??sh?r??
??SH?R??
??SH?R? ?, the name of the fast of the tenth day of Mu?arram (the first month of the Muslim year), which according to ancient Islamic tradition was introduced by Muhammad when he came to Yathrib-Medina in 622. It is a fast from evening to evening, i.e., a full day. Both the name and the date of the fast are evidence that Muhammad based himself on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29). Nearly a year and a half after he settled in Yathrib, however, as a result of a dispute with the Jewish community there, Muhammad abolished the ??sh?r?? and substituted for it the month-long fast of Ramadan (Koran, Sura 2:179–81). Nevertheless the instructions for this fast, both in the Koran and in Islamic tradition, show evidence of Jewish influence. Although ??sh?r?? thus ceased as a compulsory fast, the tenth of Muharram is still regarded as a most suitable day for voluntary fasting. In Shi?ite Islam this day enjoyed special historical importance as the day when ?usayn, the son of Ali, fell in the battle of Karbala? in 650. Many processions are conducted since the previous day is a fast day for Shi?ite ascetics.
bibliography:
eis; eis2; S.D. Goitein, Studies in Islamic History and Institutions (1966), 90–110.
[Haïm Z'ew Hirschberg]