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Muḥarram

The sacred month.
The opening of the year.

المحرم

One of the four sacred months in the Qur'an. The Prophet ﷺ called it 'the month of Allah,' and said the best fast after Ramadan is in Muḥarram — above all, the day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, when Allah delivered Mūsā and his people.

Three things to know

What the classical scholars said.

The virtue

A sacred month.

Among the four months of sanctity named in Sūrat al-Tawbah. In them, sins weigh heavier and good deeds are multiplied. The classical scholars advised intensifying worship without overburdening the soul.

The day of ʿĀshūrāʾ

The tenth.

The day Allah parted the sea for Mūsā. The Prophet ﷺ fasted it, and said: "We are closer to Mūsā than they are." To distinguish from the practice of other communities, he added the 9th as well.

The full ruling →
Passages

The story of Mūsā.

Ibn Kathīr's retelling of Mūsā and Pharaoh, the parting of the sea, and the salvation of the Children of Israel — the events Muḥarram commemorates.

Read on Mūsā →

"The best fast after Ramadan is the month of Allah — Muḥarram. And the best prayer after the obligatory one is prayer in the depths of the night."

— Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1163
A new year begins

Carry it.

Leave your email and we'll send a short Muḥarram reading — Ibn Kathīr on Mūsā, the duʿāʾ for the year ahead, and the sunnah of the ninth and tenth.

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