The tenth of Muharram, Ashura, is one of those days that holds a lot of history in a single date.
When the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah, he found the Jewish community fasting on this day and asked them why. They told him it was the day Allah saved Musa (peace be upon him) and the Children of Israel from Pharaoh, and that Musa had fasted it out of gratitude. The Prophet ﷺ said, “We have more right to Musa than you,” and he fasted it and told others to fast too. (Sahih al-Bukhari 2004)
So at its root, Ashura is a day of thanks. A people trapped at the edge of the sea, an army behind them, nowhere to go. And Allah opened a road where there wasn’t one.
A day that also carries grief
For Muslims everywhere, Muharram also brings the memory of Karbala. On this same day in the year 61 AH, Imam Husayn, the beloved grandson of the Prophet ﷺ, was killed along with members of his family and his companions. They were thirsty. The children with them were thirsty. Water was kept from them.
Whatever tradition you’ve grown up in, it’s hard to read that story and not feel it. And it’s hard to think about thirsty children today without that memory landing somewhere deep.
Ashura holds both of these together. Rescue and sacrifice. Gratitude and grief. Standing firm for what’s right, whatever it costs.
How to spend the day
The Prophet ﷺ was asked about fasting Ashura and said he hoped Allah would wipe away the sins of the year before through it. (Sahih Muslim 1162) Many people also fast the ninth alongside the tenth, following his intention to do so.
Beyond fasting, it’s a good day to:
- Spend some quiet time thinking about what you’re grateful for, and tell Allah about it.
- Read the story of Musa in the Qur’an with your children, or talk to them about the Hijrah and Karbala.
- Give water. Of everything we could suggest, this one feels the most fitting.
Water, of all things
Sa’d ibn Ubadah once asked the Prophet ﷺ which charity was best, after his mother had passed away. The answer was water. So Sa’d dug a well and dedicated it to her, and people drank from it for generations. (Sunan Abu Dawud)
Today, families in rural Pakistan still walk for hours to fetch water that isn’t safe to drink. In Gaza, clean water has become one of the hardest things to find. It’s a very old kind of suffering, happening in a very modern world.
Through our water projects, a hand pump or a clean water point can serve a whole community for years. Every person who drinks from it is a good deed written for you, long after Ashura has passed.
If you fast this Ashura, try breaking your fast knowing that somebody else has clean water because of you. It’s a good way to end a day that has always been about rescue.