Muharram

Muharram, in the Islamic calendar, the first month of the year, which is considered a sacred time in Islam. It is of particular importance for Shiʿi Muslims, who commemorate the martyrdom of Ḥusayn at this time and observe acts of mourning culminating with Ashura on the 10th of the month. Sunni Muslims observe the same date as a recommended fast day associated with events in sacred history.

History and timing

The month of Muharram—which means “the sacred”—was the holy first month of the year in pre-Islamic Arabian culture. The word Muharram derives from the Arabic root ḥ-r-m, one meaning of which is “forbidden” (ḥarām), but which also conveys a meaning of sacredness. Traditionally Muharram was one of four sacred months in pre-Islamic Arabian culture during which fighting was prohibited.

In 639 ce ʿUmar I, the second caliph, introduced the Hijrah era—the starting point of the Muslim calendar dating from the Prophet Muhammad’s migration in 622 ce from Mecca to Yathrib (Medina). ʿUmar established the first day of the month of Muharram in the year of the Hijrah as the beginning of the Muslim calendar. The first day of that year (1 Muharram ah 1) corresponds to July 16, 622, in the Julian calendar.

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The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar in which months last either 29 or 30 days, depending on the sighting of the waxing crescent moon. Because the Muslim calendar year is shorter than the Gregorian calendar year, Muharram begins about 10–12 days earlier each year, allowing it to fall in every season throughout a 33-year cycle.

Mourning in Shiʿi Islam

The 10th of Muharram is observed as Ashura, from the Arabic for ten (عشر, ʿashr). The holy day commemorates the martyrdom of Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, who was Muhammad’s grandson by his daughter Fāṭimah and his son-in-law ʿAlī and is revered by the Shiʿah as the third imam. The 10th of Muharram is recorded as the date on which Ḥusayn and a group of his followers were killed in the Battle of Karbala (October 10, 680 ce), at the hands of an army sent by the Umayyad caliph Yazīd I. This event is one of the defining moments of Shiʿi history and identity; although the date of Ḥusayn’s death is agreed upon by both the Shiʿi and Sunni communities, his death served as a significant symbol of the separation of the two traditions.

In Shiʿi communities across the Islamic world, the first 10 days of Muharram are days of intense mourning for the death of Ḥusayn. Shiʿis gather together during Muharram to remember Ḥusayn and his sacrifice. Ḥusayn represents justice and piety in opposition to the injustice and tyranny of Yazīd I. It is also a time to demonstrate and affirm their commitment to the family of the Prophet, to which Ḥusayn belonged, and to Islam. Although Ashura is the day when the mourning reaches its culmination, Muharram has come to mean the collection of observances during this sacred and sorrowful time at the start of the year.

During Muharram’s mourning period, Shiʿis gather in assemblies to hear preachers offer sermons, relate the life of Ḥusayn, and recount the events of the Battle of Karbala. Poems commemorating Ḥusayn and his virtues are recited, and the assemblies of mourning conclude with rhythmic chest-beating accompanying the poetry. During Muharram a community group will often stage a passion play (taʿziyyah) that reenacts the events of Ḥusayn’s martyrdom. In large processions, particularly in Iran and South Asia, groups carry models of Ḥusayn’s tomb (called a tazia in South Asia). It is common during this period of mourning for people to wear black clothing and headbands—often green, black, or red and emblazoned with slogans—to demonstrate mourning and commemoration of Ḥusayn.

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On the 9th and 10th of Muharram some men parade through the streets performing acts of self-flagellation that can involve bloodletting; however, this practice is debated and in some instances prohibited in Shiʿi communities. In 1994 Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was also a cleric with the rank of ayatollah, issued a fatwa forbidding the practice of self-flagellation.

As Shiʿi Muslims have spread around the world, so have Muharram and Ashura practices. Regular processions take place across the Muslim diaspora in the United States, Canada, England, and South Africa. In Trinidad, which has a sizable population of Indian-origin immigrants, there is a local carnivalesque form of the holiday called Hosay. Hosay is celebrated by Shiʿi and Sunni Muslims, as well as Hindus and Christians, and it commemorates the martyrdom of Ḥusayn with both sacred solemnity and jubilant festivity.

Sunni fasting

Muharram is also acknowledged by Sunni Muslims as a sacred time and the start of the new year. For Sunnis the 9th and 10th of the month are days of optional fasting. Various hadiths suggest that Muhammad observed a fast on Ashura; some hadiths contend that he did so following local pre-Islamic tradition, whereas others state that he adopted the practice from Jews in Medina who fasted on Yom Kippur (the 10th day of Tishrei). In the second year of the Hijrah (624 ce), Muhammad established Ramadan as the most important fast in Islam. Ashura, sometimes expanded to the 9th and 11th of Muharram, continued as a fast day, and, although debated in the early years of Islam, later Sunni scholars have come to an agreement that it is a desirable (mustaḥabb) fast day.

The significance of Ashura in Sunni tradition was supported by hadiths that established the date as corresponding to numerous notable events and births in the Hebrew Bible and Islamic history. Of primary importance, at least in later tradition, is the association of Ashura with the date that God parted the Red Sea to allow Moses (Mūsā) and his followers to escape from Egypt and the day that Noah (Nūḥ) disembarked from the ark following the flood.

In some regions, particularly in South Asia, Sunni Muslims might join in Shiʿi rituals during Muharram. In historical cases in South Asia, Sunni festivity during Ashura, in conjunction with their respect for Ḥusayn as a member of the Prophet’s family, have blended with Shiʿi mourning processions. However Sunni participation in Shiʿi Muharram has not always been the norm. In some instances Sunni writers and rulers have criticized and even forbidden these Shiʿi rituals. In countries such as India, Pakistan, and Iraq that have both Sunni and Shiʿi populations, Muharram and Ashura rituals have histories of both combined observation and episodes of considerable sectarian friction.