Ashurah/ 10th of Muharram:-
From the word Ashrah, meaning 10.
In the Madina and before instituting Ramadan, Muhammad evidently observed the tenth day of Muharram (Ashurah) as a fast day. This he had adopted from Yom Kippur of the Jews.
It is the 10th day of the 7th month (Tishri), Yom Kippur-
Leviticus 16:29 " And this shall be a statute forever to you, that in the seventh month, on the 10th day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do not work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger who sojourns among you"
This day is also the one during which the Shi'a commemorate the killing - martyrdom - of Husayn bin Ali and his followers at the hands of the Ummayad ruler Yazid in 680CE.
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 3.219 Narrated byAisha
Allah's Apostle ordered (the Muslims) to fast on the day of 'Ashura', and when fasting in the month of Ramadan was prescribed, it became optional for one to fast on that day ('Ashura') or not.
*** It was only after he had FAILED in having the Jews of Madina accept him as the messenger of Allah, that he changed the day of fasting from the
10th of Muharram (Ashura) the Yom Kippur of the Jews to the month of Ramadan ***
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 3.222 Narrated byIbn Abbas
The Prophet came to Medina and saw the Jews fasting on the day of Ashura.
He asked them about that.
They replied, "This is a good day, the day on which Allah rescued Bani Israel from their enemy. So, Moses fasted this day."
The Prophet said, "We have more claim over Moses than you."
So, the Prophet fasted on that day and ordered (the Muslims) to fast (on that day).
***Since Moses was not an Arab, then by what stretch of the imagination could Muhammad and his Arabian followers claim more rights to him than the Jews?
This is one more example - if any more could possibly be needed - of Muhammad's Plundering, Plagiarising, Pirating and/or Perverting all his ideas, concepts, precepts and thoughts from the Bible and traditions of the Jews and put them in his Quran to suit his agenda of pretending to be the messenger of Allah following in the footsteps of the Hebrew Prophets ***
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 3.223 Narrated byAbu Musa
The day of 'Ashura' was considered as 'Id day by the Jews.
So the Prophet ordered,
"I recommend you (Muslims) to fast on this day."
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 3.224 Narrated byIbn Abbas
I never saw the Prophet seeking to fast on a day more (preferable to him) than this day, the day of 'Ashura', or this month, i.e. the month of Ramadan.
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 4.609; 5:279; 6:261 Narrated byIbn Abbas
When the Prophet came to Medina, he found (the Jews) fasting on the day of 'Ashura' (i.e. 10th of Muharram).
They used to say: "This is a great day on which Allah saved Moses and drowned the folk of Pharaoh. Moses observed the fast on this day, as a sign of gratitude to Allah."
The Prophet said,
"I am closer to Moses than they."
So, he observed the fast (on that day) and ordered the Muslims to fast on it.
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 5.278 Narrated byAbu Musa
When the Prophet arrived at Medina, he noticed that some people among the Jews used to respect Ashura' (i.e. 10th of Muharram) and fast on it.
The Prophet then said, "We have more right to observe fast on this day," and ordered that fasting should be observed on it.
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 6.202 Narrated byIbn Abbas
When the Prophet arrived at Medina, the Jews were observing the fast on 'Ashura' (10th of Muharram) and they said, "This is the day when Moses became victorious over Pharaoh."
On that, the Prophet said to his companions, "You (Muslims) have more right to celebrate Moses' victory than they have, so observe the fast on this day."
Sahih Muslim HadithHadith 2514 Narrated byJabir ibn Samurah
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) commanded us to observe fast on the day of Ashura and exhorted us to do it and was particular about it. But when (fasting) in Ramadan was made obligatory, he henceforth neither commanded us nor forbade us, nor was he so particular about it.
Sahih Muslim HadithHadith 2528 Narrated byAbdullah ibn Abbas
When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) fasted on the day of Ashura and commanded that it should be observed as a fast, they (his Companions) said to him:
Messenger of Allah, it is a day which the Jews and Christians hold in high esteem. Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: When the next year comes, Allah willing, we would observe fast on the 9th . But the Messenger of Allah
( peace be upon him) died before the advent of the next year.
*** This Hadith is blatantly in error since it is alleging that Muhammad decided to fast Ashura in the 10th year of his sojourn in Madina, when all the relevant records assert that he observed it just after he emigrated there ***
Al-Muwatta Hadith Hadith 18.33
Fasting on the Day of Ashura ( the 10th of Muharram)
Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The day of Ashura was a day the Quraysh used to fast in the jahiliyya, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used also to fast it during the jahiliyya. Then when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to Madina he fasted it and ordered that it be fasted. Then Ramadan was made obligatory, and that became the fard instead of Ashura, but whoever wanted to, fasted it, and whoever did not want to, did not fast it."
Al-Muwatta Hadith Hadith 18.34
Fasting on the Day of Ashura ( the 10th of Muharram)
Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Humayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf heard Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan say from the mimbar on the day of Ashura in the year in which he made the hajj, "People of Madina, where are your learned men? I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say about this day, 'This is the day of Ashura, and fasting it has not been prescribed for you. I am fasting it, and whoever of you wants to fast it can do so, and whoever does not want to, does not have to.' "
*** The Muwatta version contradicts - as is usual in the Quran and Hadiths - the other Hadiths that do not mention that the Quraysh of the Jahiliyah as fasting on Ashura.
In fact they all assert that Muhammad only found out about the significance of Ashura AFTER he had arrived in Madina among the Jews.
When Muhammad first arrived in Madina, he wanted very much to have the Jews accept him as a prophet similar to their Hebrew ones of old.
The Hadiths above are crystal clear in confirming the above statement.
The Jews did not accept him as a prophet because he was not offering them a single new practical, moral and or intellectual precept, concept, thought or idea that was in any way shape or form either equal to or superior to what they already had.
After 18 months of having failed miserably to 'convert' the Judaized Arabs of the Madina to his new Cult Belief System, he turned into their bitterest enemy and made Ramadhan as the month of fasting and changed the direction of the Qibla from Jerusalem to Mecca.
He also proceeded in exterminating or subjugating them everywhere in the Arabian Peninsula since they were witnesses to his mendacities and wanton aggression against all those who did not believe as he did ***
