Muharram
The Origin of Naming
The name “Muharram” originated from the word “haram”” which means “pure” or “forbidden”. The month was named “Muharram” since it was one of the sacred months. (See: http://www.ahlalhdeeth.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27755)
The Excellences of Month Muharram
It is among the four sacred months
Allah the Exalted decreed,
إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ
مِنْهَا أرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ
“Surely the reckoning of months, in the sight of Allah, is twelve months, laid down in Allah’s decree on the day when He created the heavens and the earth; and out of these months four are sacred. That is the true ordainment…” (QS. At-Taubah/The Repentance:36)
Note:
– The meaning of “four sacred months” is month Dzulqa’dah, Dzulhijjah, Muharram (these three months are in order), the month of Rajab.
– The months were called “the haram months” because the Arabs considered them sacred, since the time of ignorance until the time of Islam. During the haram months, no war allowed to take place.
– Az Zuhri said, “In the past, the companions honored the haram months.” (Narrated by Abdur Razaq).
2. From Abu Bakra -may Allah be pleased with him- , the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, ” “The division of time has turned to its original form which was current the day Allaah created the heavens and earth. The year consists of twelve months of which four are sacred: three consecutive months, Dzul-qa’dah, Dzul-hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab of Mudar which comes between Jumada Tsani and Sha’baan,” (Narrated by Al Bukhari and Muslim).
3. It is named “Syahrullah” (The month of Allah).
From Abu Huraira -may Allah be pleased with him-, the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “The best fast after the Ramadan (fast, -ed) is the fast in the month of Allah, Muharram.” (Narrated by Muslim).
Note:
Imam An Nawawi said, “This hadith shows that Muharram is the best month to perform the voluntary fast.” (See: Syarah Shahih Muslim, 8:55)
As Suyuthi said, “It was named “syahrullah” – whereas other months weren’t named as such – because the name of this month, “Al Muharram” was an Islamic name. It was different from other months, which names existed since the time of ignorance. Whereas in the past, people of ignorance dubbed Muharram as “Shaffar Awwal” (the first of the two shafar). When Islam came, Allah replaced the name of this month with ‘Al Muharram’, thus Allah attributed the name of this month to Him (syahrullah).” (See: “Syarah Suyuthi ‘Ala Shahih Muslim”, 3:252)
4. It is also often called as “syahrullah al-asham” (the quiet month of Allah). It was called likewise due to the sacredness of this month, thus there were no friction nor conflict allowed at all in this month.
5. There is one day that is highly venerated by the religious community; that is the day of Ashura. The jews honored this day because Ashura day was the day of Moses’ victory, together with the children of Israel, against the tyranny of the Pharaoh and his army. From Ibn Abbas -may Allah be pleased with them both- , “When the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- arrived in Medina, he saw the jews were fasting on the day of Ashura. He asked them, “What day is it today?”. They replied, “A good day; the day when Allah saved Moses and drowned the army of Pharaoh, thus Moses fasted on this day as his form of gratitude to Allah.’ Finally, the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “We (the muslims) are more deserved to honor Moses than you.” Then the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- fasted and he ordered the companions to fast.” (Narrated by Bukhari).
6. The scholars stated that the month of Muharram is the best month after Ramadan.
Hasan al Bashri said, “Allah opens the year with one of the haram month (Muharram) and ends the year with one of the haram month (Dzulhijja). None of the month in a year, after month Ramadan, that is more noble in Allah’s side compared to the month Muharram.” (See: “Lathaiful Ma’arif”, page 67)
The weak hadith regarding Muharram
“Whoever fasts the first nine days of Muharram, Allah will build for him a dome in the air, which has four doors, the distance of one door to another is one mile.” (A false hadith, as explained by Ibn al Jauzi in “Al-Maudhu’at, 2:199” and Ash Shaukani in “Al-Fawaid Al-Majmu’ah” page 45).
