By Fahmina

Muharram: The Sacred Month of Allah — A Guide to Its Rulings, Virtues, and Frequently Asked Questions

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

To the reader joining me today — whether you are a long-practicing student of fiqh, a revert encountering this month for the first time, or simply someone who wants to understand why Muharram carries the weight it does — assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah.

Let us talk about Muharram.

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I. The Qur’anic and Historical Foundation of the Sacred Months

Before we can discuss Ashura, fasting, or any of the contemporary questions surrounding Muharram, we have to understand what makes this month — and three others alongside it — categorically different from the remaining eight months of the Islamic calendar.

Allah ﷻ says in Surah At-Tawbah:

“Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [in a lunar year], in the register of Allah [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred. That is the correct religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them.” (Surah At-Tawbah, 9:36)

The prophet ﷺ identified these four months explicitly during his Farewell Sermon, removing any ambiguity:

“The year is twelve months, of which four are sacred: three consecutive — Dhul Qa’dah, Dhul Hijjah, and Muharram — and Rajab, which stands between Jumada and Sha’ban.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 4406; Sahih Muslim, 1679)

The classical exegetes are largely in agreement on the meaning of “do not wrong yourselves during them” (9:36). Ibn Abbas (RA) is reported to have explained that while wrongdoing is sinful throughout the year, Allah ﷻ singled out these four months for heightened gravity — sin within them is more severe, and correspondingly, righteous deeds within them carry greater reward. Qatadah held a similar position, as recorded by Ibn Kathir in his tafsir on this verse. This is not a minor linguistic detail; it establishes the legal and spiritual character of the entire month before a single ruling on fasting has even been introduced.

Historically, sanctity attached to these four months predates Islam itself. The Arabs of the Jahiliyyah period, including the Quraysh, observed a prohibition on warfare during these months as part of their inherited tradition from the descendants of Ibrahim (AS) and Isma’il (AS), even amid the tribal conflicts that otherwise characterized pre-Islamic Arabia. Islam did not invent this sanctity; it confirmed, refined, and re-anchored it within correct belief and worship.

Why Muharram Specifically Is Called “The Month of Allah”

Among the four sacred months, Muharram holds a distinct linguistic honor. The Prophet ﷺ referred to it as Shahrullah— the Month of Allah:

Abu Hurayrah (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The best of fasts after Ramadan is in the month of Allah, which you call Muharram, and the best prayer after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer.” (Sahih Muslim, 1163)

Scholars, including Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali in Lata’if al-Ma’arif, have noted the significance of this ascription. When something in the Shari’ah is named in direct relation to Allah ﷻ — the House of Allah, the Month of Allah, the Spirit of Allah — it signals an elevated rank, even where the precise legal implications of that elevation are not exhaustively detailed. Ibn Rajab understood the hadith above as referring to general voluntary fasting throughout Muharram, not a single specific day — meaning the entire month is fertile ground for optional fasting, distinct from the specific virtue attached to Ashura itself, which we turn to next.

II. The Fiqh of Fasting on the Day of Ashura

This is the area where the most rulings — and the most confusion — concentrate, so I want to walk through it methodically: what is established, what the Hanafi madhab specifically holds, and where there is internal difference of opinion even within the Hanafi school.

The Origin of the Practice

The foundational narration explaining why the Prophet ﷺ fasted on the 10th of Muharram comes from Ibn Abbas (RA):

“When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Madinah, he found the Jews fasting on the day of Ashura. He said, ‘What is this?’ They said, ‘This is a good day, the day on which Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy, so Musa fasted on this day.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘We have more right to and are closer to Musa than you,’ so he fasted on it and ordered that it be fasted.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 2004; Sahih Muslim, 1130)

This establishes the day’s connection to the deliverance of Bani Isra’il from Pharaoh under the prophethood of Musa (AS) — a narrative of divine rescue that the Muslim community is instructed to claim as its own inheritance, by virtue of Musa (AS) being a Prophet of our din as well.

Was Fasting Ashura Ever Obligatory?

This is a point of genuine scholarly nuance that is rarely explained to general audiences. Several Hanafi jurists, including al-Kasani in Bada’i al-Sana’i, recorded the position that fasting Ashura was wajib (obligatory) in the early Madinan period, prior to the obligation of fasting Ramadan. This is supported by the narration of Mu’awiyah (RA):

“This is the day of Ashura. Allah has not made fasting on it obligatory for you, but I am fasting it. Whoever among you wishes to fast, let him fast, and whoever wishes not to, let him not fast.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 2003; Sahih Muslim, 1129)

The standard scholarly understanding is that this hadith reflects the abrogation of the earlier obligation once Ramadan was legislated in the second year after Hijrah. After that point, fasting Ashura transitioned permanently to the status of a confirmed, highly recommended Sunnah (sunnah mu’akkadah in some formulations, or simply mustahabb in others) — never returning to obligatory status, but never losing its elevated virtue either.

