ভূমিকা
Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Uprising of Ashura and Responses to Doubts What is the Ruling Regarding the Fast of ‘Ashura? There are deep and intense divisions among jurisprudents about fasting on the day of ‘Ashura. Some jurisprudents believe that it is highly recommended to fast on the day of ‘Ashura. Others say it is prohibited [ haram ] to fast on the day of ‘Ashura and some believe that fasting on the day of ‘Ashura is disapproved but not absolutely prohibited.
There are also other questions related to this issue. For example, has the fast of ‘Ashura been enacted or legalized for the sake of appeasing and being in agreement with the Jews? Was it enacted before the fast of the holy month of Ramadan and later suspended when the fast of Ramadan was enacted? Did the Holy Prophet (S) and the (as) ever fast on the day of ‘Ashura? Did Bani Umayyah put emphasis on this fast to show their happiness and pleasure?
These are some of the questions that will be discussed in this chapter. Enacting and enforcing the fast of ‘Ashura before the fast of the holy month of Ramadan Jurisprudents differ in their opinions about whether the judgement of the fast of the day of ‘Ashura was enacted before the Qur’anic verse which enacted the fast of the holy month of Ramadan and whether it was obligatory [ wajib ] to fast on that day or not.
According to certain opinions put forth by some Shi‘ah scholars and the purport of some Islamic traditions, the first possibility is that it was wajib to fast on the day of ‘Ashura before the Qur’anic verse enacting the fast of the holy month of Ramadan was revealed. Also, some Sunnis, among them Abu HHanifah, believe that it was wajib to fast on the day of ‘Ashura. The Shafi‘i sect apparently believe that it was not wajib to fast on the day of ‘Ashura.
Two opinions have been quoted from Shafi‘i and two hadith s have been quoted by Ahmad. We will now mention some of the opinions expressed by jurisprudents belonging to different sects.
Opinions put forth by Shi‘ah scholars The renowned researcher Muhaqqiq Qummi says, “What can be deduced from the wording of hadith s is that apparently the fast of the day of ‘Ashura was enacted before the fast of Ramadan and was later abandoned.”[^1] Sayyid ‘Amili writes, “There are a lot of differing opinions about fasting on the day of ‘Ashura. Was it wajib or was it not?