يَوْمُ عَاشُورَاء
The 10th of Muharram — the day Allah parted the sea for Musa (AS) and his people, and the day the Prophet ﷺ fasted and commanded the fasting of. A single day of fasting, with the 9th added to differ from the People of the Book, that expiates the year before it.
The Prophet ﷺ found the Jews of Madinah fasting on Ashura. They told him it was the day Allah saved Musa and Bani Israel from Pharaoh. He ﷺ said: we are closer to Musa than you — and he fasted it and commanded its fast.
al-Bukhari 2004; Muslim 1130
The Prophet ﷺ said: fasting the day of Ashura — I hope from Allah that it expiates the year before it. A single day’s fast for a year’s minor sins. The Day of Arafah expiates two; the Day of Ashura, one.
Muslim 1162
The Prophet ﷺ fasted Ashura himself and commanded it before the fast of Ramadan was prescribed. When Ramadan was made obligatory, he ﷺ left Ashura to whoever wished to keep it — and he kept it himself until the year he died.
al-Bukhari 1893; Muslim 1125
Near the end of his life the Prophet ﷺ said: if I live to next year, I will fast the 9th — to differ from the People of the Book. He died before that Ashura came. The Sunnah ibn Abbas (RA) and the four Imams settled on is fasting both the 9th and the 10th, or the 10th and 11th if missed.
Muslim 1134
The day was not marked by the salaf with mourning, ritual self-harm, or extravagant feasts. It is a fast in the shape the Prophet ﷺ kept — the gratitude of a saved ummah, the seeking of expiation, the seriousness of a single day.
Consensus of the Sunni tradition
Six blocks from suhoor to iftar, with the 9th — Tasua — kept the same the day before. Clock times are illustrative; the fast runs from your local Fajr to your local Maghrib.
Set the intention the night before; eat at suhoor with what will sustain. The intention is the act — the body that is fed at this hour is the body that earns the fast that wipes the year.
al-Bukhari 1923 (suhoor blessing); Muslim 1162 (Ashura fast)
Pray the two rakah of sunnah, then the obligatory Fajr in jamaah if you can. Sit in the place of prayer making dhikr until the sun rises — the same sitting the Prophet ﷺ kept after Fajr every day, opening the fast of Ashura already in conversation with its Owner.
al-Tirmidhi 586 (graded hasan)
The day Allah parted the sea for Musa (AS) and his people, and drowned Pharaoh and his army behind them. Read from Surat Taha, Surat al-Qasas, Surat al-Aʿraf, or Surat al-Shuʿaraʾ — the long Musa passages. The whole tradition of fasting Ashura is built on the answer to Pharaoh: who is the only one to whom thanks is owed.
al-Bukhari 2004 (Prophet ﷺ said: we are closer to Musa than you)
Pray Dhuhr at its time. The afternoon of Ashura is a window for sustained dhikr, salawat, istighfar — the same shape as any voluntary fast day, only weighted by the day’s history.
Practice of the Sahabah on voluntary fast days
Pray Asr. From here to Maghrib is one of the most weighty stretches of any fast day — the Prophet ﷺ said three duas are not refused, and the fasting person at iftar is one of them. Make the duas heavy in this hour.
al-Tirmidhi 3598 (graded hasan)
Break the fast at the call to Maghrib — dates and water, then Maghrib, then a light meal. The fast of Ashura closes; the Prophet ﷺ said it expiates the year before it.
Muslim 1162; al-Bukhari 1957
Tasua and Ashura placed on your calendar from the Muharram sighting. Suhoor and iftar with their duas surfaced. The Musa passages of the Quran scheduled into the forenoon. Solah is the scaffolding for the sacred days most apps don’t even mark.