When Do Muslims Celebrate Fathers Day

Father's Day is a holiday of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on March 19 as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the United States, Father's Day was founded by Sonora Smart Dodd and celebrated on the third Sunday of June for the first time in 1910. The day is held on various dates across the world, and different regions maintain their own traditions of honoring fatherhood.

The holiday complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Mother's Day, Siblings Day, and Grandparents' Day.

In Islam, parents are given a high status, and the Quran has frequently urged the followers to honor, respect and obey them yet Muslim children would wait for the days dedicated to parents as per Western customs to celebrate such occasions as among Muslims no particular day was dedicated to celebrate and honour parents.

After the Islamic Revolution of 1979 Iran dedicated birthday of lady Fatimah, mother of Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain as Mothers Day and 13th Rajab as Fathers Day. 

The 13th day of Rajab, the 7th month of the lunar calendar, is the birthday anniversary of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib, the 1st Imam and fourth Caliph of Muslims. He was husband of Fatimah and father of Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain.

Ali is revered by Muslims for his honesty, belief, courage, knowledge, loyalty to Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), and devotion to Islam. 

He was born in Kaaba in Mecca (now Saudi Arabia), in 599 AD to Abu Talib, an uncle and guardian of Prophet Muhammad and Fatimah Bint Asad.

In Iran the birthday of Imam Ali is now an occasion to celebrate manhood.

Iranians visit their fathers to honor them and celebrate the day with gifts, flowers and cookies.

They take the opportunity to spend more time with their fathers and grandfathers, often expressing their gratitude and paying respects with flowers and gifts. Those who have lost their fathers visit their gravesites on the day to pay respects.

In Iranian culture, the day is now observed in recognition of the role of fathers in family, raising the children and society as a whole.

In addition to the religious teachings, father is one of the pillars of family in Muslim culture.

WHO IS ALI

Imam Ali, whose birthday is an occasion to celebrate manhood, is revered by Muslims for his honesty, belief, courage, knowledge, loyalty to Prophet and devotion to Islam. 

Ali is known within the Islamic tradition by a number of titles, some reflecting his personal qualities and others derived from particular episodes of his life. They include Abu al-Hasan ("Father of Hasan" [the name of his oldest son]), Abu Turab ("Father of Dust"), Murtaza ("One Who Is Chosen and Contented"), Asad Allah ("Lion of God"), Haydar ("Lion"), and--specifically among the Shi'ah--Amir al-Mu`minin ("Prince of the Faithful") and Mawlay-i Muttaqiyan ("Master of the God-Fearing"). The title Abu Turab, for example, recalls the time when, according to tradition, Prophet entered a mosque and, seeing 'Ali sleeping there full of dust, said to him, "O father of dust, get up."

Except for Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), there is no one in Islamic history about whom as much has been written as 'Ali.

Ali was born in Ka'bah in Mecca in 599 AD. Many sources record that he was the only person born in the sacred sanctuary of the Ka'bah.

'Ali was related to the Prophet through his father and mother: Abu Talib was Muhammad's uncle and became his guardian when the boy's father died, and Fatimah bint Asad acted as the Prophet's mother after his biological mother died. When 'Ali was five years old, his father became impoverished, and 'Ali was taken in and raised by Muhammad and his wife Khadijah. At age 10 'Ali became, according to tradition, the second person after Khadijah to accept Islam.

From 610 AD to 622 AD, Imam Ali spent much of his time providing for the needs of believers in Mecca, especially the poor, by distributing what he had among them and helping them with their daily chores.

On the night of the Prophet's emigration to Medina, knowing that his enemies were plotting to assassinate him, Prophet asked Ali to take his place and sleep in his bed. The Prophet then left Mecca and reached Medina safely several days later (his arrival marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar). When the plotters entered Muhammad's house with drawn daggers, they were deeply surprised to find Imam Ali.

'Ali was 22 or 23 years old when he migrated to Medina. Shortly after his arrival, (623 AD) the Prophet told 'Ali that he (the Prophet) had been ordered by God to give his daughter Fatimah to 'Ali in marriage. This union affected the entire history of Islam, for from it were born a daughter, Zaynab--who played a major role during the Umayyad period in claiming the rights of the family of the Prophet after her brother Husayn was slain in Iraq--and two sons, Hasan and Husayn. The latter two are the ancestors of those known as sharif or sayyid (meaning "noble" and "master" respectively)--that is, descendants of the Prophet and thus, in the eyes of many Muslims, legitimate heirs to leadership of the Islamic community. Hasan and Husayn also became the second and third imams of the Shi'ah (respectively) after 'Ali. Although polygyny was permitted, 'Ali did not marry another woman while Fatimah was alive, and his marriage to her possesses a special spiritual significance for all Muslims because it is seen as the marriage between the greatest saintly figures surrounding the Prophet. The Prophet, who visited his daughter nearly every day, became even closer to 'Ali, once telling him, "You are my brother in this world and the Hereafter." After Fatimah's death, 'Ali married other wives and fathered many other children.

Imam Ali took part in battles of Badr, Ohud, Khandaq, Khaybar, and many other battles that took place in the early years of Islam.

While returning to Medina from his last pilgrimage in 632 AD, the Prophet made certain statements at Ghadir Khumm about Imam Ali. According to both traditions, the Prophet said that Imam Ali was his inheritor and brother and that whoever accepted the Prophet as his mawla (master) should also accept Imam Ali as his mawla.

Imam Ali also collected all the Prophet's explanations about Qur'an verses and the reasons behind their revelation.

In the time of three caliphs- i.e. Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, and Uthman ibn Affan- Ali had no official place. But in cases, they asked him for any advice which was in the interest of the Islamic community, he did not hesitate.

When the third caliph was assassinated, people gave their allegiance to Imam Ali and he was chosen as Caliph.

During his caliphate of nearly four years and nine months, Ali followed, exactly, the way of the Prophet and began many different types of reforms. Naturally, these reforms were against the interests of certain parties that sought their own benefit.

As a result, a group of the companions made a pretext of the death of the third caliph to raise their heads in opposition and began to revolt and rebel against the Imam.

On the 19th of Ramadan in 661 AD, he was struck in the back of the head with a poisoned sword while praying in the mosque of Kufa. He passed away two days later and was buried in Najaf, Iraq.

His shrine in Najaf is one of the most important pilgrimage sites among Muslims.

Numerous short sayings of Imam Ali have become part of general Islamic culture and are quoted as aphorisms and proverbs in daily life.

In the 10th century one of the outstanding Shia scholars, Sayyid Sharif al-Radi, assembled many of Imam Ali's sermons, letters, and short sayings dealing with various subjects in the book Nahj al-Balaghah (The Path of Eloquence), which became one of the most widely read and influential books in the Islamic world.

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