Ashura falls on the tenth day of Muharram and carries the strongest established practice of the Islamic year’s opening month: a voluntary fast that the Prophet ﷺ indicated expiates the sins of the year before it. It is also a day that different Muslim communities mark in very different ways, which is worth understanding rather than ignoring.
What Ashura Commemorates
When the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah, he found the Jewish community fasting on this day. On asking, he was told it was the day Allah saved Musa and the Children of Israel from Pharaoh. He replied that he had more right to Musa than they did, and fasted it and instructed that it be fasted (Sahih al-Bukhari).
Two things follow from that narration. The day commemorates a deliverance — the parting of the sea and the end of a tyranny — and the Prophet’s response establishes a continuity between the prophets rather than a separation from them.
Ashura was in fact fasted before Islam by the Quraysh as well, and in the early Madinan period the fast was obligatory. When fasting Ramadan was prescribed, Ashura became voluntary — those who wished to fast it did, and those who did not, did not (Sahih al-Bukhari).
The Reward of Fasting It
Asked about fasting the day of Ashura, the Prophet ﷺ said that it expiates the sins of the preceding year (Sahih Muslim).
Scholars have consistently clarified the scope of this. The expiation referred to concerns minor sins; major sins require sincere repentance, and wrongs done to other people require those wrongs to be put right. A fast does not settle a debt you owe someone or an apology you have not made.
Even so, the return on a single day of voluntary fasting is among the greatest described anywhere in the Sunnah — which is why scholars have urged Muslims not to let the day pass unnoticed.
Should You Fast the Ninth as Well?
Yes, where you are able, and the reason is instructive. Towards the end of his life the Prophet ﷺ said that if he lived to the following year he would fast the ninth (Sahih Muslim). He passed away before that year came.
The stated reason in the narrations was to differ from the practice of the People of the Book, who fasted the tenth alone. From this, scholars have derived three positions:
- Fasting the ninth and tenth together — the strongest and most widely recommended, as it fulfils the Prophet’s stated intention.
- Fasting the tenth and eleventh — acceptable where the ninth was missed, achieving the same distinction.
- Fasting the tenth alone — permissible and still rewarded, though it misses the preference.
If you realise on the morning of the tenth that you have missed the ninth, you can still form the intention for a voluntary fast that day, provided you have not eaten or drunk.
Muharram Beyond Ashura
Ashura sits inside a month that carries its own standing. Muharram is one of the four sacred months named in the Qur’an (9:36), alongside Dhul-Qa’dah, Dhul-Hijjah and Rajab.
The Prophet ﷺ also said that the best fasting after the month of Ramadan is in Allah’s month of Muharram (Sahih Muslim) — a description that applies to the month generally, not only to Ashura. Voluntary fasting at any point in Muharram carries that merit.
Ashura and the Martyrdom of Husayn
It would be incomplete to write about Ashura without acknowledging that the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ, Husayn ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), was killed at Karbala on the tenth of Muharram in 61 AH.
This is an immense tragedy in Islamic history and is grieved across the Muslim world. For Shia Muslims, Ashura is above all a day of mourning for Husayn and his companions, marked with commemorative gatherings; this is central to Shia religious practice. Sunni Muslims likewise regard the killing of Husayn as a grave wrong and honour his memory, while observing Ashura primarily through the fast established in the narrations above, since the fast predates Karbala by decades.
The fast and the historical events are distinct matters that fall on the same date. Whatever your background, the day is not diminished by understanding how other Muslims observe it.
Practical Notes
- Check the date in advance. Ashura arrives only ten days into the Islamic year and is easily missed; the Gregorian date shifts by roughly eleven days annually and can vary by a day with local moon sighting.
- Fasting rules are the ordinary ones. From Fajr to Maghrib, with the intention formed beforehand or, for a voluntary fast, on the morning itself if you have not eaten.
- If you cannot fast, the month is still available for charity, extra prayer and settling what you owe — which fits a day about deliverance and a month described as sacred.
- Pair it with repentance. Since the expiation concerns minor sins, the day is well spent addressing the things that actually need addressing.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Ashura?
The tenth day of Muharram. As the Islamic calendar is lunar, the corresponding Gregorian date moves earlier by about eleven days each year and may vary by a day between countries.
Is fasting Ashura obligatory?
No. It was obligatory before Ramadan was prescribed; since then it has been a voluntary fast.
Does fasting Ashura forgive all sins?
Scholars hold that the expiation described applies to minor sins. Major sins require sincere repentance, and rights owed to other people must be restored to them.
Why fast the ninth as well as the tenth?
The Prophet ﷺ expressed the intention to fast the ninth in order to differ from the practice of the People of the Book, who fasted the tenth alone. Fasting both fulfils that intention.
Can I fast only the tenth?
Yes. It is permissible and rewarded, though pairing it with the ninth or eleventh is preferred.
Can I fast Ashura if I still owe missed Ramadan fasts?
Scholars have differed. Many hold that making up obligatory fasts takes priority, while others permit voluntary fasts before completing them. The safer course where time allows is to prioritise what is obligatory.
A Day Worth Marking
Ashura is one day of fasting with an extraordinary reward attached to it, sitting inside a sacred month, commemorating a deliverance that the Prophet ﷺ deliberately connected himself to.
It requires nothing except knowing when it falls and deciding in advance to keep it.
See also: Hijri New Year: The Islamic Calendar, Muharram & Ashura Explained and Thursday in Islam: Fasting and Preparing for Jumu’ah.
