Ashura - the 10th of Muharram, the martyrdom of Husayn at Karbala, and the Islamic new year observance

Ashura is observed on the 10th day of the first Islamic month (Muharram), commemorating for Shia Muslims the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. For Sunni Muslims, Ashura is associated with the day Moses and the Israelites were saved from Pharaoh, and is marked by fasting and charitable acts. A major Shia religious observance with public processions, mourning rituals, and the recitation of elegies.

The one-line summary

An Islamic observance on 10 Muharram (the first month of the Islamic calendar), commemorating the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE (for Shia Muslims) and the salvation of Moses and the Israelites from Pharaoh (for Sunni Muslims). A public holiday in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, and the UAE. Observed with mourning processions, fasting, and the recitation of elegies.

The Battle of Karbala

The Battle of Karbala was fought on October 10, 680 CE (10 Muharram 61 AH) near the city of Karbala in present-day Iraq. The battle was between the forces of Yazid I, the Umayyad caliph, and a small group of supporters of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Husayn and his small band of about 72 men and women were surrounded and killed by the much larger Umayyad army, and Husayn's death became a defining moment in the history of Shia Islam.

The battle arose from the succession dispute following the death of Mu'awiya I, the founder of the Umayyad dynasty, in 680 CE. Husayn was invited by the people of Kufa to lead a revolt against Yazid, and he set out from Medina with his family and a small band of supporters. The group was intercepted near Karbala by the Umayyad army, which refused to let them proceed to Kufa. After a ten-day standoff (during which water supplies were cut off and the women and children suffered from thirst), the battle began on the 10th of Muharram.

Husayn and his small band of about 72 combatants were killed, including his infant son Ali al-Asghar. The women and children of the group were taken prisoner and marched to Kufa, and then to Damascus, where they were paraded before Yazid. The captivity narrative became a central part of the Shia tradition of mourning, and the martyrdom of Husayn became the basis for the Shia emphasis on the family of the Prophet (Ahl al-Bayt) and the concept of redemptive suffering.

Shia mourning rituals

Shia Muslims observe Ashura with public mourning rituals, including processions, the recitation of elegies (latmiyyat or nawha), and the reenactment of the events at Karbala. The most distinctive rituals are the tatbir (self-flagellation with chains) and the matam (chest-beating), which are practiced in some Shia communities but rejected by others. Tatbir is widely practiced in Iran, Iraq, and parts of Lebanon, but has been condemned by some Shia clerics (including many in the hawza of Najaf) as an inappropriate form of mourning.

The majalis (mourning assemblies) are held throughout the first ten days of Muharram, with the most elaborate ceremonies on the eve of Ashura (the night of 9 Muharram) and on Ashura itself. The majalis include the recitation of the Karbala narrative, the singing of elegies, and the giving of charitable acts in memory of Husayn and his family. The most elaborate majalis are held in Karbala itself, where millions of Shia pilgrims gather each year to mourn at the shrine of Husayn.

The Karbala narrative has been a central theme of Shia religious literature and art for over 1,300 years. The story has inspired countless poems, plays, and films, and is the basis for the distinctive Shia iconography of the weeping for Husayn, the lamentation for the women and children of the caravan, and the symbolic mourning procession (the "zanjir" or chain procession). The narrative has also been central to the development of Shia political theology, with the Battle of Karbala interpreted as a model of resistance against tyranny and injustice.

Sunni observance

Sunni Muslims observe Ashura in a different manner, with fasting, charitable acts, and special prayers. The fasting of Ashura is a recommended (but not obligatory) practice for Sunni Muslims, and is often observed with a voluntary fast on the 9th and 10th of Muharram (the 9th being a distinction from the Jewish practice of fasting on Yom Kippur, which falls on a different day in the Islamic calendar).

The Sunni observance of Ashura is based on a tradition that the Prophet Muhammad fasted on this day when he arrived in Medina in 622 CE, and that he found the Jewish community observing Yom Kippur. According to the tradition, the Prophet fasted in emulation of the Jewish practice and instructed the Muslim community to do the same. After the conquest of Mecca in 630 CE, the Prophet changed the fasting to distinguish the Muslim practice from the Jewish practice, and the recommended (but not obligatory) status of the fast has continued to the present day.

In some Sunni communities, Ashura is also associated with other historical events, including the salvation of the Prophet Jonah from the belly of the whale, the salvation of the Prophet Job from his afflictions, and the salvation of the Prophet Idris (Enoch) from death. These associations are based on the hadith literature and are widely cited in Sunni sermons and religious literature.

Related observances

Ashura is one of the major observances of the Islamic calendar and is closely associated with several other Islamic holidays. The Islamic New Year (1 Muharram) marks the beginning of the Muharram mourning period and is itself a public holiday in several Muslim-majority countries. The Arba'een (the 40th day after Ashura) is a major Shia observance, marked by pilgrimages to Karbala and large public processions. The Day of Ashura is also associated with the broader Islamic observance of the Prophet Muhammad's family, including the Fatimiyya (the death of Fatimah, the Prophet's daughter) and the Mubahala (the meeting of the Prophet with a Christian delegation from Najran).

Sources

• en.wikipedia.org, Ashura.
• britannica.com, Ashura.
• al-islam.org, Muharram, Ashura, and Karbala.
• imamreza.net, Ashura and its lessons.