Day of Ashura - A day of joy?

 (Shaykh al-Saduq’s ‘Ilal al-Shara’ie, vol 1, page 226) 

“Abdullah ibn al-Fadl al-Hashimi said: 

I said to him [i.e, Imam al-Sadiq]: ‘Oh, son of the Messenger of God, how did the ‘Amah (i.e, Sunnis) see the day of Ashura as a day of blessing?’

He [al-Sadiq] cried and then said: 

When al-Husayn, peace be upon him, was killed, the people in Sham approached Yazid, so they fabricated reports for him - for which they were rewarded with money prizes from him. 

One of what they fabricated was the matter of this day (of Ashura), and that it is a day of blessing so that the people do not see it as a day of grievance, crying, calamity and sadness but rather - day of joy, happiness, and blessings.

قال عبد الله بن الفضل الهاشمي: فقلت له يا بن رسول الله فكيف سمت العامة يوم عاشوراء، يوم بركة فبكى " ع " ثم قال: لما قتل الحسين " ع " تقرب الناس بالشام إلى يزيد فوضعوا له الاخبار وأخذوا عليه الجوائز من الأموال فكان مما وضعوا له أمر هذا اليوم وانه يوم بركة ليعدلالناس فيه من الجزع والبكاء والمصيبة والحزن إلى الفرح والسرور والتبرك والاستعداد فيه حكم الله مما بيننا وبينهم

Example of fabricated ahadith on Ashura:

Al-Hakim narrates a mursal hadith from Ibn Abbas saying: 

Whomever wears kuhl on the day of Ashura his eyes will never decompose ever

وأما الاكتحال فقد روى الحاكم فيه حديثًا مرفوعًا عن ابن عباس ” من اكتحل بالإثمد يوم عاشوراء لم ترمد عينه أبدًا 

Al-Hakim then says: 

There is no report from the Prophet encouraging kuhl on the day of Ashura - rather, it is a bid’ah innovated by the killers of al-Husayn (ra).

قال الحاكم: والاكتحال يوم عاشوراء لم ير د عن النبي فيه أثر، وهو بدعة ابتدعها قتلة الحسين رضي الله عنه.