Why Fasting on the Day of Ashura should be avoided at all costs- a thread.

As we approach the Day of Ashura, forged hadiths of the Prophet circulate this time annually which draws the attention away from the tragedy of Karbala. I’m disappointed to see more people spreading this misinformation rather than speak about the death of the Prophet’s grandson.

Soon after the Battle of Karbala, Yazid Ibn Muawiya rejoiced and celebrated the deaths of the Holy Prophet’s beloved family- in which he had all their decapitated heads displayed on spears. The Banu Umayyah took this as a victory and transformed the Day of Ashura into a festival.

Inevitably, the killing of the grandson of the Holy Prophet was a major crime and initiated uprisings against Yazid’s rule. To combat their reputation and save their rule, the Banu Umayyah shifted the focus of Ashura into a blessed day for Muslims to fast.

They accomplished this by indoctrinating the Muslims that on the Day of Ashura, God saved Prophet Musa from Fir’aun, and Prophet Ibrahim from the fire of Namrud, etc. There are several hadiths that the Banu Umayyah used where the Prophet allegedly encouraged the Ashura fast.

These fabricated hadiths mention that the Prophet saw Jews fasting on this day, and the Prophet allegedly adopted this practice and said that Muslims should also fast on Ashura. However, these hadiths come from four narrators who narrated directly from the Prophet. They are:

1. Ibn Abbas
2. Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari
3. Abu Huraira
4. Muawiya.

The Prophet arrived in Medina in the 1st year of Hijra. Ibn Abbas when he narrated this Hadith was only 4 years old as he was born 3 yrs before Hijra. Thus, this narration is deemed void in the science of Hadith.

Secondly, Abu Musa was not present in Medina in the first year of Hijra when this hadith was narrated. He only came to Medina in the seventh year of Hijra when the Battle of Khaybar took place. Therefore, how would he have narrated this Hadith if he was not physically present?

Thirdly, Abu Huraira as well, only visited Medina after the Battle of Khaybar. It is physically impossible for both him and Abu Musa to have narrated this hadith if they weren’t present with the Prophet at the time of occurrence.

Lastly, Muawiya took his shahada around the 8th year of Hijra. How could he have narrated this hadith years before he even became Muslim? There is an obvious incongruity in this narration as well.

All the narrators for this supposed Hadith where the Prophet encouraged the Ashura fast were either not present in Medina at the time, were extremely young, or weren’t even Muslim. It is safe to say this hadith was fabricated by the Banu Umayyah to fit their political agenda.

Another indication that this hadith was forged is that factually, Jews never actually have this alleged fast on the day where God saved Moses from Fir’aun. They only perform a fast on the day when Moses found his people worshipping a calf- to expiate their sins, they fasted.

Additionally, another discrepancy is the actual date. The Islamic Calendar actually changed during Umar’s Calipha, when the Muslims decided to make the Prophet’s migration the starting point of the Islamic Calendar, and the first month to be Muharram.

However, the Prophet actually entered Medina during the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal, not in Muharram. Thus, the forger assumed he entered at the start of the calendar (in Muharram) not taking into account the calendar change after the Prophet’s death.

So why is fasting on the Day of Ashura problematic? A fast is generally kept to express gratitude- this is the day where the Holy Prophet’s family was martyred. There is obviously nothing to be gratuitous in regards to this tragedy.

Fasting on Ashura became a political campaign to shift the Muslims’ focus from the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (as), to a blessed day where the Prophet allegedly narrated that we should fast because the Jews fasted. This is highly flawed and the hadith is obviously forged.

If you see any propaganda online about fasting on this day- steer away from it. The 10th of Muharram is a religiously significant day for ALL Muslims as the progeny of the Holy Prophet was murdered in cold blood. Don’t fast if you have even an ounce of respect for the Prophet.