“Whoever fasts on the last day of month Dzulhijja and the first day of month Muharram, it means that he ended the year and began the new year with fasting. Allah will make these fasts of him as retribution for five years.” (A false hadith, because there are two liars in its chain of narration, as explained by Ash Shaukani in “Al-Fawaid Al-Majmu’ah”, page 45)
“Indeed, Allah has obliged the children of Israel to perform one day fast in a year, that is the day of Ashura. the tenth day of month Muharram. Therefore, fast on the month of Muharram and give some (delicious food and new clothes) to your family, because this is day when Allah accepted the repentance of Adam -peace be upon him-…” (Al-Fawaid Al-Majmu’ah, page 46)
“Whoever fasts for a day on month Muharram, then for one day of his fast, he will get the reward as (the reward of, -ed) thirty days of fasting.” (A false hadith, as explained by Al Albani in “Silsilah Hadis Dhaif”, no. 412)
“The noblest of month is the month of Muharram.” (A weak hadith, as explained by Al-Albani in “Dha’if Al-Jami’ Ash-Shagir”, no. 1805)
“The leader of men: Adam, the leader of Arabs: Muhammad, the leader of romans: Shuhaib Ar Rumi, the leader of Persia: Salman Al Farisi, the leader of Habasya people: Bilal Ibn Rabah, the leader of mountains: Mount sina, the leader of trees: the lote tree, the leader of months: Muharram, the leader of days: friday,….” (A false hadith, as explained by Al Albani in “Dha’if Al-Jami’ Ash-Shagir”, no. 7069)
The voluntary deeds in Muharram
1. Increase the amount of fasting during Muharram
From Abu Huraira -may Allah be pleased with him-, the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “The best fast after the Ramadan (fast, -ed) is the fast in the month of Allah, Muharram.” (Narrated by Muslim).
From Ibn Abbas -may Allah be pleased with them both-, he said, “I never saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) so keen to make sure he fasted any day and preferring it over another except this day, the day of ‘Ashura’, and Ramadan.” (Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim).
2. The Ashura fast (on the 10th of Muharram).
From Abu Musa Al Ash’ari -may Allah be pleased with him-, he said, “In the past, the jews made the day of Ashura as the day of feast. Then the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “Fast, o people!”. (Narrated by Al Bukhari).
From Abu Qatada Al Anshari -may Allah be pleased with him-, the Prophet-peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was asked about the Ashura fast, then he said, “fasting the day of ‘Ashura’ I hope Allah will expiate thereby for the year that came before it.” (Narrated by Muslim and Ahmad).
From Ibn Abbas -may Allah be pleased with them both- ,”When the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- arrived in Medina, he saw the jews were fasting on the day of Ashura. They said, ‘This is the day Moses won against the Pharaoh.’ Then the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- told his companions, “You are closer to Moses than them (the Jews). Thus, fast, o people!”. (Narrated by Al Bukhari).
Note:
The Ashura fast was the first obligatory fast in Islam, before Ramadan. From Rubayyi’ bint Mu’awwidz -may Allah be pleased with her-, she said, “Once upon a time, in the morning of Ashura day, the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- delegated a man to visit one of the village in Medina to deliver a message, ‘Whoever already eaten something in the morning, should fast until the maghrib time, and whoever already fasted, should continue his fast.’ Rubayyi’ said, “After that, we fasted and we persuaded our children to fast. We made some woolen toys from them. If one of them cried for food, we gave them the toy. And so on, until the time to break the fast came. “(Narrated by Al Bukhari and Muslim).
After Allah made the Ramadan fast compulsory, the Ashura fast became voluntary fast. ‘Aisha -may Allah be pleased with her- said, “In the past, the Ashura day was the fasting day for the Quraish during the time of ignorance. After the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- arrived in Medina, he performed the Ashura fast and told the companions to fast. After Allah obliged the Ramadan fast, he left the Ashura day. Whoever wants to do Ashura fast may fast, and who doesn’t want to fast, may not fast.” (Narrated by Al Bukhari and Muslim).
