Fasting in Muharram

27/12/2009| IslamWeb

Question:

How many days do we fast in Muharram (‘Aashoora’)?

Fatwa:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.

 

It is recommendable to fast the whole of Allah's month Muharram, since it is narrated by Muslim that the Prophet Muhammad said: “The best fasting after Ramadan is Allah's month Muharram, and the best prayer after obligatory one is the night prayer.”

If it is difficult to fast the full month, the person can fast the tenth day of Muharram. There are three ways of fasting it:

1) This one is more perfect - fasting the day before it, the tenth of Muharram, and the day after it.

2) Fasting the day before or day after it, and the tenth of Muharram.

3) Fasting the tenth day only.

Allah Knows best.