The Three Levels of Fasting Ashura

Classical jurists across madhabs, including Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and Ibn al-Qayyim, articulated a hierarchy of three levels of observance, ranked by completeness:

1. Fasting three days — the 9th, 10th, and 11th of Muharram.
2. Fasting two days — the 9th and 10th together (Tasu’a and Ashura).
3. Fasting only the 10th (Ashura alone).

The basis for adding the 9th comes directly from the words of the Prophet ﷺ, as reported by Ibn Abbas (RA):

“If I am alive next year, I will fast the ninth as well.” (Sahih Muslim, 1134)

Ibn Abbas (RA) is also reported to have instructed: “Fast the ninth and the tenth, and differ from the Jews” (recorded by al-Tirmidhi, who classified it hasan sahih), giving the explicit reasoning behind pairing the two days — to distinguish the Muslim observance from that of the People of the Book, who fasted the 10th alone.

The Hanafi Position Specifically: Is Fasting Only the 10th Disliked?

Here is where I want to be precise rather than give a flattened answer, because the Hanafi madhab itself contains an internal difference on this exact point — something most general articles omit entirely.

The first view, held by a number of Hanafi jurists, is that fasting only the 10th, without the 9th, is makruh (disliked). The reasoning rests directly on the hadith above: since the Prophet ﷺ explicitly expressed his intention to add the 9th specifically to differentiate from the Jewish practice of fasting the 10th alone, isolating only the 10th risks resembling that practice, which the Prophet ﷺ wished to avoid.

The second view, recorded by al-Kasani himself in Bada’i al-Sana’i, holds the opposite: that fasting only the 10th is notdisliked, because the day carries independent virtue as one of the most blessed days of the year regardless of what is paired with it. Al-Kasani writes that some scholars disliked the isolated fast specifically due to resemblance with the Jews, “however, the general scholars have not disliked it, because it is from the virtuous days, and thus it is mustahabb (recommended) to attain its virtue.” Later Hanafi scholars including Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri and his student Shaykh Muhammad Yusuf Binori inclined toward this more lenient position.

Practically speaking: the cautious and more complete practice — and what I would encourage any reader to aim for — is fasting both the 9th and 10th together, since this satisfies every scholarly position simultaneously and follows the explicit, stated intention of the Prophet ﷺ. But if circumstances only permit fasting the 10th alone (a late realization, a missed 9th, a logistical constraint), there is sound basis within the Hanafi madhab itself to say this is acceptable and still draws the immense reward described below — it is not a matter where one should feel they have fallen into something impermissible.

The Reward Described in the Hadith

The virtue attached to this fast is unusually explicit and unusually large by the standards of voluntary worship:

Abu Qatadah (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Fasting the day of Ashura, I hope that Allah will expiate the sins of the year before it.” (Sahih Muslim, 1162)

Some narrations additionally describe charity on this day as carrying the reward equivalent to a full year’s charity, though scholars note this narration’s chain is less robust than the fasting hadith above, and it should be understood as encouragement toward virtue rather than a strictly authenticated legal ruling of equivalent weight.

Can a Missed Ashura Fast Be Made Up?

This is a question I receive constantly, particularly from menstruating women, nursing mothers, and travelers. The position of the fuqaha is that the reward of Ashura is tied specifically to its calendar day; unlike obligatory Ramadan fasts, which carry a qada (make-up) requirement precisely because they are debts owed to Allah ﷻ, the Ashura fast is a voluntary act whose specific reward cannot be retroactively claimed on a different date. A woman excused from fasting due to menses, postnatal bleeding, illness, or travel has not incurred any sin or deficiency — she was simply not obligated in the same way to begin with, and she may direct her worship that day toward dhikr, charity, or dua instead, the reward for which is not diminished by her excused state.

III. Fasting the Entire Month — Sunnah or Misconception?

A widespread misconception, often amplified on social media in recent years, holds that fasting the entirety of Muharram is itself a Sunnah practice comparable to Ramadan. This is not accurate, and it is important to correct it clearly.

What is established is the general principle, drawn from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (RA) cited earlier, that Muharram is the best month for voluntary fasting after Ramadan — meaning fasting more frequently within this month (the traditional Mondays and Thursdays, or the “white days” of the 13th, 14th, and 15th of the lunar month) carries elevated reward compared to doing so in other months. This is a statement about relative virtue, not a directive to fast all 29 or 30 days. There is no narration in which the Prophet ﷺ fasted the complete month of Muharram or instructed the Companions to do so. The specific, named, and heavily emphasized practice within this month remains the fast of Ashura (and ideally Tasu’a alongside it) — everything beyond that is simply general voluntary fasting, encouraged but entirely optional, and should not be presented to the layperson as an obligation-adjacent expectation.

IV. Frequently Asked Questions on Muharram

Is it permissible to say “Happy Islamic New Year” or send New Year greetings?