3. The Tasu’a Fast (fasting on the 9th of Muharram).
From Ibn Abbas -may Allah be pleased with them both-, he said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and prayer of Allah be upon him) fasted on the day of ‘Ashura and told the people to fast, they said, “O Messenger of Allah, this is a day that is venerated by the Jews and Christians.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and prayer of Allah be upon him) said, “Next year, if Allah wills, we will fast on the ninth day.” But before the following year came, the Messenger of Allah (peace and prayer of Allah be upon him) had passed away. (Narrated by Al Bukhari).
Note:
There are some opinions which stated that it is suggested to fast on the 11th of Muharram, after the Ashura fast. It is based on a hadith, “Fast on the day of Ashura and don’t imitate the Jews. Fast one day before, and one day after it.” (Narrated by Ahmad and Al Bazzar). But this is a weak hadith, as explained by Al Albani and Sheikh Shuhaib Al Arnauth. Therefore, the more correct view is that the one day fast after Ashura is not ordered in Shari’a, and to replace that is the one day fast before it.
Imam Ahmad said that if the beginning of Muharram is not clear, then it is better to fast for three days (that are on the 9th, 10th, and 11th of Muharram). He did that to be more sure to obtain the 9th and 10th fasts. (See: “Al-Mughni”, 3:174; taken from “Al-Bida’ Al-Hauliyah”, page 52)
4. The three days fast in each month (the fasting of ayyamul beedh)
From Abu Huraira -may Allah be pleased with him-, he said, “The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- told me three things: to fast three days in each month, to perform two rak’ahs of dhuha prayer, and to perform witr prayer before sleeping.” (Narrated by Al Bukhari).
Innovations created in the month of Muharram
There are many kinds of innovation done by some muslims pertaining to the month of Muharram, in the matter of creed and belief, and deed. Below are some of innovations that happened around us during the month of Muharram:
First: Believing that Muharram is the month of bad luck
In Javanese language, people often called Muharram as “syuro month (suro)”. Some of Javanese people believed that the “syuro month” is the “bad luck month”. They were told not to hold any kind of events during this month, and whoever dared to hold any events during it, should be aware of an impending doom!.
Basically, this belief is among the shirk beliefs since it means believing that there would be a bad luck happened on something without any supporting indications, and it is included in thiyarah, and thiyarah is shirk. The Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “Thiyarah is shirk, thiyarah is shirk…” (Narrated by Abu Daud and At Turmudzi, and classified as valid hadith by Al Albani).
Second: Revealing a deep sadness in the month of Muharram.
On the day of Ashura, there happened a bitter memory for the muslims, for those who venerate the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-. his family, and his companions. On the day of Ashura, Allah honored Husain Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Thalib with martyrdom. He was slain on the land of Karbala by the traitors from Iraq. As a muslim, we consider this dark event as a disaster.
But we need to know that there is a worse disaster than that, in the form of extremism of some of the muslims due to their excessive honoringq of Husain. They make the day as the mourning day, the day of massive condolence.
At the first then days of Muharram, in several countries, all lights were turned off, people went out to the street, children overflown the street, and they shouted, “O Husain…O Husain….”. The sound of drums were banging everywhere. There were some of them who stabbed and cut their body with swords, as an embodiment of their deep condolences over Husain’s death. At the same time, their prominent figures preached about the virtues of Husain and disgraced Abu Bakr Ash Shiddiq, Umar Ibn Khattab, Uthman Ibn Affan.
They are the Shia Rafida, a group of people who build their religion and beliefs on lies of their prominent figures; people with misguided beliefs. May Allah save us from their evils.
Third: Rejoicing in the day of ‘Ashura.
Contrary to the previous group, this group of people make the day of Ashura as the day of feast and excitement. They are a group of people who declared themselves as the enemy of Shia Rafida. They are the Khawarij, who hold the principle that is contrary to the Shia principle, and they also hate the family of the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-.