Q. Are we allowed to hold wedding ceremonies or other parties during the month of Muharram? (A. Hussain, WORCESTER)

A. Islam urges its followers to marry as soon as possible as long as they are financially and physically able. Marriage in Islam is both a religious ordinance as well as a Prophetic Sunnah. What has been circulated regarding marriage in the month of Muharram is a baseless claim that has no any religious backing. The day of Ashura (10th of Muharram) is certainly a sad day in the history of Islam. It was on this day that the grandson of the Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam), Hadhrat Hussain (Radi Allah Anho), along with many members of his family were brutally massacred in Karbala' on the 10th day of Muharram in the year 61 of Hijrah or 680 of the Common Era. It is important to remember those tragic events and to derive lessons from them. It is also the Sunnah of the Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) to fast on the 9th and 10th days of Muharram. The Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) did fast on this day remembering Allah Taa'la's deliverance of Prophet Musa (Alay Hissalaam) and His followers from the persecution and oppression under the Pharaoh of Egypt. However, beside fasting and remembering the tragic events of Hadhrat Hussain's (Radi Allah Anho) martyrdom, there is no other mourning required on these days. There is nothing wrong in holding wedding ceremonies or any other parties on this day or in the month of Muharram as such. All days belong to Allah Taa'la and Muslims should not take any superstitions from any months or days." (ALLAH TAA'LA IS ALL KNOWING!)