WSID: Can I Fast on the Day of Ashura? 

1. Details about the Situation

Jawad, 23 years old, attends Muharram programs regularly at his local center. As the 10th of Muharram approaches, Jawad notices something online: many Muslims outside his community are encouraging others to fast on the day of Ashura as a virtuous act.

Later that evening, he brings it up with a friend: “Should we fast too? I don’t want to miss out on the reward.”

At the same time, Jawad knows that Ashura is a day of deep mourning for the tragedy of Karbala. He feels unsure and wonders, “Is fasting appropriate on a day of grief, like Ashura?”

2. Background

The day of Ashura holds different meanings across Muslim communities. While some traditions emphasize fasting as a recommended act, within the Shia tradition, Ashura is primarily observed as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (p) and his companions. Believers are encouraged to avoid actions that contradict the spirit of grief.

This raises an important question: Should acts typically seen as virtuous, like fasting, still be practiced when they may conflict with the spiritual tone of the day? 

3. Ruling

According to Sayyid Sistani:

In the school of Ahl al-Bayt (pbut), fasting on the day of Ashura – 10th of Muharram – is makrooh (disliked). At the same time, it is considered mustahab to refrain from eating and drinking until the afternoon of Ashura in solidarity with the thirst and suffering of Imam al-Hussain and his companions, until the tragedy reached its end and water was finally brought to the women and children of Imam Hussain (p) and his companions.

This distinction exists because treating Ashura as a celebratory fasting day may be seen as resembling the historical practice of those who marked the day with celebration rather than mourning.

Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (p) has said, “The day of Ashura is the day when Hussain son of Ali (p) was martyred along with all his companions. Should fasting be observed on such a day? Never at all! I swear upon the Lord of the Sacred House (the Kabah), such a day is not a day for fasting! That day [Ashura] is only reserved for mourning and sorrow that has been inflicted on the inhabitants of the skies and the earth altogether. It is a day of happiness and pleasure for the son of Marjanah and Ibn Ziyad’s partisans and the people of Sham” (Al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 147, hadith 7).

4. Action

Jawad reflects on this and decides not to fast with the intention of a recommended fast, but makes the intention to abstain from food and drink for a portion of the day, in solidarity with the pain and suffering of the family of the Prophet (pbut).

Instead, on the day of Ashura, he spends the day attending majlis, listening to the recounting of the tragedy of Karbala, reading the Quran and supplications, and reflecting on the sacrifice of Imam Hussain (p).