"Surely the number of months with Allah are twelve months,

by Allah’s ordinance, since the day when He created the heavens

and the earth. Of these four are sacred." (Bara’t, 9:36)

The first month of the year is the month of Muharrem and the first of the four sacred months is the month of Muharrem. May Allah most high bless my children and all Ummeti Muhammed and all humanity with faith, reason, peace and prosperity.

The tenth of Muharrem is of great importance. When the Messenger of Allah came to Medina he found the Jews of the city fasting on that day. When he asked them, they said they were celebrating the occasion of the victory of the prophet Moses over the Pharoah, when Allah most high drowned the armies of the Pharoah in the Red Sea. And the Messenger of Allah responded: "We have the right more than you to fast that day." But to distinguish the Muslims from the Jews he ordered his people to fast the day before, the ninth of Muharrem.

The ninth of Muharrem this year corresponds to Saturday, the twenty fourth of May. We, inshallah, will fast that day and gather together for fast-break and afterwards make the special prayer reported by Hadrat Ibn Abbas, r.a., which consists of four cycles, in each cycle reciting the Surah Fatiha once and the Surah Ihlas fifty-one times and, after the prayer, recite seventy salavats to the Prophet, saws.

In a Hadith reported by Ibn Abbas r.a., Resulallah, saws, says: "When you fast one day on the blessed day of Ashura, Allah most high will reward you with the fasting and praying of sixty years. You will receive rewards equal to that of a thousand martyrs, rewards equal to the blessings inhabiting the seven heavens. If someone would offer a feast of fast break to one believer he will receive the rewards as if he has fed all of Ummeti Muhammed.

"If you show love and compassion and caress the head of an orphan or a poor child, Allah will increase your level in Paradise as many as the hairs on the head of that child."

Then Hadrat Omer, r.a., asked the Prophet, saws, what was the importance of this day over other days, and the Messenger of Allah, saws, responded: "Allah most high created His Throne, His Foot Stool, His Sacred Tablet and the Pen on this day. He created Gabriel, a.s., and all the angels on that day. He created the heavens, the stars and the Earth on that day. The first rain fell on the Earth on this day. He created Adem, a.s., on that day and placed him in His Paradise and forgave his sin of eating the forbidden fruit. The prophet Abraham was born on that day and He saved him from the fire of Nemrud and saved his son, Ismael, from being sacrificed on that day. He took the prophet Idris to the heavens and cured the sickness of the prophet Ayyub on that day. He forgave the prophet David’s sin and gave his son, Solomon, his kingdom on that day.

"The Ark of Noah found the safety of dry ground on Mount Judi on that day. The prophet Moses was saved from the armies of Pharoah and the prophet Jonah came out from the belly of the whale and Jesus was taken to the heavens on that day. The end of the worlds will come on a tenth of Muharrem. If someone would take a total ablution on the day of Ashura, with the exception of the sickness which will cause his death, he will be safe from any other sickness. Whoever gives generously from what he owns to the ones in need, Allah will increase his wealth the rest of the year. Whoever celebrates this day will not feel any pain when death will come upon him."

Aba Hurairah reports that the Messenger of Allah said: "The best fast in the opinion of Allah most high, after the fast of the month of Ramadan, is fasting on the day of Ashurah in the month of Muharrem , and the best prayer, after the obligatory prayers, is the prayer on the night of the tenth of Muharrem."

Yet, that night is also a night of mourning for the Muslims because, on that night the beloved of the beloved of Allah, Hadrat Husein, r.a., was martyred in a dismal place called Kerbubela in Iraq. Briefly the incident was as follows.

After the Beloved of Allah went to his Lord, part of the Islamic territories fell under the rule of tyrants. The people of Iraq wrote many letters and sent many messengers to the beloved grand-son of the Prophet, Hadrat Husein, the son of the blessed Fatima, r.a., and Hadrat Ali, r.a., who had all passed away. They were begging him to come and save them from the tyranny of their ruler.

Those who claim that this is not a day to celebrate, but to mourn, also dare to criticize Imam Husein that he did not heed the advice of the elders in Medina not to go.

Those who love the Beloved of Allah and the ones whom he loved should know that they do not act in accordance to ordinary logic, but according to what they are ordered by Allah. For, it is not logic but Allah who guides them. Sometimes they are guided to sacrifice themselves and their beloved to be a lesson for the ones who come after them, and they go to their death knowing what will happen to them and willingly.

It is reported that when Hadrat Husein, r.a., mounted his horse to go to Kerbubela, his sister, Hadrat Zeyneb, r.a., begged him saying: "You know well what the enemies of our grandfather and our father and your brother, our uncle, did to them. Where are you going? We will be destroyed if you are destroyed." Hadrat Husein asked them to look up into the skies and Allah showed them what was going to happen to him. His daughter, Sukaynah, screamed and said: "Oh father they are tearing you apart." And he answered: "Yes, I go seeing what you see and knowing my end."

When, with the small group of his followers, he arrived to Kerbubela, where he was to meet the people of Iraq who called him to save them,, he found nobody. They had joined the enemy and he found himself surrounded They stayed where there was no water to drink and they weren’t given any water. Before the battle started, Hadrat Husein, with his thirsty baby in his arms, addressed the enemy: "Haven’t you invited us to come? Didn’t you invite us to help you? Have you no shame? Don’t you recognize us? I am the son of Hadrat Fatima, the grand-son of your Prophet, have I hurt anyone amongst you so that you seek revenge?" The response was an arrow which killed the baby in his arms. Upon that he pulled his sword. As he defended himself, any one who attacked him was smitten to death and he heard his Lord say: "Oh the beloved of My Beloved, I sent you to fall martyr and you are acting as a hero." As he heard that he fell wounded. He had seventy-three wounds on his body.

While they massacring men women and children, all members of the family of the Prophet, the accursed ones who claimed to be Muslims were saying: "Let us be quick about this or we will be late for noon prayer." Alas, to our day, this continues for profit, money, power and fame. Those who call themselves Muslims do not hesitate to kill and torture other human beings and other Muslims in the name of religion.

All blessing to Allah, there are some who still have the spirit of the sultan of martyrs, who follow the order of the beloved of Allah, "When a Muslim encounters tyranny, he should undo it with his hands. If he is unable to do so, he should try to undo it with his tongue. If he is unable to do even that, he should at least feel a deep compassion in his heart for the tyrannized and pray to Allah to save them. This last is the least of true faith."

On this day we also celebrate those who have the traces of the spirit of the beloved of the Beloved of Allah, Hadrat Husein, r.a.