Day of Ashura 2026: The Complete Guide to Fasting & Its Virtues

The 10th of Muharram — the day of fasting and reflection

The Day of Ashura — the 10th of Muharram — is the most spiritually significant day of the first Islamic (Hijiri) month. The Prophet ﷺ fasted it himself and urged Muslims to fast it.

What the Day of Ashura is

Ashura literally means "the tenth" — the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic (Hijiri) year. Indeed, that day is one of the most ancient days of worship in the monotheistic tradition. The Prophet ﷺ found that the Jewish community in Madinah fasted on this day. They observed it to commemorate Allah's deliverance of Musa ﷺ and the children of Israil from the Pharaoh. He said: "We have more right to Musa than you do," and so he urged Muslims to fast during that day (Bukhari 2004).

The connection to Musa ﷺ is foundational. The blessed day commemorates one of the great prophetic deliverances. These include the parting of the sea and the destruction of the Pharaoh's army. It commemorates the survival of the monotheist Israelite community. As a result, Muslims who fast on it connect themselves to the prophetic line that runs from Ibrahim and Musa to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

The Sunnah practice for fasting Ashura

The full Sunnah is to fast on two days — either the on 9th and 10th, or on the 10th and 11th. This way, Muslim observance stays distinct from earlier Jewish observance. In his final year, the Prophet ﷺ said: "If I live until next year, I will fast on the ninth" (Muslim 1134). However, he died before that following Muharram. Therefore scholars record his intention as the Sunnah recommendation to fast two days.

Practical recommendations:

• Best: fast both on the 9th and on the 10th of Muharram

• Acceptable: fast both on the 10th and on the 11th

• Minimum: fast just on the 10th

The reward for fasting on the Day of Ashura

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Fasting on the tenth of Al-Muharram expiates the sins of the past year" (Muslim 1162). In other words, one day of voluntary fasting expiates the sins of one full year. Indeed, the reward is exceptional. It is within reach for virtually any healthy adult Muslim. Often that lunar month falls in the cool British autumn or winter months. Therefore, a single day of fasting is well within reach.

Why Musa ﷺ specifically — and not other prophetic deliverances?

A natural question arises here. Allah saved many prophets from destruction. For example, He saved Nuh ﷺ and his followers from the flood. Allah saved Ibrahim ﷺ from the fire. So why does this day tie specifically to the deliverance of Musa ﷺ?

The answer is a matter of evidence. The authentic Sunnah firmly establishes the link between the Day and the salvation of Musa ﷺ. In fact, the Prophet ﷺ confirmed it directly. The dates of the other deliverances, by contrast, rest on no sound, reliable report. Indeed, no one can date them precisely at all. Some narrations do place all these great events on the tenth of Muharram together. However, classical scholars judged the strongest of them unreliable, and the most detailed a fabrication. So Muslims fast the Day of Ashura for the one deliverance that Allah and His Messenger ﷺ confirmed. They do not build worship on what no one can authenticate.

Therefore this reflects a core principle of Islam. Worship rests on what scholars firmly establish, not on stories whose origins no one can verify.

Ashura in the authentic hadiths

The virtue of this day rests on no weak or doubtful reports. Instead, it rests on some of the most rigorously authenticated narrations in Islam, which Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhari and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim record.

Abdullah ibn ʿAbbas (may Allah please them both) described the Prophet's ﷺ keenness on it. He said he never saw the Prophet ﷺ so keen to seek the virtue of any single day. The only exceptions were Ashura and the month of Ramadan (Bukhari 2006, Muslim 1132).

Moreover, the Prophet ﷺ called people to it even mid-morning. Salama ibn al-Akwaʿ (may Allah please him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ ordered a man to announce to the people: "Whoever has eaten, let him complete the rest of his day fasting; and whoever has not eaten, let him fast — for today is Ashura" (Bukhari 2007, Muslim 1135).

Later, Allah made fasting Ramadan obligatory, and so the obligation of this blessed day ended. Yet its merit remained. ʿAisha (may Allah please her) reported that Muslims fasted that day before Ramadan. After Allah prescribed Ramadan, whoever wished fasted it and whoever wished left it (Bukhari 2002, Muslim 1125). Muawyya (may Allah please him) also heard the Prophet ﷺ say on this day: "Allah has not prescribed its fasting upon you, and I am fasting; so whoever wishes may fast, and whoever wishes may not" (Bukhari 2003, Muslim 1129).

Taken together, these authentic hadiths show a clear picture. That blessed Day is a beloved, voluntary fast. The Prophet ﷺ himself observed it, encouraged it, and held it dear until the end of his life.

How British Muslim families should mark Ashura

• Fast the day — two days if possible (9th and 10th, or 10th and 11th), the 10th at minimum.

• Reflect on the deliverance of Musa ﷺ — read the relevant passages in Surah Al-Araf and Surah Ṭaha with your children.

• Increase Quran recitation and dua. Muharram is one of the four sacred months, and so that day stands as its most significant day.

• Give in charity — classical scholars associate Muharram with giving charity.

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