Is Transmitting The Martyrdom of Imam Husayn On Ashura Part Of The Sunna?

Is transmitting the martyrdom of Imam Husayn on Ashura part of the sunna?

Wa `alaykum as-Salam wa rahmatullah:

No. Ashura (the tenth of Muharram) is an important and great day in Islam not because of the historical events in question but because of Divine and Prophetic stipulations that concern it as part of Muharram, the holiest month after Ramadan. To follow other than those Divinely-ordained stipulations is a distraction from the proper observance of that great day that would rob its victim blind of its benefit here and hereafter, especially compounded with the added delusion that such innovation is a pious deed.

The modality of observance of Ashura is found in the Sunna and nowhere else. And the Sunni practice on Ashura consists in fasting (an emphasized sunna that carries tremendous reward and expiation of sins); giving sadaqa (which on this day is multiplied by the days of the year); renewed generosity and kindness to one's immediate dependents; honoring and visiting the returning pilgrims to the House of Allah and asking their du'a; and visiting the Ulema and Awliya.

As for the merits of using kohl or henna, or doing ghusl on that day: it is based on false evidence and forgeries. (The report, "Whoever dyes his eyelids with kohl on the day of Ashura shall never suffer oph­thalmia for the rest of his life" is forged by agreement of al-Hakim per al-Fayruzabadi in Sifr al-Sa`ada; Ibn al-Jawzi in the Mawdu`at; Ibn Nasir al-Din in al-Lafz al-Mukarram bi-Fadli Ashura' al-Muharram; Ibn Rajab in Lata'if al-Ma`arif; al-Sakhawi in the Maqasid; al-Haytami in the Sawa`iq al-Muhriqa; and al-Qari in the Masnu`.)

Therefore, if by "transmitting the martyrdom" of our liege-lord Husayn (Allah be well-pleased with him) is meant the scholarly narration of those events by a qualified historian in a book or a gathering, this has been done by some past masters such as Ibn Abi al-Dunya, al-Baghawi, and Ibn Nasir al-Din in monographs and by al-Dhahabi and al-Suyuti as part of more extensive works, so it is part of Sunni history and education.

However, if by such transmission is meant a public discourse or a book commemorating those events for specific emotional or purportedly religious purposes then the Ulema have said that this is ignorance and the door of fitna and jahiliyya because it fosters un-Islamic expressions of mourning and divisive hatred of some of the Companions of the Prophet and other early Muslims from the centuries praised by the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, all of which is haram. Nor has such commemoration been Sunni practice at all - even for the death of the Holy Prophet, whose passing from this world is a much greater loss - whether on Ashura or any other time of the year.

As for love of Ahl al-Bayt it is an integral of Sunni belief but in a Sunni way, not a sectarian way chock-full with ill feelings fanned by fabrications. Ibn Kathir said in al-Bidaya wal-Nihaya (8:201-202):

Al-Tabarani mentioned in this chapter very strange reports indeed and the Shi`a went overboard concerning the day of Ashura, forging many hadiths that are gross lies such as the sun being eclipsed on that day until the stars appeared, no stone was lifted except blood was seen under it, the celestial region became red, the sun and its rays seemed like blood, the sky seemed like a blood clot, the stars were hurling against one another, the sky rained red blood, there was never redness in the sky before that day, and the like... among other lies and forgeries of which not one report is sound."

Success is from Allah, may He keep us on the path of His Prophet and his Companions, away from sectarianism and bad adab posing as love of Ahl al-Bayt.

Hajj Gibril