‘Ashura’ commemorates the day that
Allah saved the Children of Israel from
Pharaoh. Fasting on Muharram 10, known as the
Day of ‘Ashura’, expiates for the sins of
the past year. When the Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him) arrived in
Madinah in 622 CE, he found that the
Jews there fasted on Muharram 10 and asked them the reason for their fasting
on this day. They said,” This is a blessed
day. On this day Allah saved the Children
of Israel from their enemy (in Egypt) and
so Prophet Musa [Moses] fasted on this
day giving thanks to Allah.”
The Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him) said, “We are closer to Musa than you are.” He fasted on that day and commanded
Muslims to fast on this day. (Al-Bukhari)

The following year, Allah commanded
the Muslims to fast the month of
Ramadan, and the fasting of ‘Ashura’
became optional. It is also reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him) intended to fast on the ninth
and tenth.
Ibn ‘Abbas reported: The
Messenger of Allah fasted on the day of
‘Ashura’ and ordered the people to fast
on it. The people said, “O Messenger of Allah, it is a day that the Jews and
Christians honor.” The Prophet said,
“When the following year comes, Allah
willing, we shall fast on the ninth.” The
death of the Prophet came before the
following year. (Muslim and Abu Dawud).
Thus, according to scholars, you may
choose to fast ‘Ashura’ on three days
(ninth, tenth, and eleventh); two days
(ninth and tenth); or one day only (the
tenth). The Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) said, “Fasting the day of ‘Ashura’ (is of great merits), I
hope that Allah will accept it as an
expiation for (the sins committed in) the
previous year.” (Muslim). But this
expiation of minor sins comes only if
you avoid major sins. It is a big mistake to rely on fasting a single day to “wipe
your slate clean.” If you neglect your
daily Prayers or the fast of Ramadan, or if
you backbite, lie, commit adultery or
other major sins, fasting on ‘Ashura’
alone will not atone for your sins.
The great scholar Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-
Jawziyya wrote:
This misguided person does not know
that fasting in Ramadan and praying five
times a day are much more important
than fasting on the Day of Arafah and the Day of ‘Ashura’, and that they
expiate for the sins between one
Ramadan and the next, or between one
Friday and the next, so long as one
avoids major sins. But they cannot
expiate for minor sins unless one also avoids major sins; when the two things
are put together, they have the strength
to expiate for minor sins. Among those
deceived people may be one who thinks
that his good deeds are more than his
sins, because he does not pay attention to his bad deeds or check on his sins,
but if he does a good deed he
re members it and relies on it. This is like the one who seeks Allah’s
forgiveness with his tongue (that is, by
words only), and glorifies Allah by
saying “subhan Allah” one hundred
times a day, then he backbites about the
Muslims and slanders their honor, and speaks all day long about things that are
not pleasing to Allah. This person is
always thinking about the virtues of his
saying “subhan Allah” and saying “la
ilaha illa Allah” but he pays no attention
to what has been reported concerning those who backbite, tell lies, and slander
others, or commit other sins of the
tongue. They are completely deceived.
You may hear of some
customs associated with ‘Ashura’ such as cooking and eating certain foods on
that day, wearing kohl or henna, or
even merrymaking. Others consider this
a day of mourning and wailing in honor
of the Prophet’s grandson Al-Husayn,
who was killed in battle on that day. The scholar Ibn Taymiyah stated that all of these are bid’ahs
(reprehensible innovations) that should
be avoided.
Take advantage of this
opportunity to bring yourself closer to
Allah on ‘Ashura’ by fasting and praying for forgiveness.

Source : www.islamicity.org/7914/fasting-the-day-of-ashura/

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