Sacred Months

Muharram is the month with which the Muslims begin their lunar Hijrah Calendar. It is one of the four sanctified months about which the Holy Quran says, “The number of the months according to Allah is twelve months (mentioned) in the Book of Allah on the day in which He created heavens and the earth. Among these (twelve months) there are four sanctified”.

These four months, according to the authentic traditions are the months of Zulqadah, Zulhijjah, Muharram and Rajab. All the commentators of the Holy Quran are unanimous on this point, because the Holy Prophet in his sermon on the occasion of his last Hajj, has declared:

“One year consists of twelve months, of which four are sanctified months, three of them are in sequence; Zulqadah, Zulhijjah, Muharram, and the fourth is Rajab.”

The specific mention of these four months does not mean that any other month has no sanctity, because the month of Ramadan is admittedly the most sanctified month in the year. But these four months were specifically termed as sanctified months for the simple reason that their sanctity was accepted even by the pagans of Makkah.

In fact, every month, out of the twelve, is originally equal to the other, and there is no inherent sanctity, which may be attributed to one of them in comparison to other months. When Allah Almighty chooses a particular time for His special blessings, then it acquires sanctity out of His grace.

Thus, the sanctity of these four months was recognized right from the days of Sayyidina Ibrahim. Since the Pagans of Makkah attributed themselves to Sayyidina Ibrahim they observed the sanctity of these four months and despite their frequent tribal battles, they held it unlawful to fight in these months.

In the Shariah of our Holy Prophet the sanctity of these months was upheld and the Holy Quran referred to them as the “sanctified months”.

IslamiCity Bulletin

riddled with inaccuracies.. where does one start??

let’s begin with the statement: “Since the Pagans of Makkah attributed themselves to Sayyidina Ibrahim”..

and here I thought those people never had a book or anyone sent to them before Allah chose them to be the recepient of His message.. :konfused:

^ Thats true, the pagans of Makkah did believe in Prophet Ibrahim, but they distorted the message of montheism. The pagan Arabs came to pilgrimage of Holy Kaaba in Makkah just as sunnah of Ibrahim.

is it your conclusion after pondering or your historic knowledge?

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by PakistaniAbroad: *
riddled with inaccuracies.. where does one start??

[/QUOTE]

How quickly you reach conclusions. Allah does not like pride.

while we r in the talk of 'sacred months' why dont the GUPSHUP mods/admins tell me what exactly do they mean by "a scared ashura'????

first time i heard of such a thing....
i know ashura had some significance with the shiaa minority, but how 'sacred' is it????

armughal..

I thought Ashura and the month of Muharram was declared sacred in the life of our Prophet Muhammad :saw: and its not because of the shihadatt of Hazrat Hussain :ra:. The shihadat happened much later. So why do you say its sacred only for shia minority? If you check around, there is a thread here in Religion forum and one in Feedback which gives the religious significance of Ashura and Muharram for all muslims.

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Islamabad: *
^ Thats true, the pagans of Makkah did believe in Prophet Ibrahim, but they distorted the message of montheism. The pagan Arabs came to pilgrimage of Holy Kaaba in Makkah just as sunnah of Ibrahim.
[/QUOTE]

well according to the Qur'an people among whom the Prophet preached did not receive any other Book or warner before him.

[34:43] And when Our clear communications are recited to them, they say: This is naught but a man who desires to turn you away from that which your fathers worshipped. And they say: This is naught but a lie that is forged. And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it comes to them: This is only clear enchantment.

[34:44] And We have not given them any books which they read, nor did We send to them before you a warner.

PA…

If we take your argument, then my question is why was ka’aba sacred to pre-Islam Arabs? If they did not know about Hazrat Ibraheem :razi: (if thats what you are implying) then why did Arab tribes come for pilgrimage to Mekkah and hence Quraish, being the custodians of Ka’aba, were so influential?

Or the other explanation is that they knew about the Prophets before their time.. but the message was so muddled by then that they had included all non-monotheist ideals in their religion… and hence for all effective reasons the message was lost, and they were without any guidance.

Fasial, don't take my argument.. take what the Qur'an says :)

there can be a hundred stories why it was sacred to them... however an interesting thing to note that the calendar system we use is also pre-Islamic .. however qur'an does tell us four of these months are sacred..

muharram was sacred even before the prophet…
i never heard of the prophet declaring ashura as sacred though…

and if u think fasting on that day makes it sacred then i think we need to celebrate the sacred days of mondays too…

please pardon me my ignorance and hence my curiosity, but can someone answer these honest questions:

  • what makes a month Holy? in what aspects does it differ from other months?

  • why the time frame of a month? Why not take a week as Holy? Why not a quarter of a year? or a year in a decennium?

  • how about the holiness of which month on Mars? (keeping in mind the universality of Islam)

For the first three months, Arabs used to perform the Greater pilgrimage and in the last the smaller pilgrimage or Umrah.

First of all for these four months, Holy Quran used the word 'Ashhur al-Hurum' which doesn't signify "sacred months" but "forbidden months".

