Ashura, also known as Yawm Ashura is the tenth day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar. For most Muslims except Shia Muslims, Ashura marks the day that Moses and the Israelites were saved from Pharaoh by God creating a path in the Sea. The World Sunni Movement celebrates this day as National Martyrs' Day of Muslim nation under the direction of Syed Imam Hayat. For Shia Muslims, it marks the day that Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was martyred in the Battle of Karbala. Ashura is a major holy day and occasion for pilgrimage in Shia Islam, as well as a recommended but non-obligatory day of fasting in Sunni Islam.
