The Sacred Month of Muharram - Ustadh Jamal Abdinasir

The Sacred Month of Muharram

Praise be to Allah. We praise Him, Glorified and Exalted, for guiding us to Islam and making us, by His grace and mercy, from the nation of the best of creation. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, and no partner for Him — the Sovereign, the All-Knowing. And I bear witness that our Master and our Prophet, Muhammad ibn Abdillah, is the best of Allah's creation, the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds.

Our Souls and Our Journey

Brothers and sisters in Islam, we know that our soul — before Allah gave us these bodies — these souls existed. And we know that way after we pass away, and we die, and we rot, and we are buried, our souls are going to continue on. We know that we are just transitioning in this world. And you find this stage that we are in now, this middle stage — it is the stage that distracts a lot of us.

The beginning stage is the initiation of our creation — how Allah brought us into this world. He created us. None of us asked Him to come here. None of us asked Allah to make us, to create us. He just did it.

And when He created us from His virtue, from His mercy, He made us human beings. He made us from the most honorable of His creation:

"Indeed, We have honored the children of Adam." This is from Allah's mercy and virtue and grace alone. He didn't just make you a son of Adam who disbelieves in Him, or who associates partners with Him, or has forgotten about Him, or disobeyed Him. He made you a Muslim. He granted you the greatest gift and blessing, which is the blessing of Iman. That too is something you didn't ask for. Allah continued giving you so many blessings — blessings after blessings.

The Twelve Months and the Sacred Months

And then, to show you and to manifest towards you how much He has blessed you, Allah invites you to pure seasons to worship Him. The verse that was recited after the introduction of the khutbah is an ayah in Surah al-Tawbah, where Allah tells us that there are 12 months in the year — 12 months in the lunar year, the Islamic calendar.

"Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the register of Allah from the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred."

Four of these months are sacred months. Three of which are consecutive, and they are Dhul-Qi'dah, Dhul-Hijjah, and Shahrullah Al-Muharram. And then the Prophet ﷺ also mentioned:

وَرَجَبُ مُضَرَ — and also the month of Rajab.

So this month that we are in now — it is Shahrullah Al-Muharram. It is the first month of the Islamic calendar, and we have entered into the year 1445 after the hijrah of the Prophet ﷺ. And this is the only month in the entire calendar that Allah attributed to Himself. Even the month of Ramadan — it is not called Shahrullah Al-Ramadan. This is Shahrullah Al-Muharram. There is no other month that Allah attributed to Himself.

And the scholars of Islam say that this إضافة — this attribution — when Allah does it, it is to show exclusivity and nobility to that particular thing. So now we are in a masjid, but the masjid has an attribution to Allah — we say بَيْتُ اللَّهِ, the house of Allah. This book that we recite, our Qur'an, it is called Qur'an, but we say كِتَابُ اللَّهِ — it is the book of Allah. We are Muslims, but we are عِبَادُ اللَّهِ — the servants of Allah. So anything that has an attribution towards Allah, although Allah is the most supreme and nobody is truly attached to Him —

He has no partner, no rival, no child, no parents, no spouse, no friend. But this attribution is by way of honor — that Allah gives honor to whatever He pleases. So this month, Muharram, the first month of the calendar that we are in now — it is not only a sacred month, but it is a month that Allah attributed to Himself.

Fasting in Muharram

After this, the Prophet ﷺ said that the greatest time to offer optional fasting after the month of Ramadan is Shahrullah Al-Muharram. It is this month. The Prophet ﷺ said this is the best time to fast. Although when the Prophet ﷺ — the Sahaba, they observed his fasting — they found him to be fasting a lot in the month of Sha'ban, which comes one month before Ramadan. But he said the best time is this month — this month that is attributed to Allah.

So in this month, we come with a lot of good actions, a lot of acts of worship. And Allah also says: do not wrong yourselves in these months.

Do not wrong one another, and do not oppress yourselves, and do not harm one another. You shouldn't be doing that anyway — but do not do it in this time, this pure season.

Yawm 'Ashura — The 10th of Muharram

The Prophet ﷺ, whilst he said that this month is a time to observe fasting and it is a time that has a lot of virtue — the best time after Ramadan — the Prophet ﷺ used to give a lot of importance to a specific day in this month. And this is next Friday — it is the 10th day of the month of Muharram. It is Yawm 'Ashura.

The Prophet ﷺ fasted on this day. And he found a lot of the People of the Book fasting as well — namely the Jews. So when he found them fasting, he asked them why they were fasting, and they said: we are fasting because this is the day that Allah granted Musa ﷺ victory. And so, being Jews, we are celebrating and honoring this day.