In these four months, Idolaters were granted permission to travel through the land and see for themselves whether Islam had not triaumphed and whether the word of God had not been fulfilled. At the end of this period, during which all hostilities were to be remain suspended, war was to be resumed against such avowed enemies of Islam as had themselves started hostilities and repeatedly broken their promised and treaties.

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by NeSCio: *
- what makes a month Holy? in what aspects does it differ from other months?

  • why the time frame of a month? Why not take a week as Holy? Why not a quarter of a year? or a year in a decennium?

  • how about the holiness of which month on Mars? (keeping in mind the universality of Islam)
    [/QUOTE]
    Your continuing fascination with months on Mars is very interesting. Is there a way we can chain you to a chair, so you can work on all such queries and come out with honest answers? :)

:smack:

Bhai Faisal: IF word “sacred” used in Quran is not enough to understand, then nothing will suffice.. Just leave it the way it is :slight_smile:

^i do not deny the being of sacred....more clearly, I'm wondering about the sacredness of the month...in other words: which month? according to which calendar?? clearly if this specific month is a sacred period then there should be a precise way of determining the beginning and ending of the month, and not the very inaccurate way which is often used.

Moharram is a sacred month. whether it was b4 the prophet Mohammad (pbuh) or after the shahadat of Imam Hussain (as).

so are you saying the Killing of Imam hussain has no significance to you?

just to tell you, the significance of Imam hussain in the words of the Prophet (pbuh) and some historians are:

HASAN AND HUSAYN

Islamic tradition has preserved numerous anecdotes depicting the tender care and love which the Prophet showed Hasan and Husayn. They were both born in Medina, and thus knew the Prophet only as children. It is therefore with the intimacy and love of a grandfather that the early life of the two Imams is coloured. Once more, these family anecdotes also reflect clearly the theological and political tension within the community, a tension which largely centered around Hasan and Husayn. One such anecdote is the following.

One day, we are told, Hasan and Husayn were lost, and their mother Fatima came to the Prophet greatly alarmed. The angel Gabriel, however, came down and told the Prophet that the two youths were asleep in an animal fold some distance away. God, the angel reassured the anxious family, had charged an angel to keep watch over them. The Prophet went to the spot and found the angel had spread his two wings: one under them and the other over them as cover. The Prophet stooped over the two children and began to kiss them until they awoke. He then carried them on his shoulders back to the city. A large crowd of Muslims followed the Prophet and his two grandsons to the mosque. The Prophet then addressed the assembled people and said: ‘O Muslims, shall I inform you of those who have the best grandfather and grandmother of humankind?’ ‘Yes, O Apostle of God’, they all replied. ‘They are Hasan and Husayn’, he said. ‘Their grandfather is the Apostle of God, the seal of the Messengers, and their grandmother is Khadija, daughter of Khuwaylid, mistress of the women of Paradise.’ The Prophet then declared Hasan and Husayn to have the best maternal uncle and aunt: Jafar and Umm Hani’, son and daughter of Abu Talib. Their maternal uncle and aunt were likewise the best of all uncles and aunts: they were al-Qasim, son of the Messenger of God, and Zaynab, daughter of the Apostle of God. **The Prophet concluded: 'O God, you know that Hasan and Husayn shall be in Paradise, their uncles and aunt shall be in Paradise, and those who love them shall be in Paradise, while those who hate them shall be in the Fire." ** Al-Fayruzabadi, III, 187. - this tells us where yazid and his soldiers are for sure, and those who support them.

Abu Hurayra, the famous hadith transmitter, related that often when they prayed behind the Messenger of God Hasan and Husayn would jump on his back while he was prostrate in prayer. When he lifted his head, he would move them gently and place them beside him.

One evening, after prayers, Abu Hurayra offered to take the two youths home, but the Prophet wished them to stay. Soon, however, a flash of lightning illuminated the sky, and they thus walked in its light until they entered their home. Ibn Hanbal, II, 513; al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, VII, 109.
8
The friends (awliya’) of God, like the prophets, are favoured with miracles. These are not miracles proper (mu’jizat), but rather karamat (divine favours). The lightning incident was one such divine favour by means of which the Prophet wished to inform the community of the special status with which God had favoured the two Imams.

There is a unity between the Prophet and the ahl al-bayt, a unity not simply of blood, but also of the spirit. It is a unity symbolized by the kisa’ event. It is, therefore, a unity of love, as the following statement of the Prophet clearly indicates. He said, as related on the authority of Salman the Persian: ‘Whoever loves Hasan and Husayn, I love him, and whomsoever I love, God also loves, and whomsoever God loves, He shall cause him to enter into the gardens of bliss.’ Likewise he who hates Hasan and Husayn shall be consigned to the Fire, because both God and his Messenger will hate him, ‘and a terrible punishment awaits him’ . Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, p. 221

Muslim hagiographical piety extended this unity and intimacy between the Prophet and his two grandchildren to include the angels of heaven. Thus Hudhayfa, a well known companion and traditionist, reported that the Prophet said: ‘** An angel is here who never came down to earth before this night. He sought permission from his Lord to come down and greet me, and to bring me the glad tidings that Fatima is the mistress of the women of Paradise, and that Hasan and Husayn are the masters of the youths of Paradise.’** Al-Tirmidhi, II, 307

