Which Day?
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “ `Ashura and Tasu`a are two elongated names [the vowels are elongated] as is stated in books on the Arabic language. Our companions said: `Ashura is the tenth day of Muharram and Tasu`a is the ninth day. This is our opinion, and that of the majority of scholars. This is the apparent meaning of the ahaadeeth and is what we understand from the general wording. It is also what is usually understood by scholars of the language.”
(al-Majmoo’)`Ashura is an Islamic name that was not known at the time of Jaahiliyyah.
(Kashshaaf al-Qinaa’, part 2, Sawm Muharram)Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“ `Ashura is the tenth day of Muharram. This is the opinion of Sa’eed ibn al-Musayyib and al-Hasan.
It was what was reported by Ibn ‘Abbas, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded us to fast `Ashura, the tenth day of Muharram.’
(Reported by al-Tirmidhi, who said, a saheeh hasan hadeeth)It was reported that Ibn ‘Abbas said: ‘The ninth,’ and reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to fast the ninth.
(Reported by Muslim)‘Ataa’ reported that he said, ‘Fast the ninth and the tenth, and do not be like the Jews.’ If this is understood, we can say on this basis that it is mustahabb (encouraged) to fast on the ninth and the tenth, for that reason. This is what Ahmad said, and it is the opinion of Ishaaq.”
Fast Tasu`a with `Ashura
‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: “When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) fasted on `Ashura and commanded the Muslims to fast as well, they said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, it is a day that is venerated by the Jews and Christians.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, ‘If I live to see the next year, in sha Allah, we will fast on the ninth day too.’ But it so happened that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed away before the next year came.”
(Reported by Muslim, 1916)Al-Shaafa'i and his companions, Ahmad, Ishaaq and others said: “It is mustahabb to fast on both the ninth and tenth days, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) fasted on the tenth, and intended to fast on the ninth.”
On this basis it may be said that there are varying degrees of fasting `Ashura, the least of which is to fast only on the tenth and the best of which is to fast the ninth as well. The more one fasts in Muharram, the better it is.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The scholars – our companions and others – mentioned several reasons why it is mustahabb to fast on Tasu`a:
the intention behind it is to be different from the Jews, who only venerate the tenth day. This opinion was reported from Ibn ‘Abbas…
the intention is to add another day’s fast to `Ashura. This is akin to the prohibition on fasting a Friday by itself, as was mentioned by al-Khattaabi and others.
To be on the safe side and make sure that one fasts on the tenth, in case there is some error in sighting the crescent moon at the beginning of Muharram and the ninth is in fact the tenth.”
The strongest of these reasons is being different from the People of the Book. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade imitating the People of the Book in many ahaadeeth, for example, his words concerning `Ashura: ‘If I live until the next year, I will certainly fast on the ninth day.’”
(al-Fataawa al-Kubra, part 6, Sadd al-Dharaa’i’ al-Mufdiyah ila’l-Mahaarim )Ibn Hajar (may Allah be pleased with him) said in his commentary on the hadeeth “If I live until the next year, I will certainly fast on the ninth day”:
“What he meant by fasting on the ninth day was probably not that he would limit himself to that day, but would add it to the tenth, either to be on the safe side or to be different from the Jews and Christians, which is more likely. This is also what we can understand from some of the reports narrated by Muslim.”
(Fath, 4/245)Shaykh al-Islam said:
“Fasting on the day of ‘Aashoraa’ is an expiation for a year, and it is not makrooh to fast only that day…” (al-Fataawa al-Kubra, part 5). In Tuhfat al-Muhtaaj by Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, it says: “There is nothing wrong with fasting only on `Ashura.”
(part 3, Baab Sawm al-Tatawwu’)Ahmad said: “If there is confusion about the beginning of the month, one should fast for three days, to be sure of fasting on the ninth and tenth days.”
(al-Mughni by Ibn Qudaamah, part 3 – al-Siyaam – Siyaam `Ashura).If a person does not know when Muharram began, and he wants to be sure of fasting on the tenth, he should assume that Dhoo’l-Hijjah was thirty days – as is the usual rule – and should fast on the ninth and tenth. Whoever wants to be sure of fasting the ninth as well should fast the eight, ninth and tenth (then if Dhoo’l-Hijjah was twenty-nine days, he can be sure of having fasted Tasu`a and `Ashura).
But given that fasting on `Ashura is mustahabb rather than waajib, people are not commanded to look for the crescent of the new moon of Muharram as they are to do in the case of Ramadaan and Shawwaal.
Abdullah ibn Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “If I live until next year, I will certainly fast the ninth day of al-Muharram.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1134Ibn Hajar said, “The fast of Ashura has three levels: the lowest is to fast one day, the next is to fast the ninth day along with it, and the next is to fast the ninth, tenth, and eleventh days. Allah knows best.”
Source: Fatḥ al-Bārī 1896
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