By
Shaykh Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (RA)
The fast of 'Ashura was prescribed before the
fasts of Ramadan. The Jews observed it and so did the people of Arabia before
the dawn of Islam.
It is related by Imam Bukhari on the authority
of Ibn-i-Abbas that when the Prophet (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam) came to Madinah
he found that the Jews observed the fast of 'Ashura. He enquired about it from
them and was told that it was the day on which God had delivered the Children of
Israel from the enemy and Moses used to keep a fast on it as an expression of
gratitude to the Almighty. The Prophet (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam) thereupon,
remarked that 'Moses has a greater claim upon me than upon you,' and he fasted
on that day and instructed his followers to do the same.
It is also mentioned in Muslim that it is a
most important day. On this day God had delivered Moses and his followers and
drowned Pharaoh and his men. Moses fasted on it in thanksgiving. Imam Bukhari
adds that it is related by Abu Bishr: "We also keep fast as a token of respect
to Moses."
But the celebrated mathematician Abu Rehan
Beruni challenged the veracity of these reports on the basis of a comparative
study of the Jewish and Arabian Calendars. He writes: "It is said that 'Ashur is
a Hebrew word which has become 'Ashura in Arabic. It stands for the tenth day of
the Jewish month of Tisri. The fast observed on this day is called Yom Kippur.
It came to be incorporated in the Arab Calendar and the name was given to the
tenth day of the first month of their year in the same way in which it denoted
the tenth day of the first month of the Jewish Calendar. It was instituted as a
day of fasting among the Muslims in the first year of Migration. Later, when
fasting was enjoined in the month of Ramadan it was dropped. A Tradition has it
that when the Prophet came to Madinah and saw that the Jews observed the fast of
'Ashura he enquired about it and was told that it was the day on which God had
drowned Pharaoh and his people and delivered Moses and his followers from them,
and Moses used to fast on it in thanksgiving. The Prophet, then, remarked that
Moses had a greater claim upon him than upon them and he fasted on that day and
instructed his followers to do the same. When the fasts of Ramadan were
prescribed, the Prophet neither enjoined the fast of 'Ashura nor forbade it.
But this report is fallacious and does not
stand the test of enquiry. The first day of the month of Muharram in the first
year of Hijrah (Migration) was Friday, which corresponds to the 16th of Tamuz,
933 (A.E.). As against it, the first day of that year among the Jews was Sunday,
the 12th of Awwal which corresponds to the 29th of Safar. Hence, the fast of
Ashura should have fallen on Tuesday, the 9th of Rabi-ul-Awwal, while the
Migration had taken place during the first half of that month. The two dates, at
any rate, do not correspond to each other."
He adds: "The contention that on this day God
had drowned the Pharaoh, too, is not supported by what is given in the Torah.
The event of the drowning of the Pharaoh had taken place, according to Torah, on
the 21st of Nisan, which is the seventh day of the festival of Passover. The
first Jewish fast of Passover, after the arrival of the Prophet in Madinah,
occurred on Tuesday, the 22nd of Azhar 933 which corresponds to the 17th of
Ramadan. This report also is, therefore, without a foundation."
With due respect to the scholarship of Beruni,
it is clear that he has built his thesis wholly on conjecture. He has, for
instance, surmised that the talk reported by Ibn-i-Abbas and other Companions
had taken place on the very first day of the Prophet's arrival in Madinah as is
evident from his observation, "when the sacred Prophet came to Madinah or
entered it."
This misconception is due to the ignorance of
the science of Traditions and of the holy Companion's mode of narration,
innumerable instances of which are available in the Traditions. For example, it
is related by Anas bin Malik: "When the Prophet came to Madinah and (saw that)
there were two days which the people of that place celebrated as festivals he
enquired about their significance. (The people of Madinah) told, 'These were our
days of fun and entertainment during the days of Paganism.' The Prophet,
thereupon, observed, 'God has given you two better days in their place,
'Id-ul-Fitr and 'Id-ul-Adha'."
