Greeting address on behalf of the Grand Mufti Dr. Mustafa Hadzhi on the Day of Ashura

Dear Muslims,

The tenth day of the month of Muharram is known among the Muslims as the Day of Ashura. This is the day when the Exalted Allah saved Musa (a.s.) and his people from the Pharaoh. Muhammad (pbuh) is a successor of the prophets before him and the people from his Ummah (community) are successors of the Muslims before them, so that they respect their values as well. Muhammed (pbuh) fasted on this day and recommended the Muslims to do this, saying that fasting on this day is superior to fasting on other days, except Ramadan. In another narration (hadith) it is said that fasting on this day expiates the wrongdoings during the past year.

By following the Sunnah of Rasulullah (pbuh) the Muslims attach importance to the acts of worship on this day and along with this also follow the tradition of preparing the special dessert “ashure” which is related to Nuh (a.s.). Everything this reminds us of the messengers of the Exalted Allah as well as of the problems which they faced. From this we make our conclusions, that difficulties do not break people, but the opposite – they make them stronger. It is only enough our connection with the Exalted Allah to be at the necessary level.

May Allah accept the ibadah (acts of worship) of everyone, forgive our wrongdoings, unite our ranks and be pleased with all of us!

Dr. Mustafa Hadzhi,

Grand Mufti of the Muslims in the Republic of Bulgaria