Knowledge Every Muslim Should Know (Book One)

Muharram and Ashoora: Sunnah and Bid'ah

MUHARRAM AND ASHOORA: SUNNAH AND BID’AH

By Sharifah Zaid AlHadhrami

The first month of the Islamic calendar, also known as the Hijri calendar, has dawned upon us. Now, at the beginning of this month, it is the perfect time to ask, “What is the status of this month according to the Sunnahand the Qur’an?What are the virtues of this month?”

To start off, at the beginning of this month, most people will be greeting each other with the phrase:

كل عام وأنتم بخير

Kull a’aam wA-antum bikhair

The question is, “Is this allowed? Is greeting people for the start of the new Islamic year in this way or similar to it part of the Sunnah?

Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Salih Al-Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked, “What is the ruling on congratulating people on the occasion of the Hijri new year, and how should one reply to a person who offers congratulations?”

He replied, “If someone offers you congratulations, then respond to him, but do not initiate such greetings. This is the correct view concerning this matter. So if a person says to you, for example, ‘Happy New Year,’ then you can say, ‘May Allah make it a good and blessed year for you.’ But you should not initiate such a greeting, because I do not know of any report that the salaf (early generations of Islam) congratulated one another on the occasion of the new year, rather the salaf did not regard the first of Muharram as the first day of the new year until the caliphate of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). 

Sheikh Abd Al-Kareem Al-Khudayr said concerning offering congratulations on the occasion of the Hijri new year, “Praying for another Muslim in general terms, in phrases that are not meant as a kind of ritual on special occasions such as Eid, is acceptable, especially if what is meant by this greeting is friendship and to show a friendly face to one’s fellow Muslim.”

Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “I do not initiate the greeting, but if someone greets me I return the greeting, because responding to the greeting is obligatory. But being the first to offer congratulations is neither Sunnah nor forbidden.”

Next off, when the Hijri calendar was formed, Muharram was chosen as the starting month of the calendar due to its sacred status. Furthermore, it is one of the months referred to as sacred in the Holy Qur’an.

Allah says [Surah A-Tawbah, 9:36]:

إِنَ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِندَ اللَّهِ اثنَا عَشَرَ شَهرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَومَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرضَ مِنهَا أَربَعَةٌ حُرُم ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ القَيِّم فَلَا تَظلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنفُسَكُم

 Inna i’data Al-shuhoori i’nda Allahi ath-naa a’ashara shahran fee kitaabi Allahi yauma khalaqa A-samaawaati wA-alardha minhaa arbaa’atun hurum dhalika Al-deenu Al-qayim fala tadhlimoo feehina anfusakum

Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them, four are Sacred, (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months of the Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein.

In Al-Bukhari (2958), it is narrated the Prophet said, “…The year is twelve months, of which four are sacred—three consecutive months, Dhu Al-Qa’idah, Dhu Al-Hijjah, and Muharram, and Rajab of Mudar which comes between Jumada and Sha’ban.”