What are the events behind Muharram?
The tenth day on the month of Muharram called Yaum-e-Ashura, brings to the minds of Muslims the tragedy of Karbala, where Imam Hussain—the second son of Fatima, Prophet Mohammed’s daughter and Hazrat Ali, the fourth Caliph—laid down his life.
When on the tenth of Jihad (on Bakrid), Abraham was ordered by Allah to sacrifice his beloved son Ismael, whose life was ransomed by a ram, it is not without significance that on the Tenth of Muharram, Imam Hussain died. Muslims around the world shed tears to this day remembering this soul-stirring event.
Muharram is regarded as a sacred month and many a historical event took place on the tenth of Muharram. It was on this day that God drowned Pharaoh and his legions and rested Noah’s Ark on Mount Joodi.
When Prophet Mohammed went to Medina from Mecca, he saw Jews fasting to commemorate the deliverance of Moses and the children of Israel from the tyranny of Pharaoh. He, too, fasted on this day saying, “We have a greater say in Moses than they.”