CURRENTLY ON AIR ⇒
  • Your World Today, Mufti Yusuf Moosagie
    Friday, 4:05 pm - 5:00 pm
    [ - ]

feedback@radioislam.org.za

Radio Islam Logo


((( Listen Live )))))
Radio Islam Logo


Virtues of Muharram and Reason for Fasting – Part 11

Allah’s sacred month of Muharram is a blessed and important month. It is the first month of the Hijri calendar and is one of the four sacred months concerning which Allah says:

إِنَّ عِدَّةَ ٱلشُّهُورِ عِندَ ٱللَّـهِ ٱثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِى كِتَـٰبِ ٱللَّـهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ مِنْهَآ أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلْقَيِّمُ ۚ فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا۟ فِيهِنَّ أَنفُسَكُمْ
Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred. That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein. [At-Tawbah 9:36]

Muharram is so called because it is a sacred (Muharram) month and to confirm its sanctity. Allah’s words “so wrong not yourselves therein.” mean do not wrong yourselves in these sacred months, because sin in these months is worse than in other months. It was reported that Ibn ‘Abbas (RA) said that this phrase (so wrong not yourselves therein.) referred to all the months, then these four were singled out and made sacred, so that sin in these months is more serious and good deeds bring a greater reward. Qatadah (rahimahullah) said concerning this phrase (so wrong not yourselves therein.) that wrongdoing during the sacred months is more serious and more sinful than wrongdoing at any other time.

The Hadeeth which encourages us to observe more nafl fasts during Muharram also gives us a further understanding of the virtue of this month. Abu Hurairah (RA) narrates: “the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«أفضل الصيام ، بعد رمضان ، شهر الله المحرم» رواه مسلم
‘The best of fasting after Ramadan is fasting Allah’s month of Muharram.’ [Muslim, 1982]

The phrase “Allah’s month”, connecting the name of the month to the name of Allah in a genitive grammatical structure, signifies the importance of the month. Al-Qaari (rahimahullah) said: “the apparent meaning is all of the month of Muharram.”, but it was proven that the prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) never fasted any whole month apart from Ramadan, so this hadeeth is probably meant to encourage increasing one’s fasting during Muharram, without meaning that one should fast for the entire month.

Why do we fast?
عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ دَخَلَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم الْمَدِينَةَ وَإِذَا أُنَاسٌ مِنَ الْيَهُودِ يُعَظِّمُونَ عَاشُورَاءَ وَيَصُومُونَهُ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ نَحْنُ أَحَقُّ بِصَوْمِهِ ‏”‏‏.‏ فَأَمَرَ بِصَوْمِهِ‏.
Narrated Abu Musa (RA): When the Prophet ﷺ arrived at Medina, he noticed that some people among the Jews used to respect Ashura’ (i.e. 10th of Muharram) and fast on it. The Prophet ﷺ then said, “We have more right to observe fast on this day.” and ordered that fasting should be observed on it. [Bukhari]

In fact the fasting of Muharram was obligatory before the fasting of Ramadaan.
عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ صَامَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَاشُورَاءَ، وَأَمَرَ بِصِيَامِهِ‏.‏ فَلَمَّا فُرِضَ رَمَضَانُ تُرِكَ‏.‏
‏Narrated Ibn `Umar (RA): The Prophet (ﷺ) observed the fast on the 10th of Muharram (‘Ashura), and ordered (Muslims) to fast on that day, but when the fasting of the month of Ramadan was prescribed, the fasting of the ‘Ashura’ was abandoned.

ADVERTISE HERE

Prime Spot!!!

Contact:
advertisingadmin@radioislam.co.za 

Related Articles

The Greatness of Allah in the Human Face

The Greatness of Allah in the Human Face

Human Face THE EYES How many times is the word Eye mentioned In the Quran? Times Mentioned: 39 times in 9 different Concepts Eye of Disbelivers وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ وَٱلْإِنسِ ۖ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌۭ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ...

read more
The Greatness of Allah in the Human Face

The Greatness of Allah in the Human Face

Human Face Allah urges man to examine his own physical features, “Do they not reflect in themselves?” (Surah Ar Rum, Verse 8.) Today we will examine one of the greatest and amazing feature of the human body that could only have been created by a supreme being, namely...

read more
The Greatness of Allah in the Human Face

The Greatness of Allah in the Human Face

Human Face The human face is the most anterior portion of the human head. It refers to the area that extends from the superior margin of the forehead to the chin, and from one ear to another. The basic shape of the human face is determined by the underlying facial...

read more
Human Face

Human Face

The facial skeleton is composed of fourteen bones, six paired and two unpaired bones. So far What we have discussed: · Two nasal bones (protects the nasal cavity) · Two maxillae (helps to make up the skull) · Two inferior nasal conchae (helps to warm, and clean the...

read more
The Greatness of Allah in the Human Face

The Greatness of Allah in the Human Face

How many times is the word Bones mentioned in the Quran? The word Bones عظم is mentioned 12 times in he Quran in 12 verses Stages of a baby in a womb ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا ٱلنُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةًۭ فَخَلَقْنَا ٱلْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةًۭ فَخَلَقْنَا ٱلْمُضْغَةَ عِظَـٰمًۭا فَكَسَوْنَا...

read more
The Greatness of Allah in the Human Face

The Greatness of Allah in the Human Face

Human Face Allah has created 360 joints (bones) in our bodies which we had discussed in the past week, Were it not for the joints created by Allah the Almighty, man would not have been able to move one bone in his body. The defect in one joint causes a lot of pain and...

read more

Subscribe to our Newsletter

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *