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The Glory of Ninth and Eleventh days of Muharram
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It is preferable to perform
fasting on ninth and eleventh days of
Muharram as like as in the day of Ashura.
Imam Bukhari (May Allah Mercy upon him)
reported that the Messenger (Peace and
Blessing of Allah be upon him) ordered
his Companions to perform fasting on
the ninth day of Muharram to differ from
Jews who used to do fasting on its tenth
day only. Imam Ahmad (May Allah Mercy
upon him) has also reported that the
Prophet (PBH) suggested the fasting on
the ninth and eleventh days of Muharram
(Irshad: 75, I’anath: 2/266). The
secret behind the fasting on the ninth
day of Muharram is to show our non co-operation
with the Jews. Hence it is also desirable
to do so on the eleventh day too (Fathhul
Mu’een: 203, Qalyubi : 2/173, Thuhfa & Sharwani
:3/436).
The scholars all confess that the
Ashura fasting does have different stages.
The first stage among them is to perform
the fasting on the three days i.e. 9,10,11
of Muharram. The second is to perform
only on the ninth and tenth days of Muharram
and the third one is to perform only
on tenth day of it. (Fiqhussunnah: 1/518).
The fasting on the eleventh day along
with the tenth day of it, is preferable
either he takes fasting or not in the
ninth day of it (Thuhfa & Sharwani
:3/456, Nihaya : 3/201, Fathhul Mueen:
203, Sharah Ba Fadhl : 2/199).
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To take fasting on
the ninth day with its tenth day is more preferable to
him who wants only to perform either ninth or eleventh
of Muharram. Because the ninth day has been bestowed
with the peculiarity of being one among the first ten
days of Muharram those are more virtuous as well as that
day joins with the tenth day to differ from the Jewish
performance. But the eleventh day of Muharram does not
have this peculiarity (Thuhfa & Sharwani : 3/455-
456, Fathhul Mueen : 203- 204, Sharah Bafadhl &Kurdhi
: 2/199).
It is not a hatred deed that to perform fasting only
on the Ashurah other than ninth and eleventh days of
Muharram (Sharwani: 3/455, Nihaya : 3/202, Fathhul Mueen
: 203, Sharah Bafadhle : 2/199).
It is mentioned in Qalyubi 2/73 that to perform the
fasting from the first to ten days of Muharram is generally
preferable. Due to the possibility of mistakes or faults
in confirming the Moon sighting or assuring the days,
it is specially virtuous to do the fasting on the eighth
day of Muharram too, in order to show extreme caution
and exactness in our deeds.
The mourning is prohibited
Imam Husain (May Allah please with him) (1) was martyred
in ‘Karbala’ on tenth day of Muharram. In
the wake of this event, it can be seen in some places,
a number of wicked deeds done by Rafidiyya (Shiites).
They consider bleeding the body by beating with shackles
and crying boisterously by hitting on their own chests
as virtuous deed in Ashura. But Islam does not allow
these all. Imam Suyuthi (May Allah Mercy upon him) says:
Islam commends only to keep peace and calmness and to
conceal the matter when the believers entangle in the
miseries. Islam does not allow any one to do anything
as part of mourning over one’s death. In fact Islam
prohibited even to shout or cry loudly over the dear’s
death. It can be seen in ‘Al- Lathaifa’ that
Imam Ibn Rajab (May Allah Mercy upon him) criticizes
the Rafidiyya more seriously who conduct the mourning
on the day of Ashura in which Imam Husain ((May Allah
please with him) was martyred. How one can mourn over
his martyrdom unless the Almighty or the Messenger Allow
even to mourn over the Prophets (Al- Havee Lil Fathawa:
1/298). Imam Ibn Hajer (May Allah Mercy upon him) says: “ It
is the spoiled argument of Rafidiyya that to conduct
mourning on the Ashura in the name of Imam Hussain (May
Allah please with him). They are the gang cursed by the
Almighty”(Al Ajviba 50- 51). He added in ‘Ithhaf
Ahlil Islam 287’ that Allah the Most High reveals
in Surat Al-Kahf, (The Cave, Chapter 18, Verse 104) the
state of a community who consider many things as good
one, though they are so malicious deeds. (“Those
whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they
thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds” 18:104)
Hence, the attempt of Rafidiyya to mourn over Hussain
(May Allah please with him) is also one among the above
mentioned deeds.
(1) Imam Husain, second son of Ali ibn Abi Talib
and Fatima (May Allah please with them), and grandson
of the Prophet, Muhammad (Peace and Blessing of Allah
be upon him). His fame rests chiefly on his pre-eminence
as the Prophet's last surviving grandson. and his rebellion
against the Umayyad caliph Yazid, which ended in martyrdom.
Husain was born in Madina in AD 626, a few years
before Muhammad's death (632). He and his older brother
Hasan were the Prophet's only grandsons. Husain's tragic
story began after the death of Hasan, whose claim to
the caliphate had been challenged by Muawiya, the founding
father of the Umayyad dynasty. When Hasan abdicated and
submitted to Muawiya's caliphate in 661, Husain too,
as the younger brother, had to acknowledge Muawiya. After
Hasan's death, Husain continued to submit to Muawiya
but refused to recognize the designation of Muawiya's
son, Yazid. On Muawiya's death Husain fled Madina and
its Umayyad governor to avoid giving allegiance to Yazid.
Having found temporary refuge among the population of
Makkah, Husain soon received the letters from many of
the inhabitants of Al Kufah (in Iraq) who invited him
to rebel with them against Yazid. Having set off through
the desert for Kûfah with a small party of men,
women, and children, Husain never completed the journey.
All of his male companions, with the sole exception of
one of his sons, Ali Zain al-Abidin, were massacred by
Umayyad soldiers at Karbala’ in ad 680. Husain's
corpse was beheaded: his body was buried on the spot
but his head was taken to the Umayyad court.
While the massacre at Karbala’ is deplored by Muslims
in general, it is ritually re-enacted and mourned by
Imami Shiites in particular, on Ashura: an annual festival
that falls on the traditional date of Husain's martyrdom,
the 10th of the Islamic month of Muharram. Ashura is
the most important of the many festivities commiserating
martyrdom among Shiites and known generically as Ta’ziya.
It is during the festival of Ashura, however, that Imami
Shiites are most demonstrative in expressing grief: many
may flagellate themselves or even cut their foreheads
with razors to emulate Husain's bloody wounds (Microsoft
Encarta Encyclopedia).
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