The Virtues Of Muharram | Virtue Of Fasting In Al-Muharram
Muharram is considered as the best month after Ramadhan. Attributed to Allah, this month gains honour and respect. The Prophet (PBUH) said, “The best month [after Ramadhan] is the month of Allah which you call Muharram “(An-Nasa’i, As-Sunan Al-Kubraa: 4202).
It is obvious that this sacred month is called Syahrullahil Muharram – the month of Allah as no other month is called Syahrullah other than Muharram. Literally, our Prophet (PBUH) called it Syahrullah, the month of Allah, Al-Muharram, and therefore, this is the highest honour given to this month and no other month in the Islamic calendar has been given this honour.
The second is that fasting in this month is next only to Ramadan in terms of virtue. The Prophet (PBUH) said,” The best fast after Ramadan is Allah’s month Al-Muharram” (Muslim: 1163).
In this month, Prophet (PBUH) fast regularly and Ibn Abbas reported that he never saw the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) more concerned about fasting on the day of Ashura than in the month of Muharram. The third virtue is that this month is considered as one of the sacred months. Even, many scholars considered the month of Muharram as the most sacred and severed from all of the sacred months.
Virtue Of Fasting In Al-Muharram
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The best fast after Ramadan is in the month of Allah al-Muharram .” (Narrated by Muslim, 1982)
The phrase “the month of Allah (shahr Allah)” is indicative of the veneration this month deserves, as it is attributed to Allah (in a genitive or idafah phrase). Al-Qari said: What appears to be the case is that what is meant is the entire month of al-Muharram.
But the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) never fasted any month in full apart from Ramadan. So this hadith is to be understood as meaning that it is encouraged to fast a great deal during the month of al-Muharram , not to fast the entire month.
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) fasted a great deal during Sha‘ban, and perhaps the virtue of al-Muharram was not revealed to him until the end of his life, before he was able to fast during this month. (Sharh an-Nawawi ‘ala Sahih Muslim)
