In addition...

In addition, the ‘Ashura of Muharram synchronized with 10th of Tishri I, the Jewish Day of Atonement – a day of fast. In that article, it was observed that the two calendars lost their synchronization when Islam, in the 9th year of Hijra, disallowed intercalation. However, on deeper consideration it transpired that that parity was lost long before the advent of Islam, because the Arabs did not follow any mathematical calculation in their intercalation.

That was why the Muharram of the 2nd year of Hijra began on 5th July, 623 C.E. (Al-Munjid, 21st ed.), months before Tishri I (which always coincides with September-October). Clearly, ‘Ashura of Muharram in that year (or, for that matter, during the Prophet’s whole life at Medina) had no significance whatsoever for the Jews. The question is: Why did they fast on that day?

Second: The Jewish Midrashic literature relates the 10th day of the 7th month (Yom Hakippurim – Day of Atonement) to the event of bringing the tablets of the Covenant from Mount Sinai, as Dr. Mishael Maswari-Caspi has written in his letter, quoted in my previous article, mentioned above. The question is: If the Jews had wanted to keep the long-lost synchronization of Tishri I and Muharram in view, how was it that they forgot to narrate this tradition to the Prophet?

Third: The month in which God delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh was Abib (i.e. Rajab), as the Bible clearly says: “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night”(4). The question is: How could the Jews transfer an event of Abib (originally coinciding with Rajab) to Muharram, in open defiance of their Torah?

Lastly, here is a point to ponder for the Muslims: The Prophet (s.a.w.a) was sent with a religion to abrogate all previous religions and shari’ah. How was it that he deigned to imitate the custom of the Jews? It is clear from above-mentioned facts that the Jews had no reason at all to fast on ‘Ashura of Muharram at that period; and this story, built on that premise, is just that – a fiction.

Obviously, it was invented by a narrator who only knew that once upon a time Muharram coincided with the Jews’ Tishri I; but was totally unaware of contemporary Jewish religion and culture.