Muharram 2027

About Muharram

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar, and its tenth day, Ashura, marks the killing of Imam Husayn, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at Karbala in 680 CE. Shia Muslims observe it as a time of mourning, and many Sunni Muslims fast on Ashura. In 2027, Ashura is expected on Wednesday, 16 June 2027, depending on the sighting of the moon.

Muharram is often listed in holiday calendars next to Eid, and that placement causes the most common mistake people make with it. For Shia Muslims, the first ten days of Muharram are the most sorrowful of the year. The month's name in India usually refers to Ashura, the tenth day, which is a gazetted central government holiday.

What happened at Karbala?

Ashura, 10 Muharram 61 AH, corresponds to 10 October 680 CE, the day Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, was killed at Karbala in present-day Iraq. Husayn had refused to pledge allegiance to the Umayyad caliph Yazid. With a small group of family and companions, often counted as 72 men, he was surrounded by a far larger army, and for days the camp was cut off from the water of the Euphrates. On the tenth, Husayn and nearly all the men with him were killed, including his half-brother Abbas and his infant son Ali Asghar. The women and children, among them Husayn's sister Zaynab, were taken as captives to Kufa and then Damascus.

For Shia Muslims, Husayn is the third Imam, and his death is remembered as a stand for justice against tyranny, whatever the cost. Shia tradition credits Zaynab's speeches in captivity with keeping the story alive.

How do Shia and Sunni Muslims observe Muharram?

Shia and Sunni Muslims observe Muharram differently, and both practices are old and sincere.

In South Asia the lines have long been less sharp than the table suggests. Many Sunni families have historically joined Muharram processions, offered water at sabeels or made vows at taziyas, though fewer do so now than a century ago.

How is Muharram marked in India?

India's Muharram traditions are centuries old, shaped largely by the Shia courts of Awadh and the Deccan.

• Lucknow: the Bara Imambara, built by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula and finished in 1784, was begun during a famine partly to give people work. It and other imambaras of the old city hold majlis through the first ten days, and Lucknow's Urdu marsiya, the elegy poetry of Karbala, grew up under the patronage of the Awadh court.
• Hyderabad: on Ashura the Bibi-ka-Alam, a standard said to contain a fragment of the plank on which Bibi Fatima received her final ablution, is carried on an elephant from Dabeerpura through the Old City, past Charminar, to Chaderghat. The custom goes back to the Qutb Shahi kings of Golconda.
• Srinagar: the 8th Muharram procession from Guru Bazar to Dalgate was banned from 1989 and allowed again in 2023, after 34 years.
• Elsewhere: taziyas, tall replicas of Husayn's tomb made of bamboo, paper and tinsel, are carried in towns across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal and are buried or immersed at a local "Karbala" ground on Ashura.

Ashura

The tenth day of Muharram, the day of Husayn's death at Karbala

Majlis

A mourning gathering where the events of Karbala are narrated

Marsiya

An elegy for the martyrs of Karbala, especially in Urdu

Noha

A lament recited in rhythm, often with matam

Matam

Rhythmic beating of the chest in mourning

Alam

A standard representing Abbas's banner at Karbala

Taziya

A replica of Husayn's tomb carried in procession

Sabeel

A free water or sherbet stall, recalling the thirst at Karbala

When is Muharram, and why can the date shift?

Muharram begins with the sighting of the new crescent moon after the month of Dhul Hijjah, and each day begins at sunset. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, Muharram moves about eleven days earlier each year against the Gregorian calendar. Ashura falls nine days after 1 Muharram. In India, the moon may be sighted a day later than in the Gulf, so the Indian date can differ by a day from Saudi Arabia's, and the government's holiday date is sometimes revised at short notice.

What should you say to someone observing Muharram?

For Shia friends, colleagues and neighbours, what fits is condolence. The traditional Shia phrase is *A'zam Allahu ujurana wa ujurakum bi musabina bil-Husayn*, "May God make great our reward and yours for our grief over Husayn". Many people in India simply say "My condolences on Ashura" or "Remembering Imam Husayn with you". If a colleague is attending majlis every night of the first ten days, flexibility with late meetings is kinder than any message.

For other dates in the Islamic year, see Eid al-Adha, which falls about three weeks before Muharram begins, and Ramadan. For wording at other times of loss, see our page on condolence messages.

How to wish someone on Muharram

Muharram is not a festival for Shia Muslims, and "Happy Muharram" can hurt. The right message is condolence and remembrance of Imam Husayn's sacrifice, or a simple prayer for peace. For Sunni friends who treat 1 Muharram as the Islamic New Year, a quiet wish for a blessed year is acceptable, but keep it low-key and avoid anything festive around Ashura.

Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.

Language tip: English, Hindi + recipient language.

When is Muharram in 2026 and 2027?

Muharram is set by the Islamic lunar calendar, so it falls on a different date each year. In 2027 it falls 10 days earlier than in 2026.

Frequently asked questions