Day of Ashura’a

(This is part of a Khutbah delivered a few years ago about
 forgiveness and fasting on the Day of Ashura'a)

When the Day of Judgment comes, we will without doubt all desire to steer clear from our sins and wish that we had done more good deeds that would be a cause for removal of our bad deeds.

Dear ones, of much interest to us these days should be the fasting of the 9th and the 10th of Muharram. Which will be today, and tomorrow, insha’allah. Rasul Allah (saw) said about the voluntary fasting on the Day of Ashura:

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10th Muharram Urs Mirza Jan e Jana, Delhi 1195AH/1780CE

Mirzā Mazhar Jān-i Jānān Dargha in Delhi
Mirzā Mazhar Jān-i Jānān Dargha in Delhi

Mirzā Mazhar Jān-i Jānān (Urdu: مرزا مظہر جانِ جاناں), also known by his laqab Shamsuddīn Habībullāh (1699–1781), was a renowned Naqshbandī Sufi poet of Dehli, distinguished as one the “four pillars of Urdu poetry.”He was also known to his contemporaries as the sunnītrāsh, “Sunnicizer”, for his absolute, unflinching commitment to and imitation of the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad.

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10th Muharram Urs Hazrat Imam Hussain, Karbala, Iraq 61AH/680CE

muharram-10-hussain
Hussain Shrine in Karbala

Hussain ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib was the son of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ra) (final Rashidun Caliph and first Shia Imām) and Fātimah Zahrā (daughter of Muhammad (saw) and Khadija (ra)). Hussain is an important figure in Islām as he is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt (the household of Muhammad) and Ahl al-Kisā, as well as being a Shīa Imām, and one of The Fourteen Infallibles of Shīa Twelvers.

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5th Muharram Urs Fariduddin Ganj-I Shakkar Pakpattan, Pakistan, 664AH/1265CE

Mazar

Text and pictures from the Aulia e Hind website.

His Shrine His mazar (shrine) is the pride of Pakpattan. Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia constructed his tomb. The mazar has two doors, named Noori darwaza and Bahishti darwaza. Bahishti darwaza opens once a year and during the fair thousands of people pass through it. It (door) is made of silver and floral designs are laid in gold sheet. Thousands of devotees come to visit the shrine daily from within the country and from abroad. His death anniversary is celebrated every year on the 5th of Muharram. Continue reading

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5th Muharram Urs Hazrat Fuzail bin Iyaz (87 H./705 AD)

In the Chishti silsila he is the khalifa of Hazrat Khwaja ‘Abd al-Wahid bin Zayd, who is the khalifa of Hazrat Khwaja Hasan Basri. His spiritual descendant and khalifa is Hazrat Khwaja Ibrahim Adham. I do not have a picture of his dargah (mazar) or even know where it is located. The following story about his beginnings as a highway robber is considered an excellent teaching story both for understanding his attunement and in our understanding of what it means to be given a trust. Continue reading

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