By Babatunde Jose
“The Battle of Karbala is essentially what ended the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and that is what Shia Muslims mourn on Ashura.”
Ashura is a Muslim holiday that’s observed on the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Last Sunday 6th July was also 10th Muharam: Day of Ashura, celebrated all over the Muslim world. But it’s a holiday with varied significance for the two sects of Islam.
Sunni Muslims have celebrated this ever since the Prophet Muhammad arrived in Medina with his followers on Ashura and saw Jewish people fasting in honor of Moses’ victory. So, Muhammad (SAW) turned to his followers and told them: “You (Muslims) have more right to celebrate Moses’ victory than they have, so observe the fast on this day.” Why, was never revealed, despite the historical fact that Moses was first and foremost a Hebrew prophet.
Moses freeing the Israelites is one of many events that are revered by all followers of the three Abrahamic religions – Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike. Shia Muslims also commemorate this event on Ashura but, for them, there is a second thing of great significance that also happened on Ashura – the murder of Imam Husayn, the Prophet’s (SAW) grandson.
For Shia Muslims, who comprise roughly 15 percent of the world’s Muslim population, Ashura is the most solemn and significant date on the calendar, a day to mourn and remember the martyrdom of Husayn, in 680 C.E.
For Sunni Muslims, who represent the majority of Muslims worldwide, Ashura is a New Year’s celebration that also commemorates miraculous events from the Quran (and the Hebrew Bible), such as Moses parting the Red Sea and Noah landing the Ark on dry land.
There was a split among Muslims — collectively called the ummah — between those who believed that a descendent of Muhammad should rightfully take the prophet’s place as leader, and those who thought that the community should choose its next leader.
While for Sunni Muslims, Ashura is a day of fasting and celebration, for Shia Muslims it’s also a day of mourning. But, contrary to popular belief, Ashura doesn’t mark the start of the Sunni-Shia divide. Instead, that technically started on the day of the Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632 AD – 22 years after the birth of Islam.
By the time of his death, Muhammad (SAW) had managed to consolidate power throughout the Arabic world. As often happens with other huge and rapidly-established kingdoms or empires, however (e.g. Macedonia, Mongolia, etc.), the moment this new realm’s leader passes away, a succession crisis sets in.
Two people, in particular, were seen as the main candidates to be Muhammad’s successor. Abu Bakr, a close companion of the Prophet (SAW) was seen by a large portion of Muhammad’s followers as his ideal successor. The second name was that of Ali ibn Abi Talib – Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin.
Ali’s followers backed him not only because they believed he’d be a good choice but especially because he was the Prophet’s blood relative. Ali’s followers dubbed themselves Shi’atu Ali or “Partisans of Ali” or just Shia, for short. They believed that Muhammad (SAW) wasn’t merely a prophet of the Lord but that his bloodline was divine and only someone related to him could ever be a rightful caliph.
Unfortunately for the Partisans of Ali, the supporters of Abu Bakr were more numerous and politically influential and they seated Abu Bakr as Muhammad’s successor and caliph of the young Islamic community. His supporters adopted the term Sunni from the Arabic word sunna or “Way” because they strived to follow Muhammad’s religious ways and principles, not his bloodline.
This key event in 632 AD was the beginning of the Sunni-Shia divide but it’s not what, Shia Muslims are mourning on Ashura.
First, in 656 AD Ali managed to become caliph himself after Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman who died in June 656 AD. He only ruled for 5 years, before he was assassinated on 28th January 661, while praying in the Mosque of Kufa.
From there, the still young and tension-filled caliphate passed to the Umayyad dynasty of Damascus, and from them – to the Abbasids of Baghdad. Shias rejected both of those dynasties as “illegitimate”, of course, and confrontations between the Partisans of Ali and their Sunni leaders continued to escalate.
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 CE) was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of prophet Muhammad (SAW), and an Alid (the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muhammad’s daughter Fatima), as well as a younger brother of Hasan ibn Ali.
Husayn is regarded as the third Imam in Shia Islam after his brother, Hasan, and before his son, Ali al-Sajjad. Husayn is a prominent member of the Ahl al-Bayt and is also considered to be a member of the Ahl al-Kisa and a participant in the ‘event of the mubahala’. Muhammad (SAW) described him and his brother, Hasan, as the leaders of the youth of paradise.
