurring for a long time, but now it had aligned such that this is the actual Dhul-Hijjah in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, this is the actual 9th of Dhul-Hijjah, this is the actual Yawm al-Arafah. And now it is upon them — and us — to maintain this calendar. So this is a fardh kifāyah upon the Ummah.

The Lunar Calendar: A Sacred Duty

The Sahaba asked a question to Rasulullah ﷺ which is mentioned in Sūrah al-Baqarah:

They ask you regarding the hilāl, the crescent. Now the question they had about the crescent was not about the purpose — rather, about how it happens. There are two types of questions: how does something happen, and why does something happen. How things occur is the realm of science. Why things happen is the realm of waḥy — revelation.

So all the scientists in the world cannot come up with the answer to the question of why we are here in this world, what is our purpose, where we came from, and where we are heading. This is what the waḥy and divine revelation is for.

When they asked about the crescent, the illumination of the moon could have been explained as a reflection of the light from the sun — and as the moon rotates the earth, and the earth rotates the sun, the shadows and illumination create the phases, from the crescent to the full moon and back. This could have been explained; it would not have been difficult for them to understand. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did not do so, because He wanted to leave that for us to research, ponder, and reflect upon in His creation. But that which we cannot figure out on our own, He directed our attention towards — not how it happens, but why it happens.

And even with respect to how it happens — the realm of science — we do find some indications in the language that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uses. For centuries, these may have just been passed over, but after we came to understand what is happening, we notice something remarkable. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uses different words for the light of the sun and the light of the moon:

He made the sun as ḍiyā' — a source of its own light — and the moon as nūr — a reflected light. SubhānAllāh. If both natures of the light were the same, He could have used the same word.

So the answer to the question about the crescent — قُلْ هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَالْحَجِّ — is a divine diversion: tell them, this is happening as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants it to be the means of keeping our time, and determining the dates of Ḥajj. That is why maintaining the lunar calendar is not just an ancient relic, but a sacred duty and responsibility.

And if the new year comes, and Muharram comes and goes, and we do not even have this discussion with the family — they do not even realize it — whereas there are huge celebrations for the Gregorian solar calendar, with so much fanfare, countdown, fireworks, and celebrations, but no mention of the Islamic year — then we are failing in our duty. We are supposed to have these discussions.

Muharram: The Month of Allah

Rasulullah ﷺ said about this month that it is Shahrullāh — the month of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Someone may object: all months are the months of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — which month is not? So why did Rasulullah ﷺ refer specifically to this as Shahrullāh?

(Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 2611)

The most virtuous fasting after the month of Ramadan is Shahrullāh al-Muharram — the month of Allah, the month of Muharram. And the best of prayers after the obligatory prayers is the prayer at night.

Now, we should not take the opposite meaning — that other months are somehow the months of Shayṭān or someone else — because that is another problem. Just as the month of Muharram was considered sacred even in Jāhiliyyah, the month of Ṣafar was considered an evil month with an evil omen. People would say: do not plan your wedding in this month, do not begin a new journey in this month, and so on. But there is no time that is inherently evil in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

This nisbah and attribution of the month to Allah is called iḍāfah al-tashrīfiyyah — an attribution to grant honour. There are other examples of this. The word bayt is translated as "home" — from the Arabic bāta yabītu, meaning to spend the night. So baytullāh, when referring to the Ka'bah, does not mean this is where Allah spends the night or where He resides — that is not His address. Rather, this attribution adds honour to the Ka'bah by associating it with Allah.

Likewise, when it comes to 'Īsā a.s., Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala refers to him as Rūḥullāh wa kalimatun minhu — the soul of Allah. This is very dangerous if misunderstood, as the Christians take it to mean full or partial divinity. But none of the above is the case — he is not divine by any percentage. All souls are created by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah says:

Tell them: the rūḥ comes into existence from the amr of Allah. Every soul — my soul, your soul, all of our souls — are the creation of Allah. So was the soul of 'Īsā a.s. But the attribution Rūḥullāh is because his soul had a special honour — and we can easily see why, given the miraculous nature of how it came into being.

In Sūrah Maryam, Maryam a.s. was in her private place of 'ibādah when the angel appeared. She said:

"I seek Allah's protection from you — fear Allah, do not touch me." And the angel replied that this was a miracle from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that he had come لِيَهَبَ لَكِ غُلَامًا زَكِيًّا — to give her a pure son. The rūḥ of 'Īsā a.s. was infused directly into the womb. She never had a conventional pregnancy — she went straight into labour when the soul came into her womb, and she delivered the baby. So this was a very obviously miraculous event, and to indicate that miracle, he is known as Rūḥullāh.

And likewise, this month of Muharram is known as Shahrullāh.

Conclusion and Reminder About Āshūrā

Unfortunately, our time has gone over — we just began the discussion. There are many more points, and insha'Allah if Allah ta'ala gives us the tawfīq, we will continue to discuss them throughout this month. But next Friday will be too late to remind about the fact that Āshūrā is coming.

The virtue of Āshūrā is that we should be fasting on Tuesday — it is the 10th of Muharram. Along with it, we should fast on Monday — the day before — or on Wednesday — the day after — so as not to single out Tuesday alone, in order to avoid resemblance to the practice of the Yahūd. The full story of this — insha'Allah with the tawfīq of Allah — we will cover next time.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us tawfīq and allow us to benefit from this month and realize its value. And definitely to fast on Āshūrā, so that it becomes a means of forgiveness of one full year of our sins.

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