Day of Ashura

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Day of Ashura
Official name Arabic: عاشوراء (‘Āshūrā’)
Also called Hosay, Tabuik
Observed by Sunnis, Shi'a Muslims
Type Islamic and national
Significance Muslims: marks the martrydom of Husayn ibn Ali,In addition Sunni: Liberation of Moses and Israelites from Pharaoh
Date 10 Muharram
2006 date February 9
2007 date January 30
2008 date January 19
Observances Mourn and derive messages from Husayn's Sacrifice; In addition Sunni: Prayer, Fasting
Related to Remembrance of Muharram, which encompasses the first ten days of Muharram and Ashura

The Day of Ashura (عاشوراء transliteration: ‘Āshūrā’, Ashura, Ashoura, and other spellings) is on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar and marks the climax of the Remembrance of Muharram but not the Islamic month.

This day is well-known because of mourning for the death of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala in the year 61 AH (AD 680). Furthermore Sunni Muslims believe that Moses fasted on that day to express gratitude to God for liberation of Israelites from Egypt. According to Sunni Muslim tradition, Muhammad fasted on this day and asked other people to fast.[1][2]

The word ashura means simply tenth in Arabic; hence the name of the remembrance, literally translated, means "the tenth day". Islamic scholars, however, give various explanations as to why it is thus called.

Contents

[edit] Etymology of Ashura

The word Ashura is Arabic for tenth. The day is indeed the tenth day of the month, although some Islamic Scholars offer up different etymologies.

[edit] Significance of Ashura for Sunni muslims

Ashura is a holy day during which Muhammad used to observe fasting. Muhammad, according to Sunni sources, observed the Ashura fast in Mecca, as did the local population where it was a common practice. When Muhammad led his followers to Medina, he found the Jews of that area fasting on the day of Ashura, which some propose could have been the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. At this juncture, Muhammad confirmed and underlined the Islamic aspect of the fast, and it became mandatory for the Muslims to fast on combinations of two or three consecutive days including the 10th of Muharram (e.g. 9th and 10th or 10th and 11th)[3][4]. Today, Sunnis regard fasting during Ashura as recommended, though not obligatory.

The Ashura is commemorated for the following occasions which Muslims believe happened on the 10th Day of the Muharram:

[edit] Commemoration of the death of Husayn ibn Ali

Main article: Commemoration of Husayn ibn Ali

This day is well-known because of mourning for the death of Husayn ibn Ali the grandson of Muhammad, along with 72 members of his family and close friends at the Battle of Karbala in the year 61 AH (AD 680). Yazid I was in power then and wanted the Bay'ah (allegiance) of Husayn ibn Ali. Yazid was openly going against the teachings of Islam in public and changing the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad.[5] [6] [7] Historians agree that had Husayn ibn Ali not taken the stance that he did, the religion of Islam would not be what it is today.[citation needed] It is reputed that Mahatma Gandhi said: "I learned from Hussein, how to be wronged and yet emerge a winner."[citation needed]

[edit] History

Main article: Battle of Karbala

Commemoration for Husayn ibn Ali began after Battle of Karbala. According to Tabari

Zaynab quoted as she passed the prostrate body of her brother, Husayn. " O Muhammad! O Muhammad! May the angels of heaven bless you. Here is Husayn in the open, stained with blood and with limbs torn off. O Muhammad! Your daughters are prisoners, your progeny are killed, and the east wind blows dust over them." By God! She made every enemy and friend weep. [8]

Then Zaynab made people of Kufa and Demasque weep. Husayn's descendants weeping every year for him and their Shi'a did so. When Buwayhids conquered Baghdad, 'Imad al-Daula announced Ashura as a holiday and made people mourn for Husayn. Gradually it became a custom in eastern Muslim territory and even Sunnis participated in it between 13CE and 15CE.