Now, will it be proper for anyone to infer
from the above Tradition that the arrival of the Prophet in Madinah took place
on the same day that was the day of celebration in that town, and to proceed to
question the veracity of the Tradition on the ground that it was not
chronometrically possible? Similar errors of interpretation have been made in
respect of other traditions as well, like the one relating to pollination in
date palms.
Commenting on the argument advanced by Beruni,
Allama Ibn-i-Hajr Asqallani says,
"He found it difficult to accept the tradition
due to the misunderstanding that when the Prophet arrived in Madinah he saw the
Jews in the state of keeping the fast of 'Ashura while, in fact, it was in the
month of Rabi-ul-Awwal that the Prophet had come to Madinah. The answer to it is
that he has erred in the interpretation of the tradition. What the tradition
actually means is that the Prophet came to know of the fast of 'Ashura only when
he had migrated to Madinah and made his enquiry, for the first time, after he
had reached there. In other words, the Prophet, when he came to Madinah and
stayed there till 'Ashura, found that the Jews fasted on that day."
There is left no chronological contradiction
after Allama Asqallani's explanation, in the Tradition regarding the fast of
'Ashura.
The second misconception under which Beruni
labors is that the fast of 'Ashura mentioned in the Tradition signifies the
tenth day of the Jewish month of Tisri
which is also known as Yom Kippur or the Fast
of Atonement and is observed by
them with greater ceremony than any other
fast. But there is nothing in the tradition to warrant such a conclusion, and it
is also not supported by the Torah because the Fast of Atonement was instituted
in expiation of a mortal sin and observed as a day of penance and mourning.
The Day of Atonement, which is the tenth day
of the seventh month of Tisri, is referred to in these words in the Third Book
of Moses called, Leviticus:
"And this will be a statute for ever unto you;
that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your
souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a
stranger who sojourneth among you: for on that day shall the priest make an
atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins
before the Lord. It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict
your souls, by a statute forever" (Lev. 16:29-31)
At another place, in the same Book, it is
said: "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, also on the tenth day of this
seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation
unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire
unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day; for it is a day of
atonement to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God." (Lev.
23:26-28)
Similarly, in the Book of Numbers, it is set
forth: "And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month a holy
convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls; ye shall not do any work therein."
On the other hand, it explicitly occurs in the
traditions that the day of 'Ashura (on which the Muslims are enjoined to fast)
was a day of rejoicing among the Jews. As Imam Bukhari has related it on the
authority of Abu Musa Ashari, the Jews regarded it to be a day of Eid and it was
on seeing it that the holy Prophet advised his Companions also to keep fast on
it.
In Saheeh Muslim, also, it is related from
Qais bin Muslim that men of good-doing observed the fast of Ashura and
celebrated it as the day of Eid, with their women wearing the best of clothes
and ornaments. The Prophet, on seeing it, said to us, "You should also fast on
this day."
It is, further, related by Koraib bin S'ad
from Omar bin el-Khattab that, "On the Day of Judgment God will ask you only
about two fasts, the fasts of Ramadan and the fast of the day of adornment
(i.e., 'Ashura)."
In the light of the facts given above, it will
be incorrect to say that 'Ashura is the Day of Atonement. Were it so, it would
have been a day of lamentation and mortification while 'Ashura, as mentioned in
the tradition, is a day of merriment and decoration.
The same fallacy is shared by a number of
Western scholars as well. As for instance, Abraham Katish observes about the Day
of Attonement in his book entitled, 'Judaism in Islam,' that "Mohammad, in the
beginning, instituted it as a day of fasting for Muslims."
The assertion of the Jews themselves about
'Ashura that it was the day on which God had delivered the Israelites from their
enemies is enough to set at rest all doubts in this connection. In the Torah it
has been repeatedly mentioned as Abib which later came to be known as Nisan.
About Abib, we read in Dairatul M'aarif, "it is a Hebraic word which means
'green'. It is the name of the first month of the Hebraic year. This name was
given to it by Moses and it corresponds nearly to the month of April. When the
Jews were exiled in Babylon they changed its name to Nisan, meaning 'the month
of flowers.' Their 'Id-ul-Fateer (Passover) is also held in the middle of it."
