TEHRAN (IQNA) – Late Iranian scholar Ayatollah Morteza Motahari points to the elements behind some of the distortions of the event of Ashura in the past centuries.
In the second article related to Motahari’s book titled “Hamaseh Husseini” (Husseini Epic), we will briefly point to the scholar’s viewpoint about distortions of what happened in Karbala 14 centuries ago.
The holy movement of Ashura has helped to keep Islam alive and fight against the injustice faced by Muslims, especially Shias. The importance and influence of this movement have made some people, for different reasons, try to make it look irrational and unwise. We know that the enemy did this on purpose, but the friend did this out of ignorance, and the result is the same.
Professor Motahari was very upset and worried about this deviation because of his religious feelings. During his time, when there was more criticism and doubt, every group and sect wanted to find a reason to attack Islam. The demagogic account that made young people feel ashamed and embarrassed about Islam and Shiism was the distortions that they inserted into the epic battle. They turned the very thing that made people interested in Islam and encouraged them to fight against oppression and seek justice into an event that made them stagnant and weak.
The scholar, in the next step, categorizes the distortions into two groups: those that distort the appearances and those that distort the essence and purpose of the movement.
Motahari believes the latter is more dangerous because without changing the words or adding or subtracting anything, they explain and interpret the event in a way that is opposite to its real meaning.
But what has fueled these distortions? Professor Shahid mentions three factors:
1) Ignorant friends and biased enemies: This is not only for the Ashura event. Enemies always seek to distort important events. For the Ashura event, the Umayyad government tried to change the direction of Imam Hussein’s (AS) movement with some actions. For example, they introduced some elements of the movement as outsiders, or Ibn Ziyad accused Muslim bin Aqil of making sowing discord and division. Surprisingly, the enemies' efforts to distort the Ashura event did not work, and sadly, most of the distortions are from the side of the friends.
2) The habit of making myths: the same feeling of human heroism, but we should not let a sacred document be used by myth-makers.
3) Misunderstanding of Hussein's (AS) uprising: some say that the act of crying for the imam is compensation for sins and it has no other result.
“They say that Imam Hussein (AS) died so that our sins could be forgiven. Maybe they got this idea from Christianity and call Imam Hussein (AS) "the redeemer" like Christ, but this is definitely wrong and a lie, and if someone says this on purpose while fasting in Ramadan, I swear by God, their fast is not valid. Because it is a lie against Imam Hussein (AS).”
Another distortion is that they say: "The Imam had a special order. He was told to go and sacrifice himself. So this does not concern you and us; that is, we cannot follow him. It is not related to the general orders of Islam, which are common and universal. How different is this speech from the speech of Imam Hussein’s words?
“Imam Hussein (AS) shouted that the reasons and motives of his uprising are issues that are in line with the general principles of Islam; issues such as solving social problems of the Islamic community, and enjoining the good and forbidding evil. And it was for these holy purposes that the Imams (peace be upon them) insisted that the mourning of Imam Hussein (AS) should be kept alive; That is, they wanted these goals and slogans to last.”
"Hussein bin Ali, peace be upon him, established the practical school of Islam. He is a practical example of Islamic uprisings. They wanted Hussein's school to last and that Hussein would appear once a year with his sweet, noble and heroic calls and shout: "Do you not see that the truth is not followed and falsehood not discouraged? The faithful must certainly desire to meet his Lord righteously." They wanted to keep “Death with dignity is better than a life of humiliation” alive forever. They wanted to keep “To me, death is nothing but happiness, and living under tyrants nothing but living in a hell” last forever. Don't let the event of Ashura be forgotten. Your life, your life, your humanity and your dignity depend on this event. This is the approach to keeping Islam alive. So they urged you to keep Hosseini's mourning alive. And it is true. The mourning of Hussein bin Ali (AS) really has a right and great philosophy. But sadly, some people did not understand this."
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