History of Muharram

[azhar_ali]

Muharram is the first month of
the Islamic calendar. On the
first day of Muharram, the
Islamic New Year is observed by
Muslims. The Islamic calendar is
a lunar calendar, and is 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year.
Hence it is a little different
from the Gregorian calender
that is used in the western
nations. When compared with
the Gregorian calendar, which is a solar calendar, the lunar
month of Muharram shifts from
year to year.
The month of Muharram is of
great religious significance to
Islamic people the world over. It is held to be the most sacred
of all the months, excluding
Ramadan. The word
"Muharram" is often considered
synonymous with "Ashura", the
tenth day of the Muharram month.
"Ashura" is a highly important
day for both sects of Islam - the
Shias and the Sunnis. The Shia
muslims
believe that Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad, became a martyr
at the Battle of Karbala on the
tenth day of Muharram in 61 AH
(680 AD).

[azhar_ali]

The pre-Islamic period in the
Arabian peninsula was the era
of warring tribes. In the
absence of a strong leadership,
there were conflicts and battles
on minor issues. But fighting was prohibited in four months
of the year. These months, of
which Muharram was one, were
considered sacred. Muharram is
so called because it was
unlawful to fight during this month; the word is derived
from the word ‘ haram’ meaning forbidden. This period
of inactivity was a necessity in
heavily decorated replicas of
the tomb of the Imam and his
family are made for Muharram
the era of warring tribes.

[azhar_ali]

The tradition was maintained
even after the advent of Islam,
though provisions to
accommodate and accept war
in special situations, like a
threat to the sovereignty of an empire, were introduced. The
gory battle of Karbala was
fought against this law and
tradition of Islam. The
inhabitants on the banks of
rivers Euphrates and Tigris were traditional rivals. Their
animosity was contained to
some extent by Hazrat
Muhammad S A W W. But when
his son-in-law Hazrat Ali was
the Caliph(Muslim civil and religious leader considered to
be Allah's representative on
earth), the old enmity re-
surfaced. Hazrat Ali had two
descendants, Hazrat Imam
Hussain and Hazrat Imam Hassan.

[azhar_ali]

Hussain was the ruler of the
part of the empire known today
as Iran. The other part in
modern Iraq was ruled by the
Umayyads. Hussain was called
upon by the Shiahs of Kufa, a small town in the Umayyad
kingdom, to accept their
allegiance and claim his place
as the leader of the Islamic
community. This was against
the wishes of the ruler of Kufa, Yazid, who instructed his
governor, Ibn-e-Ziad to take
appropriate action. Meanwhile,
in response to the call of the
Shiahs, Hussain accompanied by
his family members, headed for Kufa. When they reached
Karbala, en route to Kufa, the
forces of the governor
surrounded them and their 70
men. Hussain, his family and his
troops were tortured and killed, and Hussain's head was severed
and presented to the king. They
received no help from the
Shiahs of Kufa.
As this tragic incident
happened on the tenth day of
Muharram, Shia Muslims
consider this a day of sorrow.
They commemorate the
martyrdom of Hussain as a religious occassion called
"Muharram" (named after the
month of its observance).

[azhar_ali]

The occassion starts on the 1st
day of Muharram and lasts for
10 days until 10th of Muharram.
As Muharram approaches, they
put on black clothes, as black is
regarded as a color of mourning. During the entire 10
day period, they keep
themselves away from music
and all joyous events (e.g.
weddings) that can distract
them in anyway from the sorrowful remembrance of that
day.
During each of the first nine
days of Muharram,
"Majalis" (assemblies) are held
where Shia orators vividly
depict the incident of the
martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain and his party.
Mainstream Shia Muslims fast
until the evening. On "Ashura",
devoted Muslims assemble and
go out in large processions.
They parade the streets holding
banners and carrying models of
the mausoleum of Hazrat Imam
Hussain and his people, who fell
at Karbala. Some Shia sects
observe "Ashura" by beating themselves with chains in
public, cutting themselves with
knives and sharp objects and
holding mournful public
processions. This is an
expression of their grief on the death of their favourite leader
Hussain, considered to be the
representative of Allah. (But no
Shiite scholar affirms any
extreme behavior that harms
the body and Shia leaders consider such acts as "Haram",
or forbidden.)

[azhar_ali]

It is a sad occasion and
everyone in the procession
chants "Ya Hussain", wailing
loudly. Generally a white horse
is beautifully decorated and
included in the procession. It serves to bring back the
memory of the empty mount of
Hazrat Imam Husain after his
martyrdom. Drinking posts are
also set up temporarily by the
Shia community where water and juices are served to all, free
of charge.
While Shia Muslims consider
"Muharram" to be a sorrowful
occassion, Sunni Muslims
observe it as a festival and look
at "Ashura" as a happy day
though the religious aspect remain intact. Pious Sunnis
keep a fast("roja") on "Ashura"
as per the "Hadith"(a tradition
based on reports of the sayings
and activities of Muhammad
and his companions) of Prophet Muhammad.
According to the "Hadith", the
Prophet saw the Jews fasting
on the 10th of Muharram to
commemorate their liberation
from Egyptian slavery and the
extermination of the army of the Pharoah in the waters of
the Red Sea.

[azhar_ali]

Prophet Mohammed liked the
custom for he believed that it
was Allah who saved the
Israelites from their enemy in
Egypt. He started to fast on the
same day as the Jews but he planned to fast on the 9th and
10th from the following year.
But death came in between him
and his pious wish. Usually,
Sunni Muslims are
recommended to fast either on the 9th and 10th of Muharram
or on the 10th and 11th of
Muharram.

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History of Muharram