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Sayyid Saeed Akhtar
Rizvi
Vol VIII No. 3 & 4
Some traditions are found in Sunni books to the effect that the Prophet (s.a.w.)
on migrating to Medina found the Jews fasting on the 10th of Muharram. He
asked them why, and was told: "It is an auspicious day; it is the day when
God delivered the children of Israel from their enemy (i.e. Pharaoh); and,
therefore, Moses fasted on that day." The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, "I am
worthier of Moses than you are." Thereupon, he fasted on that day and
ordered (the Muslims) to fast.
1. al-Sahih of al-Bukhari, Vol.3; Egypt ed.; p.54
2. Mishkatul-Masabih; Delhi ed.; 1307 A.H.; p.l72
It is noted by the commentator of Mishkatul-Masabih that "it was in the
second year, because in the first year the Prophet had arrived at Medina
after 'Ashura, in Rabi'ul-awwal."
How much importance was this fast supposed to have may be judged from
another tradition narrated in al-Sahih of. al-Bukhari: "The Prophet (s.a.w.)
ordered a man from the (tribe of) Aslam: Announce to the people that
whoever has eaten should fast the rest of the day, and whoever has not
eaten should fast (the whole day), because today is the 'Ashura (10th day
of Muharram)."
That very year the fast of Ramadan was ordained and the obligation to fast
on 'Ashura was abrogated, as has been claimed in other traditions narrated
in the same book. Still, reportedly, it carries much importance as a
voluntary fast.
Now let us look closely at these traditions:
First: The Jews had their own calendar and months. There is no logic in
saying that they fasted on the 10th of Muharram - unless it could be
proved that this date always coincided with a Jewish day of fast.
It was mentioned in my article, "Martyrdom of Imam Husayn and the Muslim
and the Jewish Calendars" (Alserat, Vol.VI, No's 3 & 4; Muharram 1401
Nov.1980) that the first month of the Jews (Abib, later named Nisan)
coincided with Rajab of the Arabs. W.O.E.Oesterley and Theodore H.Robinson
have written that in Arabia "the most important of all the new-moon
festivals was that which fell in the month of Ragab (sic), equivalent to
the Hebrew month 'Abib, for this was the time when the ancient Arabs
celebrated the Spring festival." (Hebrew Religion; S.P.C.K., London; 1955;
p.128)
Probably, in ancient times the two branches of Abraham's house followed
the same system of intercalating an additional month 7 times in a cycle of
19 years. And in this way the 7th Jewish month, Tishri I, coincided with
Muharram. And the 'Ashura of Muharram synchronized with 10th of Tishri I,
the Jewish Day of Atonement - a day of fast. In that article, it was
observed that the two calendars lost their synchronization when Islam, in
the 9th year of hijra, disallowed intercalation. But on deeper
consideration it transpired that that parity was lost long before the
advent of Islam, because the Arabs did not follow any mathematical
calculation in their intercalation. That was why the Muharram of the 2nd
year of Hijra began on 5th July, 623 C.E. (Al-Munjid, 21st ed.), months
before Tishri I (which always coincides with September-October).
Clearly, 'Ashura of Muharram in that year (or, for that matter, during the
Prophet's whole life at Medina) had no significance whatsoever for the
Jews.
The question is: Why did they fast on that day?
Second: The Jewish Midrashic literature relates the 10th day of the 7th
month (Yom Hakippurim - Day of Atonement) to the event of bringing the
tablets of the Covenant from Mount Sinai, as Dr. Mishael Maswari-Caspi has
written in his letter, quoted in my previous article, mentioned above.
The question is: If the Jews had wanted to keep the long-lost
synchronization of Tishri I and Muharram in view, how was it that they
forgot to narrate this tradition to the Prophet?
Third: The month in which God delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh was
Abib (i.e. Rajab), as the Bible clearly says: "Observe the month of Abib,
and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the
Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night." (Deut., 16:1)
The question is: How could the Jews transfer an event of Abib (originally
coinciding with Rajab) to Muharram, in open defiance of their Torah?
And lastly here is a point to ponder for the Muslims: The Prophet (s.a.w.)
was sent with a religion to abrogate all previous religions and shari'ah.
How was it that he deigned to imitate the custom of the Jews?
It is clear from above-mentioned facts that the Jews had no reason at all
to fast on 'Ashura of Muharram at that period; and this story, built on
that premise, is just that - a fiction. Obviously, it was invented by a
narrator who only knew that once upon a time Muharram coincided with the
Jews' Tishri I; but was totally unaware of contemporary Jewish religion
and culture.
One feels constrained to mention here that this and other such traditions
were forged by camp-followers of the Umayyads, after the martyrdom of Imam
Husayn, as a part of their campaign to turn the 10th of Muharram into a
day of rejoicing. These traditions are of the same genre as those which
say that it was on the 10th of Muharram that Noah's ark rested on Mount
Arafat, the fire became cool and safe for Abraham, and Jesus ascended to
the heaven. In the same category came the traditions exhorting the Muslims
to treat 'Ashura as a festival of joy, and to store one's food-grain on
this very day as it would increase one's sustenance and bring the
blessings of Allah to the household.
Reader on Classical Islam, pp. 278-279
F.E Peters, Princeton Univ Press
People say that on this day God took compassion on Adam, that the Ark of
Noah stood still on the
mountain, that Jesus was born, that Moses was saved (from the Pharaoh) . .
. . Further, on this
day Jacob regained his eyesight, Joseph was drawn out of the well, Solomon
was invested with the
royal power, the punishment was taken away from the: people of Jonah, job
was freed from his
plague, the prayer of Zacharia was granted and John (the Baptist) was
given to him.
Though it is possible that all these events should have occurred on this
day, we must state that
all this rests on the authority of popular story?tellers, who do not draw
upon learned sources nor
upon the consensus among the Peoples of the Book.
Some people say that Ashura is an Arabicized Hebrew word, wit, Ashur, that
is, the tenth of the
Jewish month of Tishri, in which falls the fasting of (Yom) Kippur; that
the date of this fasting
was compared with the months of the Arabs, and that it was fixed on the
tenth day of the Arabs'
first month, as it falls with the Jews on the tenth day of their first
month.
The Prophet gave order to fast on this day in the first year of the Hijra,
but afterwards this
fast was abrogated by the other law, to fast during the month of Ramadan,
which falls later in the
year. People relate that the Prophet of God, on arriving in Medina, saw
the Jews fasting on
Ashura. On inquiring of them, he was told that this was the day on which
God had drowned Pharaoh
and his people and had saved Moses and the Israelites. Then the Prophet
said, "We have a nearer
claim on Moses than they." In consequence he fasted on that day and
ordered his followers to do
the same. But when he afterwards issued the law regarding the fasting of
Ramadan, he no longer
ordered them to fast on Ashura, but neither did he forbid them.
This tradition is not correct, however, since scientific examination
proves against it .... You
could not maintain that the Prophet fasted on Ashura on account of its
coincidence with the 10th
of Tishri in this year, unless you transfer it from the first of the
Jewish months to the first of
the Arab months so as to make them fall together. Also in the second year
of the Hijra the Jewish
Ashura and the day of Muhammad's arrivals cannot have coincided. (Biruni,
Traces of the Past)
[BIRUNI 1879: 326-328]
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