[edit] Significance of Ashura for Shi'a

This day is of particular significance to Shi'a Muslims, who consider Husayn the third Imam and a rightful successor of Muhammad. Many Shi'a make pilgrimages on Ashura to the Mashhad al-Husayn, the shrine in Karbala, Iraq that is traditionally held to be Husayn's tomb. Shi'as also express mourning by crying and listening to poems about the tragedy. They also listen to surmons on how Husayn and his family were martyred. This is intended to connect them with Husayn's suffering and death, and the sacrifices he made to keep Islam alive. Husayn's death is widely interpreted by Shi'a as a symbol of the struggle against injustice, tyranny, and oppression. [9] Shias believe the Battle of Karbala was between the forces of good and evil. Imam Hussain represented good while Yazid represented evil.

Shias consider formally fasting on this day unIslamic. They refrain from drinking and eating in commemoration of Imam Hussain. This is known as Fakah, which is not a formal fast.[citation needed]

Many of the events associated with Ashura are held in special congregation halls known as "Imambargah" and Hussainia.

[edit] Popular customs

Sanj Players during the Ashura ceremony, Qom (2006).
Sanj Players during the Ashura ceremony, Qom (2006).
Shi'a Muslims in Bahrain strike their chests during the mourning.
Shi'a Muslims in Bahrain strike their chests during the mourning.

Commemoration of Ashura is not a festival, but rather a sad event for both Shi'as and Sunni Muslims -- and for Shias a period of intense grief and mourning. Mourners, both male and female, congregate together (in separate sections) for sorrowful, poetic recitations such as marsiya, noha, latmiya and soaz performed in memory of the martyrdom of Husayn, lamenting and grieving to the tune of beating drums and chants of "Ya Hussain." Also Ulamas give sermons with themes of Hussayn's personality and position in Islam, and the history of his uprising. Also in Arab countries like Iraq and Lebanon they read Maqtal Al-Husayn. In some places, such as Iran, Iraq and the Arab Gulf states, T'azie, passion plays, are also performed reenacting the Battle of Karbala and the suffering and death of Hussainn at the hands of Yazid.

For the duration of the remembrance, it is customary for mosques and some people to provide free meals (nazar) on certain nights of the month to all people. These meals are viewed as being special and holy, as they have been consecrated in the name of Husayn, and thus partaking of them is considered an act of communion with God, Hussain, and humanity.

Many of the male participants congregate together in public for ceremonial chest beating (matham/latmiya) as a display of their devotion to Husayn and in remembrance of his suffering.

Although suffering and cutting the body with knives(Churrio ka matam)have been prohibited by most Shi'a marjas like Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran ,[10], some Shi'a observe mourning with blood donation which is called "Qame Zani" [11] and flailing[12]. Certain rituals like the traditional flagellation ritual called zanjeer zani or zanjeer matam, involving the use of a zanjeer (a chain) are also performed[13]. These are not religious customs but popular one done for the sake of Imam Hussain and his family. Many Shia's today in the West give blood to the Red Cross when commemorating the blood that spilled in Karbala.

[edit] Sunni Viewpoint of Hussayn ibn Ali

Husayn, according to Sunni tradition, is a historical personality who attained martyrdom in a special historical event. Accordingly, Sunnis deal with the tragedy of Karbala by investigating the historical causes that led to the death of Al-Husayn and his companions. Sunnis may at times differ in estimating its causes and results, what is right and what is wrong about it, but never ignore Husayn's grand religious rank, affirmed by religious texts and his being Muhammad's grandson[14].

Also in some countries Sunnis mourn for Husayn like Shi'a. Mourning was already carried out in Iran between the 13th and 15th Centuries, prior to widespread adoption of Shi'ism in that country. Today in Indonesia, the event is known as Tabuik (Minangkabau language) or Tabut (Indonesian).

[edit] Commemoration of Husayn ibn Ali by non-Muslims

A tadjah at Hosay in Port of Spain during the 1950s
A tadjah at Hosay in Port of Spain during the 1950s

In some countries other religious communities commemorate this event. In Iran, some Armenians and Zoroastrians participate in mourning.[15]

In Trinidad and Tobago[16] and Jamaica[17] all ethnic and religious communities participate in this event, locally known as "Hosay" or "Hussay", from "Husayn".

