Ashura is the tenth day of the month of Muharram, which is the day on which God, may He be glorified and exalted, saved our master Moses, peace be upon him, and the children of Israel from Pharaoh and his soldiers.
It coincides in Islamic history the day when Hussein bin Ali, the tribe of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was killed in the Battle of Karbala.
The day of the tenth of Muharram was named after Ashura in honor of it, and it is a pure Islamic name that the Arabs did not know in pre-Islamic times, although they may have inherited its veneration from the religion of Abraham, peace be upon him.
The reason for his fast
It was reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, used to fast Ashura in the pre-Islamic era, and the Quraysh used to fast it. When he came to Medina, peace be upon him, he found the Jews fasting it, so the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, ordered Muslims to fast.
Al-Bukhari narrated on the authority of Ibn Abbas that he said, “The Prophet came to Medina and saw the Jews fast on the day of Ashura, and he said: What is this? They said: This is a good day, this is the day God saved the children of Israel from their enemy, so Moses fasted. He said: I am more deserving of Moses than you, so he fasted and commanded his fast.” .
The fuqaha 'differed as to whether fasting Ashura before the imposition of the month of Ramadan was obligatory or was it a confirmed Sunnah? Abu Hanifa and Ahmad were of the necessity, and Al-Shafi’i tipped that it was only a confirmed Sunnah.
He preferred fasting
Fasting has great merit among the Sunnis and the community, so fasting expiates the sins of a previous year. Muslim narrated in his Sahih that the Prophet said: “Fasting on the day of Arafah is counted upon God to expiate the year before it and the year after it, and fasting on the day of Ashura is counted upon God to expiate the year before it.” .
Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih on the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas as saying, “I have never seen the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, seek fasting on a day of his virtue over others except this day on Ashura, and this month means the month of Ramadan.”
And it is desirable to add to it the fasting of the ninth of Muharram, in contradiction to the Jews, because they single out the tenth with veneration, and that is because the Prophet said in the hadith: “If the next year, God willing, we fast the ninth day.”
Ashura for the Shiites
The will of God wanted the martyrdom of Hussein bin Ali, may God be pleased with him, in the famous Karbala battle on the tenth of the Muharram month, so this day has a special symbolism for the Shiites, and they have special celebrations in it.