However, what is reliably established from the Prophet ﷺ is that he fasted on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, instructed the people to fast it, and said, “Fasting it expiates the sins of an entire year.” 1

The Prophet ﷺ also affirmed that on that day Allah saved Moses and his people and drowned Pharaoh and his army, and it is narrated that other momentous events befell past nations on it as well. Among the honors granted to al-Ḥusayn is that Allah decreed his martyrdom on that very day.

Allah may combine within a single moment a blessing that calls for gratitude and an ordeal that calls for patience. Thus, on the seventeenth of Ramadan occurred the Battle of Badr, and on that same date took place the killing of ʿAlī …

More striking still is that Monday in the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal brought together the Prophet’s birth, his migration, and his passing.

A believing servant can, in the same span of time, be tested with favors that delight him and trials that distress him, so that he becomes both patient and thankful. How much more when similar events of one kind are spread over several occasions!

It is recommended to fast both the ninth and the tenth, but applying kohl is not recommended. Those devout people who do apply kohl on that day do not intend thereby to oppose the Prophet’s family, even though they are mistaken. Yet whoever, by that or any other act, shows hostility toward the Prophet’s household, rejoices at their calamities, or seeks healing through their misfortunes, upon him is the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people.

For the Prophet ﷺ said, “By Him in whose hand is my soul, they will not enter Paradise until they love you for my sake,” 2 when al-ʿAbbās complained to him that some of Quraysh were treating the Banū Hāshim coldly.