So the Prophet ﷺ said:

"We are closer to Musa, and more befitting to celebrate this victory that Allah gave Musa, than yourselves." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2004; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1130)

So the Prophet ﷺ established fasting on this day, and the Sahaba fasted on this day. And to show that we are closer to Musa than them, the Prophet ﷺ said: if I live on to see next year, I am also going to fast Yawm Tasu'a — I am going to fast the 9th of Muharram as well, to go against their practice. So they are fasting one day saying they are honoring Musa ﷺ — we are going to show greater honor to Musa ﷺ because we are closer to Musa ﷺ than them. And so we are going to fast on the 9th and the 10th next year. But the Prophet ﷺ did not make it to the next year, yet that is what he intended ﷺ.

The Virtue and Reward of Fasting 'Ashura

So we are going to try our best, insha'Allah, to fast as much as possible within this month — especially next Friday. What is the honor? What is the virtue? What is the reward connected to it? The Prophet ﷺ said:

"I hope from Allah that fasting on the day of 'Ashura will expiate the sins of the previous year." (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1162)

Fasting for a number of hours for the sake of Allah — it will result in an entire year's worth of expiation for you. Sins that you engaged in, that perhaps you were deserving of the wrath of Allah for, the anger of Allah, the punishment of Allah — may Allah protect us all — by fasting one day, you are forgiven for all of that. And this also manifests the rahmah of Allah.

The Boundless Mercy of Allah in Our Acts of Worship

When you remember fasting, or you hear fasting, you remember the month of Ramadan. Imagine Ramadan — if you were to just revisit it now for a moment. The Prophet ﷺ said:

"Whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 38; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 760)

You fast just one month — 29 days or 30 days, depending on when the moon is sighted — and you are forgiven for not one year, but all of the sins you committed previously, without restricting it to a time period. The Prophet ﷺ said they're all forgiven. Imagine this ibadah, this action of fasting in the month of Ramadan, resulted in all of your sins being forgiven. Who can give you this rahma إِلَّا اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ except Allah? Who can you work for one month, and then say: pay me for one year — let alone pay me for my entire life — yet Allah forgives you for everything that you did.

And we came out of Arafah just a few weeks ago — two years' worth of sins were forgiven. Now another year's worth of sins is being forgiven through 'Ashura. In Ramadan, your entire life, everything you did previously, is being forgiven. The Prophet ﷺ even showed us in the prayers that we pray — he said anybody who prays the five daily prayers and observes all their rituals, conditions, and pillars, and perfects the prayer — every single sin committed between each prayer, Allah will forgive.

Opportunity after opportunity that Allah has given us. And this shows the Muslim — from what we mentioned at the beginning of the khutbah — that this soul that Allah created us with, we have a body and we have a soul. This soul should connect with Allah more than it ever has before, when it observes and pays attention to the various gifts and virtues that Allah has given it. And when you do this, you are going to be able to live a meaningful, purposeful life — a life of connection, a life of sweetness, a life of finding your purpose with Allah and your journey to Allah making sense to you. And it being something that is very dear and beloved to you.

Paradise on Earth

And this is what the scholars say — it is paradise on earth. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said that in this world there is a paradise, there is a jannah:

(Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmu' al-Fatawa)

"Anybody who doesn't enter into the paradise and the jannah of the dunya will not enter into the one of the hereafter."

The one of the hereafter — as soon as you step foot into it, you will be given four glad tidings:

O people of Jannah — you are going to live forever and you are never going to die. You are going to be young forever and you are never going to age. You are going to be healthy forever and you are never going to become sick. You are always going to have a state of bliss and na'im and everything you ever wanted, and there will be no hardship ever in paradise.

Attaining that — you have to attain it here first. And this is connecting with Allah through your soul and through iman. And remembering all these various favors and blessings of Allah that you can't count even if you wanted to:

"And He gave you of all that you asked for. And if you were to count the blessings of Allah, never could you enumerate them." Him giving you the opportunity to be forgiven by just fasting one day — this is what this demonstrates.

Practical Guidance for Fasting 'Ashura

So next week, insha'Allah, we are going to fast on Friday. And we make the intention from now. And if one of us were to pass away — like the Prophet ﷺ who intended to fast the 9th of Muharram the following year and didn't make it — insha'Allah you will be rewarded for it. Because this also shows Allah's mercy: that we are rewarded for our intentions.

"Indeed, actions are by their intentions, and every person will have only what they intended." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1907)

So the best way to fast next week, insha'Allah, is Thursday and Friday. If you are unable to do so, then do Friday and Saturday. The main day is Friday — the 10th. But we are going to do a day before, because that is what the Prophet ﷺ intended and that is best. If you cannot do that, then do Friday and Saturday — so you go against the practice of the People of the Book. And if you cannot do any of that, then just do at least Friday. And if you cannot do any of that, then make an intention — for that is easy and that is free.

Second Khutbah — Du'a and Salawat

All praise is due to Allah, and peace be upon His chosen servants. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

Allah has commanded you with a matter He began with Himself, and then ordered His angels, and then ordered you — O believers, from jinn and mankind. He said, Exalted is He who speaks:

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Whoever sends one blessing upon me, Allah will send ten blessings upon him." (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 408)