Ashura: What a Day of Remembrance Has to Say to Us Today

A Guide for the Curious and the Sincere

Once a year, on the tenth day of the first month of the Arabian lunar calendar, millions of people around the world fast in memory of one of the greatest stories ever told — the liberation of an enslaved people from one of the most powerful rulers in human history.

That day is called Ashura (literally 'tenth' in Arabic). The story is the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, led by Moses.

This guide explains what the day marks, why God commanded it, and what it genuinely means for how we live now.

1. One God, One Tradition, Many Messengers

From the beginning of human history, God sent messengers to guide people back to a simple truth: that He alone deserves loyalty, and that His code leads to the most just and dignified way of life.

This was never about separate religions competing against each other. It was one continuous chain of guidance:

• Abraham received the foundational covenant.
• Moses received the Instruction — a complete moral and legal code for his people.
• Jesus called people back to sincerity and integrity.
• Muhammad came as the final link, completing and preserving that tradition for all of humanity.

This day of remembrance sits at the heart of that chain. It marks the moment God intervened to save the powerless from the powerful.

2. Why This Day Was Commanded

When the Prophet Muhammad arrived in the city of Madinah after his migration from Mecca, he found the Jewish community there fasting on this same day. When he asked why, they said: "This is a blessed day. On this day God saved the Israelites from their enemy, and so Moses fasted out of gratitude."

His response was direct: "We are closer to Moses than you are." He fasted, and commanded the believers to do the same.

The reason is important. The story of Moses is not only a Jewish story. It belongs to everyone who submits to the One God. The liberation of the Israelites is our inheritance too. As God says in the Final Declaration:

"Moses said: 'Pharaoh, I am a messenger from the Lord of all the Worlds... Let the Children of Israel go with me'... We drowned them in the sea and We made those who had been oppressed succeed to both the east and the west of the land that We had blessed." (Quran 7:104-137)

3. What the Exodus Was Really About

The story of Pharaoh and Moses is more than ancient history. It captures patterns that repeat in every era.

A. Tyranny Has a Pattern

Pharaoh enslaved an entire people not because he was uniquely evil, but because power without accountability always tends toward oppression. He controlled the economy, the military, and the public narrative. He made the state into a god. His story is a warning, not an anomaly.

B. Truth Must Be Spoken to Power

Moses had no army and no wealth. He walked into the most powerful court in the world with one message: let the oppressed go free. This is the function of the prophetic tradition — not to be comfortable or popular, but to be just.

C. God Stands with the Oppressed

The Almighty did not save the Israelites because of their ethnicity. He saved them because they were oppressed, because they called on Him, and because they held to their faith. Divine favour follows righteousness and justice, not bloodline or nationality.

D. Freedom Is the Beginning, Not the End

After the sea parted, the real test began. Sustained by extraordinary signs of divine care, the Israelites still wavered. Some worshipped a golden calf while Moses was receiving the Commandments. Liberation of the body must be followed by discipline of the ego. That is the ongoing work — and it is ours too.

4. What This Means for Life Today

The lessons of Moses are not abstract. They have a direct bearing on how we live, work, spend our money, and engage with the world around us.

Recognise injustice when you see it

Pharaoh's system did not announce itself as evil. It presented itself as order, stability, and national greatness. Much of the injustice we encounter today does the same. Workers paid wages they cannot live on, wealth concentrating in fewer and fewer hands, rules that protect the powerful and expose the vulnerable — these are not accidents. They are structures. Seeing them clearly is the first responsibility.

Do not blame the vulnerable

One of the oldest tools of unjust systems is to direct public anger downward rather than upward. Pharaoh's people were not encouraged to question his rule — they were encouraged to resent the Israelites. The same pattern appears today whenever economic frustration is redirected toward immigrants, minorities, or the poor. The prophetic tradition asks us to look clearly at who actually holds power, and to resist the temptation to go along with that misdirection.

Fair work and fair distribution of wealth

Moses carried clear rules about how people must be treated. The Instruction he delivered forbade exploitation and established obligations toward workers, the poor, and the stranger. These were not acts of optional charity — they were commands. A person today who runs a business, manages staff, or sets prices carries those same obligations. Honest dealing and not accumulating at the expense of others are as much a part of this tradition as the fast itself.

A foreign policy based on what is right, not just what is profitable

God did not save the Israelites because it was politically convenient. He intervened because they were being oppressed. That is the model. A community that truly follows this tradition should feel uncomfortable when governments it supports protect or arm those who oppress others — regardless of which side of the political debate that falls on.

5. How to Mark the Day

This day of remembrance is not meant to be merely a day of hunger. Here is how to give it its full meaning:

Fast with understanding. The fast is an act of gratitude — thanking God for liberation and for mercy extended to people who had no worldly power but placed their trust in Him entirely.

Tell the story. Gather your family. Walk through the Exodus. Discuss what Pharaoh represents. Talk about Moses' courage and what it still demands of us.

Ask yourself an honest question. In the story of Pharaoh and Moses, every person has to ask: which role am I closer to? Am I speaking truth, or silencing it? Am I protecting the vulnerable, or benefiting from their oppression?

6. The Final Thought

This day becomes deeply meaningful the moment you understand what it actually commemorates.

It is the anniversary of one of the clearest demonstrations in all of recorded history that God hears those who call on Him, that justice is never cancelled, and that no tyrant, however powerful, outlasts the purpose of the Almighty.

Fast with intention. Remember with clarity. And carry the tradition of Moses — your tradition — with the dignity it deserves.