The Virtues of Fasting Ashura Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) so keen to fast any day and give it priority over any other than this day, the day of Ashura, and this month, meaning Ramadhan. [Reported by al-Bukhari, 1867] The meaning of his being keen was that he intended to fast on that day in the hope of earning the reward for doing so. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: For fasting the day of Ashura, I hope that Allah will accept it as expiation for the year that went before. [Reported by Muslim, 1976] This is from the bounty of Allah towards us: for fasting one day He gives us expiation for the sins of a whole year. And Allah is the Owner of Great Bounty. Which Day is Ashura? An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Ashura and Tasua are two elongated names [the vowels are elongated] as is stated in books on the Arabic language. Our companions said: Ashura is the tenth day of Muharram and Tasua is the ninth day. This is our opinion, and that of the majority of scholars. This is the apparent meaning of the ahadith and is what we understand from the general wording. It is also what is usually understood by scholars of the language. [Al-Majmu] ) Ashura is an Islamic name that was not known at the time of Jahiliyyah. [Kashshaf al-Qina, part 2, Sawm Muharram] Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Ashura is the tenth day of Muharram. This is the opinion of Said ibn al- Musayyib and al-Hasan. It was what was reported by Ibn Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded us to fast Ashura, the tenth day of Muharram. [Reported by at-Tirmidhi, who said, a sahih hasan hadith] It was reported that Ibn Abbas said: The ninth, and reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to fast the ninth. [Reported by Muslim] Ata reported that he said, Fast the ninth and the tenth, and do not be like the Jews. If this is understood, we can say on this basis that it is mustahabb (encouraged) to fast on the ninth and the tenth, for that reason. This is what Ahmad said, and it is the opinion of Ishaq. It is Mustahabb (Encouraged) to Fast Tasua with Ashura Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) fasted on Ashura and commanded the Muslims to fast as well, they said, O Messenger of Allah, it is a day that is venerated by the Jews and Christians. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, If I live to see the next year, in sha Allah, we will fast on the ninth day too. But it so happened that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed away before the next year came. [Reported by Muslim, 1916] Ash-Shafii and his companions, Ahmad, Ishaq and others said: It is mustahabb to fast on both the ninth and tenth days, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 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 Ashura, 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 Tasua An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The scholars – our companions and others – mentioned several reasons why it is mustahabb to fast on Tasua: The intention behind it is to be different from the Jews, who only venerate the tenth day. This opinion was reported from Ibn Abbas … The intention is to add another days fast to Ashura. This is akin to the prohibition on fasting a Friday by itself, as was mentioned by al-Khattabi 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 ul-Islam ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade imitating the People of the Book in many ahadith, for example, his words concerning Ashura: If I live until the next year, I will certainly fast on the ninth day. [Al-Fatawa al- Kubra, part 6, Sadd adh- Dharai al-Mufdiyyah ilal- Maharim] Ibn Hajar (may Allah be pleased with him) said in his commentary on the hadith If I live until the next year, I will certainly fast on the ninth day and What he meant by fasting on the ninth day was probably not that he would limit himself to that day, but would add it to the tenth, either to be on the safe side or to be different from the Jews and Christians, which is more likely. This is also what we can understand from some of the reports narrated by Muslim. [Fath, 4/245]
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:31:37 +0000
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