
:salam2:
fm beliefnet
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This day in particular, and this
month in general, have a number of significances for both Sunni and Shia Muslims.
Muharram is the month during which the Prophet Muhammad

emigrated from Mecca to Medina, the event which marked the
beginning of the Muslim calendar and the founding of the first Islamic city-state in Medina.
Ashura is the day that God saved
Moses and the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. The Prophet encouraged Muslims to
fast this day (and the day before) in gratitude to God, just as Moses did thousands of years before.
The
fast of Ashura is not obligatory. Nevertheless, fasting during Ashura is greatly encouraged and handsomely rewarded by God. It is significant, and fascinating, that the faithful of one major religion, Islam, perform extra acts of worship in gratitude to God for one of the most important events in the sacred history of another major world religion, Judaism.
Ashura is also important because of an event 61 years after the Prophet's migration. On the day of Ashura in the
Iraqi city of Karbala, the
grandson of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Husayn, was murdered along with 72 of his kinsmen by the army of the Muslim Caliph Yazid. This day is probably the most important day in all of Shia Islam, and Shia Muslims have been known to self-flagellate in mourning of the Imam's murder
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