Opinion: The Hijrah and the Lessons of the Month of Muharram, By Murtadha Gusau
Alhamdulillah! Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and seek His Help and forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from our soul’s evils and our wrong doings. He whom Allah guides, no one can misguide; and he whom He misguides, no one can guide.
In Makkah, the plotters arrived at Prophet Muhammad’s home to find that his cousin, Ali, had taken his place in bed. Enraged, the Makkans set a price on Prophet Muhammad’s head and set off in pursuit. Prophet Muhammad and Abu Bakr, however, had taken refuge in a cave where, as they hid from their pursuers, a spider spun its web across the cave’s mouth.
A year later the Makkans struck back. Assembling an army of three thousand men, they met the Muslims at Uhud, a ridge outside Madinah. After an initial success the Muslims were driven back and the Prophet himself was wounded. As the Muslims were not completely defeated, the Makkans, with an army of ten thousand, attacked Madinah again two years later but with quite different results.
The death of Prophet Muhammad was a profound loss. To his followers this simple man from Makkah was far more than a beloved friend, far more than a gifted administrator, far more than the revered leader who had forged a new state from clusters of warring tribes.
These four months, according to the authentic Hadiths are the months of Dhul-Qa’adah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab. All the commentators of the Noble Qur’an are unanimous on this point, because the Noble Prophet in his sermon on the occasion of his last Hajj, has declared: Thus, the sanctity of these four months was recognised right from the days of Prophet Ibrahim. Since the Pagans of Makkah attributed themselves to Prophet Ibrahim they observed the sanctity of these four months and despite their frequent tribal and clannish battles, they held it unlawful to fight in these months.
It is also reported in a number of authentic Hadiths that in the beginning, fasting on the day of Ashurah was obligatory for the Muslims. It was later that the fasts of Ramadan were made obligatory and the fast on the day of Ashurah was made optional. Aishah has said: According to another Hadith, it is more advisable that the fast of Ashurah should either be prefixed or suffixed by another fast. It means that one should fast two days: the 9th and 10th of Muharram or the 10th and 11 of it. The reason of this additional fast as mentioned by the Noble Prophet is that the Jews used to fast on the day of Ashurah alone, and the Noble Prophet wanted to distinguish the Islamic-way of fasting from that of Jews.
On the contrary, it is one of the merits of Sayyidnah Husain that his martyrdom took place on the day of Ashurah.
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