Beruni, also, has admitted that it is wrong to
suppose that the Day of Atonement signified the day on which God had drowned
Pharaoh and his men. He says, "Their contention that on this day God had drowned
Pharaoh is opposed to what is stated in the Torah because the event of drowning
took place on the 21st of Nisan, which is the seventh day of Ayam-ul-Fateer
(Passover). It is set forth in Torah (Ex. 12: 18): 'In the first month, on the
fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the
one and twentieth day of the month at even'."
We, therefore, conclude that 'Ashura, which is
mentioned in the traditions related by Ibn-i-Abbas and others and on which day
the Muslims have been exhorted to fast and was included among the
near-obligatory duties in Islam before the fasts of Ramadan were prescribed,
corresponds, in the largest measure, to the day which falls in the middle of the
Hebraic month of Abib, whose name was changed to Nisan by the Jews during the
period of their exile in Babylon and was celebrated by them as an 'Id and an
event of fasting and entertainment. It was on this day that the Israelites had
come out of Egypt and the Pharaoh was drowned. In the second Book of Moses it is
related: "And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day in which ye came out
from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord
brought you out from this place; there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This
day came ye out in the month of Abib." (Ex. 13: 3-4)
In sum, the general consensus among Muslim
theologians and religious scholars is that 'Ashura fell on the tenth day of the
Arab month of Muharram in the second year of Migration and that it was later
annulled by Ramadan.
Besides, any attempt to make the Lunar Arabian
Calendar correspond to the Solar Jewish Calendar can, at the best, be only
hypothetical. The ancient custom of Nasi has also taken a hand in adding to the
confusion. This practice was quite common in Arabia, both before and after the
advent of Islam, till it was prohibited by the Qur'anic injunction which reads:
Postponement of a month is only an excess of disbelief, whereby those who
disbelieve are misled. (ix: 37)
On the occasion of the Farewell Hajj, the holy
Prophet had declared, "Time has returned to the original state that obtained
when the heavens and the earth were created". These words were of Divine
Inspiration for the Arab arrangement of time into days, weeks, months and years
had been changed so frequently that it could not be relied upon nor restored to
its original form through mathematical calculation. It is, therefore, incorrect
to question the authenticity of successive Traditions merely on the basis of an
erratic and inconstant Calendar.
It is also possible that the Jews of Madinah
were different from the other Jewish communities where the fast of 'Ashura was
concerned and observed it with greater enthusiasm and regularity, and, in this
respect, they were similar to the Arabs who, seeing that so many important
events had taken place on that day, fasted on it out of reverence.
It is related by Hazrat-at Ayesha , "the
Quraish fasted on the day of 'Ashura during the period of Ignorance and the
sacred Prophet also kept it." (Muslim). Further, the fast days among the Jews
living in different countries differed from one another. We have seen how in the
Jewish Encyclopedia it is indicated that apart from the fixed fast-days many
fasts of a local or national character had become established among the Jews
from the early days, which varied from place to place. Private fasts were also
common among the Jews and one could take it upon oneself to fast on certain days
in memory of certain events or at the time of adversity to arouse God's mercy.
In these circumstances, it is quite possible that the fast of 'Ashura, on the
tenth day of the first month of the Arab Calendar, was peculiar to the Jews
living in Arabia alone. Perhaps, it is for this reason that the Talmud and the
Jewish Calendar are silent on this score. Some historians have treated it as
identical! to the Fast of Atonement which all the Jews, wherever they be,
consider obligatory. Thus, those who subscribe to this view are inclined to
doubt the veracity of the afore-mentioned traditions. But their judgment is
influenced by the ignorance of the habits and practices of the Jews living in
various parts of the world, specially in Arabia where they had been settled for
generations as a distinct community, possessing their own beliefs and customs
and receiving local impressions in the historical course of things.
Article taken (with Thanks) from
Albalagh.net
reproduced from http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/Ashura.htm