[edit] Socio-political aspects

Commemoration of Ashura has great socio-political value for the Shi'a, who have been a minority during history. "Al-Amd" asserts that the Shiite transference of Al-Husayn and Karbala ’ from the framework of history to the domain of ideology and everlasting legend reflects their marginal and dissenting status in Arab-Islamic society. Such an ideology helps Shiites maintain and reinforce their collective spirit against the Sunni multitude.[original research?][citation needed] According to the prevailing conditions at the time of the commemoration, such reminiscences may become a framework for implicit dissent or explicit protest. It was, for instance, used during the Islamic Revolution of Iran , the Lebanese Civil War, the Lebanese resistance against the Israeli occupation and in the 1990s Uprising in Bahrain. Sometimes the `Ashura’ celebrations associate the memory of Al-Husayn’s martyrdom with the miserable conditions of Muslims in other non-Islamic third-world nations, on the pretence that every nation and era has their own Husayn.[18]

On the other hand some governments have banned this commemoration. In 1930s Reza Shah forbade it in Iran. The regime of Saddam Hussein saw this as a potential threat and banned Ashura commemorations for many years. In the 1884 Hosay Massacre, 22 people were killed in Trinidad and Tobago when civilians attempted to carry out the Ashura rites, locally known as Hosay, in defiance of the British colonial authorities.

[edit] Violence during Ashura

The Sunni and Shi'a schism is highlighted by the difference in observance by Sunni and Shi'a Muslims. Differences such as the Shi'a opinion that Abu Bakr was evil as implied by a statement in "Significance of Ashura for Shi'a", is viewed as sacrilegious by the Sunni, who belief that Abu Bakr was a highly respected companion of the prophet and ruled justly and according to the teachings of the prophet as a caliph. The violence is perpetrated by Sunni and Shi'a extremists. In countries that have significant populations of both sects, there is often violence during the holiday. Recently, Pakistan, India, Iraq and Afghanistan have all seen violence during this time.

The 2004 (1425 AH) Shi'a pilgrimage to Karbala, the first since Saddam Hussein was removed from power in Iraq, was marred by bomb attacks, which killed and wounded hundreds despite tight security.

[edit] Ashura in the Gregorian calendar

While Ashura is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year due to differences between the two calendars, since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. Furthermore, the method used to determine when each Islamic month begins varies from country to country. (For details, please see Islamic calendar.)

Future dates listed above are only estimates.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sahih Bukhari 1900; Sahih Muslim 1130
  2. ^ Javed Ahmad Ghamidi. Mizan, The Fast, Al-Mawrid
  3. ^ Sahih Bukhari 1900; Sahih Muslim 1130
  4. ^ Javed Ahmad Ghamidi. Mizan, The Fast, Al-Mawrid
  5. ^ Al Bidayah wa al-Nihayah [1]
  6. ^ Al Bidayah wa al-Nihayah [2]
  7. ^ Al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah [3]
  8. ^ The hstory of Al-Tabari, Volume XIX The Caliphate of Yazid, translated by By I. K. A. Howard, p:164
  9. ^ [4]
  10. ^ ZANJEER OR QAMA ZANI ON ASHURA DURING MUHARRAM
  11. ^ http://www.ezsoftech.com/mazloom/zanjeer.asp ZANJEER OR QAMA ZANI ON ASHURA DURING MUHARRAM]
  12. ^ [5]
  13. ^ [6]
  14. ^ [7]
  15. ^ Hamshahri, 3 Esfand 83 [8]
  16. ^ Korom, Frank J. (2003). Hosay Trinidad: Muharram Performances in an Indo-Caribbean Diaspora. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. ISBN 0-8122-3683-1. 
  17. ^ Shankar, Guha (2003) Imagining India(ns): Cultural Performances and Diaspora Politics in Jamaica. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Texas, Austin pdf
  18. ^ [9]

[edit] External links

Muslim holidays and observances
Muslim New Year | Remembrance of Muharram | Day of Ashura | Imamat Day | Arba'een | Mawlid
Imam Musa al Kazim day | Lailat al Miraj | Shab-e-baraat | Ramadan | Laylat al-Qadr | Eid ul-Fitr | Eid ul-Adha
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