There is no doubt that the special status of the Imam Husayn in Muslim piety and devotion has in large measure been due to the Imam’s great sacrifice of family, wealth, and life itself in the way of God. Husayn’s martyrdom - his courage, steadfastness, dignity, and true devotion in times of great crisis - have inspired Muslims of all walks of life. Husayn has inspired the best poetry in all Islamic languages; even non-Muslim poets celebrated his great virtue and valour. Above all, however, the Imam Husayn’s martyrdom became a source of strength and endurance for Muslims in times of suffering, persecution and oppression. He has stood with every wronged man or woman before oppressive rulers, reproaching wrongdoers and encouraging the oppressed to persist in their struggle for freedom and dignity. The following encounter between Zayd b. Arqam, a venerable companion of the Prophet, and 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad is a living testimony to the struggle between illegitimate authority and the power of right. **When the head of the Imam Husayn was brought before him, Ibn Ziyad began to poke its teeth and lips with a stick.

Zayd protested: ‘Take away your stick! For, by God, I saw the Apostle of God often kiss these lips.’ Saying this, Zayd began to weep. Ibn Ziyad reprimanded him, saying: ‘May God cause your eyes to weep! Had it not been that you are an old and senile man, I would have cut off your head.’ Zayd then walked away, exclaiming: 'O men, you are slaves after this day. For you have slain the son of Fatima and set as amir over you the son of Marjana . By God, he shall kill the best of you and enslave the most wicked among you. Perish those who accept humiliation and shame.’ Zayd then said, ‘O Ibn Ziyad, I shall tell you something that will enrage you even more. I saw the Apostle of God seating Hasan on his left leg and Husayn on his right, and say, “O God, I commend them and the most righteous of the people of faith to your trust.” How have you dealt with the trust of the Prophet, O Ibn Ziyad?’* Ibn Hajar, p. 118.

Divine wisdom in creation can be best discerned, according to the Qur’an, in the order of nature, and in the human individual and his society. Muslim hagiography has recorded the dramatic effect the death of Husayn had on nature. Thus the famous traditionist al-Bayhaqi reported that when al-Husayn b. 'Ali was killed, the sun was so deeply eclipsed that stars were seen at midday. People feared that it was the Day of Resurrection. Abu Bakr Ahmad b Husayn b. al-Bayhaqi, Al-Sunan al-Kubra (Haydarabad, 1344), III, 337.
Nadra al-Azdiya, a woman who was contemporary with the Imam Husayn, is said to have reported: **'When al-Husayn b. ‘Ali was killed, the sky rained down blood, so that next morning we found our wells and water jugs filled with it.’ ** Ibn Hajar, p. 291.

The memory of the martyred Imam has been kept alive and nourished by the tears of the faithful who vicariously share in the tragedy of the Imam Husayn and his loved ones and friends. Here again, tradition has extended the grief displayed by the pious for the tragedy of Karbala’ to the cosmic order. **Thus al-Suyuti reports in his commentary on the verse describing God’s compassion towards the ancient martyr John son of Zachariah that 'The heavens did not weep for the death of anyone except John son of Zachariah and al-Husayn b. ‘Ali. Its redness [at sunset] is the sign of its weeping.’ ** See the commentary on 19:13 in al-Suyuti.

check this link for more about Imam Hussain. [http://www.al-islam.org/al-serat/Excellences-Ayoub.htm](more about hussain)*

you mentioned that the shadat happened much later… the prophet pbuh passed away in the year 11 AH, and Imam Hussain was killed in 61 AH, 50 years after the death of the prophet…

what happened in those 50 years that led to a person so great as hussain (not my words but derived from the saying of the prophet), one of the two ‘masters of the youth of paradise’ to be slaughtered mercilessly? We have closed our minds… we do not try to find out what happened… for fear of the truth.

people greater than imam hussain (ra) have been martyred in a more cruel manner....
why do u not take all those days as sacred????

ali bin abi talib (ra), the father of hassan and hussain, was far greater than them, but his death is not given so much importance....
even the prophet's (saw) on death is not grieved to this extent....
and all other prophets who passed before him....

birth and death of anyone on any day does not make a day or month sacred....

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by armughal: *
people greater than imam hussain (ra) have been martyred in a more cruel manner....
why do u not take all those days as sacred????

ali bin abi talib (ra), the father of hassan and hussain, was far greater than them, but his death is not given so much importance....
even the prophet's (saw) on death is not grieved to this extent....
and all other prophets who passed before him....

birth and death of anyone on any day does not make a day or month sacred....
[/QUOTE]
This special event which was remembered even before it happened by the holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Ahle Bait (AS).

Its not Hussain(AS) died. It is how he died.

Martyrdom of Hussain is the martyrdom of Ali(AS) and the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH).

Pakistan National Poet Allama Iqbal said:
Islam kay daaman main bus iss kay siwa kya hay
Eik zurb e yad ullahi, eik sujda e shabeeri

It not what happened, its how it happened. Understand the difference of “what” and “how”. Be careful don’t try to enroll your name in the enemies of Hussain(AS) even in present age.