During the caliphate of Ali, Husayn accompanied him in wars. After the assassination of Ali, he obeyed his brother in recognizing the Hasan–Mu’awiya I treaty, despite it being suggested to do otherwise. In the nine-year period between Hasan’s abdication in AH 41 (660) and his death in AH 49 or 50 (669 or 670), Hasan and Husayn retreated to Medina, trying to keep aloof from political involvement for or against Mu’awiya I.
After the death of Hasan, when Iraqis turned to Husayn, concerning an uprising, Husayn instructed them to wait as long as Mu’awiya was alive due to Hasan’s peace treaty with him. Prior to his death, Mu’awiya appointed his son Yazid as his successor, contrary to the Hasan–Mu’awiya treaty.
When Mu’awiya I died in 680, Yazid demanded that Husayn pledge allegiance to him. Husayn refused to do so. As a consequence, he left Medina, his hometown, to take refuge in Mecca in AH 60 (679). There, the people of Kufa asked him to be their Imam and pledged their allegiance to him.
On Husayn’s way to Kufa with a retinue of about 72 men, his caravan was intercepted by a 1,000-strong army of the caliph at some distance from Kufa. He was forced to head north and encamp in the plain of Karbala on 2 October, where a larger Umayyad army of some 4,000 or 30,000 arrived soon afterwards.
Battle of Karbala, (October 10, 680 [10th of Muḥarram, ah 61]), brief military engagement in which a small party led by al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and son of ʿAlī, the fourth caliph, was defeated and massacred by an army sent by the Umayyad caliph Yazīd I. The battle helped secure the position of the Umayyad dynasty, but among Shiʿi Muslims (followers of Ḥusayn) the 10th of Muḥarram (or ʿĀshūrāʾ) became an annual holy day of public mourning.
The Battle of Karbala galvanized the development of the Shi’at Ali into a unique religious sect with its own rituals and collective memory. It has a central place in Shi’a history, tradition, and theology, and has frequently been recounted in Shi’a literature.
The battle is commemorated during an annual ten-day period during the Islamic month of Muharram by many Muslims especially Shi’a, culminating on the tenth day of the month, known as the day of Ashura. On this day, Shi’a Muslims mourn, hold public processions, organize religious gatherings, beat their chests and in some cases self-flagellate.
Sunni Muslims likewise regard the incident as a historical tragedy; Husayn and his companions are widely regarded as martyrs by both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims
So, the Battle of Karbala is essentially what ended the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and that is what Shia Muslims mourn on Ashura.
“Ashura is an opportunity for Muslims to say, ‘This is a new year, I’m going to do better and be better,'” says Imam Abdul-Malik.
Ashura is not just a historical remembrance, it is a living legacy. It calls on Muslims to reflect: Are we willing to stand up for truth, even when it’s difficult? Are we silent in the face of injustice, or do we follow the example of Husayn (RA)? Do we fast and reflect on Allah’s blessings, like Musa (AS) and the Prophet (SAW) taught us? Ashura urges us to move beyond rituals and ask real questions about our values, our courage, and our unity as an Ummah.
Ashura offers timeless takeaways:
Faith must lead to action: Whether it’s standing up against injustice or resisting inner corruption, our Islam is meant to be lived. Change begins within: Imam Husayn (RA) didn’t wait for others to act. He led with conviction—even in isolation.
Gratitude is worship: Fasting isn’t just about hunger—it’s an act of remembering how Allah has always been with the oppressed.
Ashura is not a day of passive mourning; it is a day of active remembrance and renewal. From the shores of the Red Sea with Musa (AS) to the desert plains of Karbala with Imam Husayn (RA), it reminds us that the path of truth has always required sacrifice, sincerity, and steadfast faith.
As we fast and reflect, may we carry the spirit of Ashura into every day of our lives—living not just in remembrance of the past, but in commitment to a future shaped by faith, justice, and moral clarity.
Rabbana atina fid dunya hasanatan wa fil Aakhirati hasanatan waqina ‘adhaban-nar: “Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.” (Quran 2:201)
Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend
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