Sunni Muslims observe Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, as a recommended (mustaḥabb) but voluntary fast day. The 9th and 11th of Muharram are sometimes also included as fast days. Sunni hadiths suggest that the Prophet Muhammad fasted on Ashura in the early years of Islam, but in the second year of the Hijrah (624 ce) he established Ramadan as the prominent fasting period. The date has variously been associated with multiple sacred historical events recorded in the Hebrew Bible and the Qurʾān, but it is primarily said to commemorate Moses’ escape from Egypt and Noah’s postdiluvian disembarkation from the ark.
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