ʿĀshūrāʾ (Sunnism) - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
General Material Designation
[Article]
First Statement of Responsibility
Reid, Megan H.
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.
Leiden
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Brill
GENERAL NOTES
Text of Note
(2,955 words)
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
The holy day of ʿĀshūrāʾ falls on the tenth day of Muḥarram, in the Islamic calendar, and in Sunnī Islam it is observed in two distinct and sometimes separate ways. First, it is the occasion for a voluntary fast. Of the days in the Islamic calendar recommended for supererogatory fasting, ʿĀshūrāʾ is among those most strongly endorsed by legal scholars. Fasting on the day preceding it (or, according to some scholars, the day following it) is also strongly encouraged by the Sunnī legal schools. Second, since the mediaeval period, ʿĀshūrāʾ