There is no explicit hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ prohibited a greeting of this nature, and the matter should be evaluated according to the general principle that a sincere supplication for another believer’s wellbeing is not, by itself, an innovation requiring prohibition. The relevant fiqh distinction is between content and form: a greeting that functions as a dua — “may this year bring you closer to Allah,” for instance — is unobjectionable. What scholars caution against is adopting the form of the Gregorian New Year’s celebratory culture (countdowns, festivities structured around the calendar transition itself, treating the date as inherently celebratory) since that specific framing has no basis in how the Sahabah or early generations marked the Hijri transition. The date itself was not treated by the Companions as an occasion of celebration; their attention was directed toward Ashura, not the 1st of Muharram. A simple, sincere greeting between believers, free of that imported celebratory framing, falls within the permissible.

What did the Sahabah specifically commemorate on the 10th of Muharram, historically?

For the Companions and the early Muslim community, the 10th of Muharram was anchored entirely in the narrative of Musa (AS) and the deliverance of Bani Isra’il, as established in the Bukhari and Muslim narrations cited above. This observance — fasting in gratitude for a historical act of divine rescue from tyranny — was already fixed Sunnah practice during the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime in Madinah, decades before the events at Karbala took place in 61 AH (680 CE), well after the Prophet’s ﷺ death. This chronology matters for understanding why Sunni fiqh treats the fast of Ashura as independently established Sunnah, rooted in its own hadith corpus, rather than as a later response to or commentary on Karbala.

How should the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali (RA) at Karbala be understood alongside this?

The martyrdom of Sayyiduna Husayn (RA), the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ, at Karbala on the 10th of Muharram in 61 AH is a tragedy acknowledged across the Muslim world, and love and respect for Ahlul Bayt is a matter of faith, not optional sentiment, for Sunni Muslims as much as anyone else. However, the specific liturgical and ritual practices of mourning observed in some traditions — including the structured ten-day mourning period, dedicated mourning gatherings, and associated rituals — are not part of the established Sunnah and were not commanded by the Prophet ﷺ for any tragedy, including the deaths of his own family members or earlier prophets. Sunni scholarship’s position is that respect for Husayn (RA) is appropriately expressed through sincere love, supplication, and remembering his stand for truth, rather than through ritualized mourning practices instituted afterward. This is a sensitive area precisely because it intersects with deep emotional and sectarian history, and I want to state plainly: this is a matter of established difference between Sunni and Shia jurisprudence, not a matter where either community’s love for Husayn (RA) himself should be questioned.

Is it impermissible to hold a marriage, walima, or celebration during Muharram?

There is no sound basis in Hanafi fiqh, or in mainstream Sunni jurisprudence generally, for prohibiting marriage or joyous occasions during Muharram. Marriage is, in fact, encouraged by the Prophet ﷺ as a continuous good throughout the year without restriction to particular months, and no authenticated hadith establishes Muharram as an exception. The custom of avoiding celebrations during this month, found in some cultural contexts, derives from a mourning tradition specific to other schools of thought, not from Sunni fiqh. Families who wish to exercise caution for reasons of local social harmony may certainly do so as a matter of personal discretion, but this should not be presented or understood as a religious obligation.

Is there a specific prayer or ritual unique to Muharram beyond fasting?

There is no specific salah uniquely legislated for Muharram in the way Tarawih is legislated for Ramadan or Eid prayer for the two Eids. What is encouraged, in line with the general elevated status of the sacred months, is an increase in voluntary night prayer, Qur’anic recitation, dhikr, and charitable giving — all amplified in virtue during this period rather than introduced as new, distinct rites.

Does sin carry greater weight during Muharram, as the verse 9:36 suggests?

Yes, according to the tafsir tradition referenced earlier from Ibn Abbas (RA) and Qatadah, transgression during the sacred months is considered graver than equivalent transgression during the remaining eight months, just as good deeds within them are correspondingly elevated. This should function as an invitation to heightened mindfulness during this period — not as a source of anxiety, but as an opportunity, given that Allah ﷻ has structured the calendar itself to make this a season of amplified return to Him.

V. Concluding Reflections

What I hope this guide makes clear is that Muharram’s significance does not rest on a single practice or a single narrative, but on a layered foundation: a Qur’anic designation of sanctity, a Prophetic naming that ties the month directly to Allah ﷻ, a specific and well-documented fast with internal scholarly nuance worth understanding rather than flattening, and a historical weight — both the deliverance of Musa (AS) and the martyrdom of Husayn (RA) — that asks something of our reflection beyond ritual alone.

For the practicing believer, the most concrete and well-evidenced actions available this month are: fasting the 9th and 10th together where possible (or the 10th alone where not, with confidence that this remains sound), increasing voluntary night prayer and Qur’anic recitation throughout the month generally, giving charity, and approaching any missed observance with the understanding that Allah ﷻ does not burden anyone beyond their genuine capacity.

May Allah ﷻ grant all of us the sincerity to use this sacred month as it was intended — as a fresh, divinely-appointed opportunity for return, expiation, and closeness to Him.

And Allah knows best.

Fahmina Jawed (Aafiya) Alimah, MA Arabic

References cited: Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim; Sunan al-Tirmidhi; Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Azim (on 9:36); Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Lata’if al-Ma’arif; al-Kasani, Bada’i al-Sana’i; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Fath al-Bari.