Muharram 2021: What Is Youm-E-Ashura? Know Date, History And Importance

Muharram 2021: According to the Islamic calendar, Muharram is the first month of the year.

Tazia of Muharram

Muharram 2021: Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. The Islamic Calendar, which is a lunar-based calendar, began in the year 622 AD when Prophet Muhammad and his companions migrated to the city of Medina from Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The Muslim community established the calendar as Prophet and his disciples migrated to Medina the event being called Hijrah. 

Significance Of Muharram

Muharram in Arabic means "not permitted" or "forbidden". According to the Sunni Muslim sect, Muharram is one of the four holy months of the Islamic calendar when fighting is forbidden.

According to the English calendar of the year 2021, the new Islamic year can start on August 9 when the moon is sighted. This Islamic year will be 1443 Hijri.

Yaum-E-Ashura 

The tenth day of Muharram is known as Yaum-E-Ashura, celebrated by Sunni and Shia sects. It is expected to take place on August 19 in 2021, but it will depend on when the first date of the month is announced.

The new month is announced when the new moon appears. If the moon is not visible due to bad weather, then the month is considered to be of 30 days. Muslims look for a new moon on the 29th day of the lunar cycle. 

People from both Sunni and Shia communities in Asia organise special events during Muharram. In the first ten days of the month of Muharram, Muslims remember the martyrdom of Hussein-ibn-Ali, the grandson of the Prophet, and mourn his death. 

Shia Muslims commemorate Hussein-ibn-Ali's martyrdom in the battle of Karbala and mourn on this occasion. During Muharram, Shia Muslims also propagate Hussein's message of humanity.

On the tenth day of Muharram, Ashura, Imam Hussein Ibn Ali, Prophet's grandson, was martyred with his family and 72 companions in Karbala after being kept hungry for over 3 days. Shia Muslims formally mourn during this time.

In some places, free food is distributed to people from the 9th to the 11th of the new month, known as Tabarruk. Apart from that, some Muslims go to Karbala and remember the martyrdom of Hussein-ibn-Ali.