When is Muharram 2023? Start date of Islamic new year, what is Ashura and how it is observed in Shia Islam

The first month of the Islamic calendar, Muharram, is considered to be the second holiest month after Ramadan and one of the four sacred months of the Islamic year. This month is known for one important day, Ashura.

During this time, Muslims are encouraged to engage in increased worship and people often take time during this month to reflect on their faith and what it means to them. But when is Muharram in 2023, and how do the different sects of Islam observe Ashura?

Here’s what you need to know.

When is Muharram? 

In 2023, Muharram will begin on the evening of Wednesday 19 July and end at sundown on Thursday 17 August 2023. The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle and shifts up by 10-11 days in the Gregorian calendar.

Muharram is a month, with the first 10 days being the most important for some sects of Islam. In the Gregorian calendar, this will fall from the evening of 19 July to the evening of 29 July 2023. Ashura, will, therefore, commence on the evening of 28 July to the evening of 29 July 2023.

What is the history behind the month of Muharram? 

In Shia Islam, also known as Shi’a or Shiah Islam, Muharram is known as the Mourning of Muharram.

During the first 10 days, Shia Muslims observe a set of commemoration rituals, which take place inside the mosque. The history of Muharram surrounds the event of the Batlle of Karbala (680 AD) when the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, Hussain ibn Ali, also known as Imam Hussain, was killed by the forces of the Umayyad governor Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, on the orders of the caliph Yazid I.

Family members and companions accompanying Hussain were either killed or subjected to humiliation, and this yearly mourning, with the day of Ashura as the main date, defines the Shia communal identity.

Ashura is the date the Battle of Karbala took place, and is marked as a religious day, where fasting and mourning take place. Ashura is also the date some Muslims believe God saved Moses and his people from the Pharaoh, by parting the Red Sea.

How are Muharram and Ashura observed? 

Different Islamic sects observe Muharram and Ashura differently. Alevis, an Islamic sect who follow the teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, a Muslim mystic and saint, fast for 12 days, each day for one of the 12 Imams of Shia Islam.

Sunni Muslims observe this event as a time of remembrance and attend talks across mosques during the first 10 days of Muharram.

For Shia Muslims, mourning is more active, and title Imam Hussain ibn Ali “the Prince of Martyrs”, dubbing him a spiritual and political saviour. There are a few major rituals Muslims undertake for Muharram and Ashura, which are:

Matam

Matam is a general act of mourning, where participants congregate for a ceremonial chest beating, using one’s hands. This is done to display their devotion to Imam Hussain and to remember his suffering.

Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Imam Hussain

His shrine is located at the mosque and burial site in Karbala, Iraq. This is one of the holiest places for Shias and up to one million pilgrims visit the city annually. Some Shias believe weeping at the shrine wipes out their sins to a great extent.

Weeping

According to Shia tradition, weeping and the flow of tears provides condolences to Imam Hussain’s mother and his family, as the living relatives (mostly women and children) were not allowed to weep or lament over their family which involved Imam Hussain’s death, his family (including his two sons, a six-month-old baby martyred by an arrow/spear to his neck and another 18-year-old who took a spear to his heart) and his companions.

Processions

Starting at the mosque, Muslims will have large processions through the streets of their town and finally, come back to the mosque for other mourning rituals. The procession was a common ritual mourning dead people in Arabic states before the appearance of Islam.

Alam

The Alam is an important symbolic object - acting as an ensign of Imam Hussain in the Battle as a sign of truth and bravery.

The story of the Alam is a key component of the mourning process. During the battle of Karbala, the Alam holder was Imam Hussain’s brother Abbas.

Abbas died in battle when he went to retrieve water from the Euphrates River for the caravan’s young children who were thirsty for three days. It is said that when he started to ride back to the camp with the water, he was surprise-attacked. The children of the camp were anxiously watching the Alam from afar.

Abbas lost both of his arms in battle yet he continued to clench the water skin with his teeth, determined to bring the water back to the children. The leader of the opposition saw Abbas gaining ground and ordered more army men to attack. Archers then started bombarding Abbas with arrows which pierced the water skin, bringing him down from his horse with the Alam falling to the ground.

Nakhl Gardani

Another ritual performed - mostly on the day of Ashura, is the Nakhl Gardani. This is where a wooden coffin, as a symbolic representation of the Imam’s coffin, is carried throughout the mosque to resemble the Imam’s funeral.