Key Takeaways
Ashura(عاشوراء ) is aMuslimholiday that ’s observed in 2022 from sundown Sunday , Aug. 7 to sundown Monday , Aug. 8 . Ashura , which entail " tenth " in Arabic , represent with the 10th day of Muharram , the first month of the Muslim lunar calendar .
For Shia Muslims , who contain roughly15 percentof the world ’s Moslem population , Ashura is the most sober and significant escort on the calendar , a day to mourn and commemorate the martyrdom of Hussain , grandson of the Prophet Muhammad , in 680 C.E.
For Sunni Muslims , who lay out the majority of Muslims worldwide as well as in the U.S. , Ashura is a New Year ’s jubilation that also commemorates marvelous events from the Quran ( and the Hebrew Bible ) , such as Moses parting the Red Sea andNoahlanding the ark on teetotal land .
" It clear for an unpaired convulsion , " tell Imam Johari Abdul - Malik , the former ( and first ) Muslim chaplain at Howard University . " One Moslem residential area is saying , ' Happy New Year ! ' while the other is say , ' It ’s so sad that our beloved Hussain was murdered . ' All Muslims are keep something on Ashura , but the flavour of it is quite different . "
Shia Versus Sunni Celebrations of Ashura
The diverging significance of Ashura mull over the differing beliefs and drill of Shia ( or Shiite ) and Sunni Islam , the two major branches of Islam that organise forthwith following the demise of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 C.E.
There was a splitamong Muhammad ’s followers — collectively called theummahor the great unwashed of Islam — between those who believed that a descendant of Muhammad should rightfully take the vaticinator ’s place as drawing card , and those who mean that the community should prefer its next leader .
The first camp called themselves the " Shiat Ali " or the " Party of Ali , " because they support Muhammad ’s boy - in - law , Ali , as the firstimamor leader . The opposing radical chose a different leader , who they call thecaliphor successor . Ali ’s protagonist ultimately became the Shia ( or Shiites ) and the second group became the Sunni .
As it turned out , Ali ended up serving first as imam and afterwards as caliph , but he was assassinated five years into his caliphate , which move another succession battle . Ali ’s old Word , Hasan , retrieve he should take his don ’s spot , but Hasan was poisoned in 670 , his murder order by a rival Sunni caliph .
harmonise to Shia tradition , that left Hussain , Ali ’s unseasoned boy , as the sole biologic heir to Muhammad ’s legacy . A Sunni caliph name Yazid , line by Shia as a corrupt and ability - hungry leader , demanded Hussain ’s allegiance , but Hussain determine to stand up to Yazid , knowing that it would belike be him his life .
" Death with dignity is better than a liveliness of mortification , " Hussain tell in a discourse .
During the Battle of Karbala in 680 , Hussain and 72 of his close garter and family member were surrounded by Yazid ’s monumental army , reportedly 30,000 strong . Hussain and his small band fought valiantly , but it was a bloodbath . After all his supporters and manly household members were killed on the field of battle ( including his 6 - month - erstwhile son ) , Hussain was the last to die on the tenth daytime of Muharram , also known as Ashura .
How Shia Muslims Observe Ashura
Hussain ’s brave sacrifice becamethe primal storyof Shia tradition , and Ashura is the day that Shiites have set aside for C to mourn and celebrate their martyr hero .
Imam Dawud Walid live in Detroit , where he ’s the executive music director of the Michigan chapter of theCouncil on American - Islamic Relations(CAIR - MI ) . While Shiites comprise only around16 percentof American Muslims , Walid says that there ’s a large Shiite community of interests in nearby Dearborn , Michigan , which he name the " Shia Muslim capital of America . "
Every twelvemonth , members of the Shia community in Dearborn observe Ashura as a stop of public mourning , and as a modern call for justice in retentiveness of what Hussain did 14 hundred ago .
For the first 10 days of Muharram , there are community assemblage and events in Dearborn dedicated to the moral pedagogy of Hussain . Then , on the day of Ashura , there ’s a large street procession , in which marchers have on black clothing , chant prayers , undulation flags and ceremoniously beat their bureau in mourning .
In predominantly Shia countries like Iran and southerly Iraq , the mourning rituals of Ashura can get a lot more acute , with men engaging in terrible ego - flagellation , or cutting the hide of their os frontale untilblood pours down their face , a practice some Shiite clerics have speak out against . Also , hundreds of thousands of Shia make an annual pilgrimage to Karbala , Iraq , to inspect the burial shrine of Hussain and re - enact the Battle of Karbala .
How Sunni Muslims Observe Ashura
Ashura is viewed very other than within the Sunni Muslim community , explicate Imam Dawud . For Sunnis , Ashura has nothing to do with Hussain , but instead commemorates the sidereal day that God saved Moses and the Israelites from the roughshod Egyptian Pharaoh of Egypt by parting the Red Sea .
For Sunnis , Ashura is observed by fast on at least the 10th of Muharram , but for up to three Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , if possible . As during the month ofRamadan , fasting means desist from intellectual nourishment or drink from daybreak to fall .
" It ’s look at as highly recommended and meritable for Muslims to fast the daylight of Ashura , " says Imam Dawud . " This is what Sunnis agree upon . "
The Sunni fast custom comes from the Hadith , a compendium of sayings and teachings of the seer . According to the text , when the Prophet Muhammad make it in the city of Medina , the local Jews were fasting on the 10th of Muharram in commemoration of Moses and the Israelite exodus from Egypt . Muhammad vowed to fast for one , two or three days the next yr .
Imam Abdul - Malik say that there ’s also a New Year ’s component to the Sunni celebration of Ashura . Since it take aim place in the first month of the Muslim year , it ’s a natural time for expression and resolutions . Sunnis who fast on Ashura today also believe that it ’s a way to be forgive of sins committed during the preceding yr .
" Ashura is an opportunity for Muslims to say , ' This is a new twelvemonth , I ’m going to do better and be good , ' " read Imam Abdul - Malik . " For Sunnis in both America and across the Arab world , there ’s also gift - giving on Ashura , special confect , and a focus on charity . "
Can Ashura Be an Opportunity For Reconciliation?
For century , Shia and Sunni Muslims lived in harmony , butwarring empiresbegan to occupy and conquer in the name of Shiism or Sunnism . And much of the recent violence in the Middle East is sectarian in nature , waggle by Sunni extremist groups like the Islamic State , or brutal Shia regimes in places like Iran and Syria .
" We have to block intra - faith violence , brother shoot down brother , sis kill sister — it ’s wrong , " says Imam Abdul - Malik . " Ashura should be a admonisher to all Muslims about the sanctity of life-time . That we should not have fall into this engagement within the household and the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad ( peace of mind be unto him ) . "
And for all of the differences between the ways that Shia and Sunni observe Ashura , Imam Dawud sees a striking theological thread running through both versions of Ashura .
" There are some Sunni Muslims , like myself , who also reverence Hussain , the grandson of Prophet Muhammad , and recall his calvary , " says Imam Dawud . " From my apprehension , the calvary of Hussain is a reflection of the battle of Moses , in the sensation that Hussain was resisting the despotism of the Pharaoh of Egypt of his fourth dimension . In fact , I do n’t see Hussain as being defeated that day in Karbala , but that day being a triumph for him . "
FAQs
Yes , Ashura is a public holiday in many Islamic - majority countries , especially in Shia - majority regions .
There are no specific food or dish assort with the watching of Ashura , but Sunnis may affiance in giving - give , special candies and a focus on Greek valerian .
