Revive a Sunnah

In the name of Allah

Revive a Sunnah: Fast of Ashoora

Ibn ‘Abbaas (radi Allahu anhu) said: “I never saw the Messenger of Allaah (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) so keen to fast any day and give it priority over any other than this day, the day of ‘Aashooraa’, and this month, meaning Ramadaan.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1867).

The Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: “For fasting the day of ‘Aashooraa’, I hope that Allaah will accept it as expiation for the year that went before.” (Reported by Muslim, 1976).

This is from the bounty of Allaah towards us: for fasting one day He gives us expiation for the sins of a whole year. And Allaah is the Owner of Great Bounty.

It is mustahabb (encouraged) to fast Taasoo’aa’ with ‘Aashooraa’

‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abbaas (radi Allahu anhuma) said: “When the Messenger of Allaah (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) fasted on ‘Aashooraa’ and commanded the Muslims to fast as well, they said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, it is a day that is venerated by the Jews and Christians.’ The Messenger of Allaah (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said, ‘If I live to see the next year, in sha Allaah, we will fast on the ninth day too.’ But it so happened that the Messenger of Allaah (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) passed away before the next year came.” (Reported by Muslim, 1916).

Al-Shaafa'i and his companions, Ahmad, Ishaaq and others said: “It is mustahabb to fast on both the ninth and tenth days, because the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) fasted on the tenth, and intended to fast on the ninth.”

On this basis it may be said that there are varying degrees of fasting ‘Aashooraa’, the least of which is to fast only on the tenth and the best of which is to fast the ninth as well. The more one fasts in Muharram, the better it is.

The reason why it is mustahabb to fast on Taasoo’aa’

Al-Nawawi (rahimahullah) said: “The scholars – our companions and others – mentioned several reasons why it is mustahabb to fast on Taasoo’aa’: 

the intention behind it is to be different from the Jews, who only venerate the tenth day. This opinion was reported from Ibn ‘Abbaas… 

the intention is to add another day’s fast to ‘Aashooraa’. This is akin to the prohibition on fasting a Friday by itself, as was mentioned by al-Khattaabi and others. 

To be on the safe side and make sure that one fasts on the tenth, in case there is some error in sighting the crescent moon at the beginning of Muharram and the ninth is in fact the tenth.” 

The strongest of these reasons is being different from the People of the Book. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (rahimahullah) said: “The Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) forbade imitating the People of the Book in many ahaadeeth, for example, his words concerning ‘Aashooraa’: ‘If I live until the next year, I will certainly fast on the ninth day.’” (al-Fataawa al-Kubra, part 6, Sadd al-Dharaa’i’ al-Mufdiyah ila’l-Mahaarim )