Despite media bias, Western people have right to authentic information on Arbaeen

By Afshin Majlesi

Mass media outlets, including news agencies, radio, television, the Internet and mobile platforms, have undoubtedly become the primary source of information for the majority of, if not all, individuals in modern societies.

Thus, they can gain a weighty influence to shape a dominant culture, perception or belief in a society by pursuing hidden agenda, which is left implicit in their discourse.

Monitoring Western media, in particular the British and the U.S. ones, in the span of the past ten years, show that they have substantially paid little attention to the Arbaeen pilgrimage, which is regarded as the world’s largest annual public gathering on earth.

From a journalistic point of view, the pilgrimage bears adequate news values including impact, magnitude and bizarreness for coverage but we simply realize that the event is underrepresented or misrepresented.

In their portrayals, you cannot realize scenes of affection, fondness, brotherhood, and hospitality that Muslims have towards each other. In return, such outlets are continuously trying to label Islam as a religion that supports violence and terrorism and portray Muslims as extremists.

Each year millions of international pilgrims, including a record numbers of Iranians, come together in Iraq’s holy city of Karbala to commemorate Arbaeen, which marks an end to the 40-day mourning period following martyrdom of the Imam Hussein (AS) and his loyal companions at the Battle of Karbala on Muharram 10 in the year 61 AH (680 CE).

Pilgrims enter the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala up to two weeks before Arbaeen that this year falls on October 19. Many arrive in Karbala after trekking about 70 kilometers northward from the holy city of Najaf in a symbolic gesture honoring the third Shia Imam.

Pilgrims are warmly greeted by the generous hospitality of the Iraqi people, who provide them with food, beverages, transport and accommodation needed for the journey.

Many believe that the event has turned into a symbol of unity between the Iraqi and Iranian nations, who both profoundly respect Imam Hussein (AS) and his moral values.

Reverting to the news coverage, it is worthy to mention that some Western media usually represent the event skillfully mixed with scenes of violence or so to cultivate prejudice, irrationality and distorted images of Islam and Muslims in the minds of addressees.

That is because mass media have potential to manipulate portrayal of any image or occurrence in order to inscribe the meaning they want in the minds of audiences. Many media experts believe that there is no finally-fixed meaning of a happening in the world and interpretation of a meaning changes from person to person, and is entirely dependent on people’s historical and cultural framework.

On one hand, mass media are granted freedom to perform. On the other, they have social responsibility towards their audiences. Western people have absolute right to gain authentic information, news and images on such a peaceful and major religious gathering. 

This is how an event more than 1,300 years ago today sparked the birth of Isis

Salim Kassam

Though Islam has little to do with the historical acts committed in its name, the preoccupation with the existence of a Caliphate is a much older phenomenon than many realise.

"Islam is misunderstood because many of us – Muslim and non-Muslim – are ignorant of Islamic history. It is this secret history that can tell us not only where Isis really come from, but why they are not going away any time soon, despite losing their territory.

For example, this Tuesday is Ashura, one of the saddest days of the calendar for the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, marking the day the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, Husayn ibn Ali, was killed during the Battle of Karbala, But few Muslims – and even fewer non-Muslims – truly understand what happened on this day over 1300 years ago. 

This was the crucial date when, just a few years after Prophet Muhammad’s death, Islam went from being practiced as a divine religion to being a tool used by a regime that, like its modern counterpart, had little interest in faith and more interest in territorial expansion and supremacism.

It was the birth of the first Isis, as a militant, brutal perversion of the religion massacred a vulnerable minority. The hijacking and abuse of Islam goes back a long way and it has been an onlgoing struggle for Muslims to isolate their faith from its often grimey historical context. This is a fact not appreciated by the majority of counter-extremism experts, meaning that much of their work is ineffective or even counter-productive, as policies and strategies are employed which target entire Muslim communities when really the pivot to violence and supremacism has always been isolated to very few marginal and radical individuals.

After 800 years of conflict between the Byzantine and Persian empires, a power vacuum had emerged, which the new empire of Islam filled. But expansionism came at a cost: the brutal Umayyad dynasty who siezed control of Islam had to eliminate all rivals, including the Prophet Muhammad’s own family. It is this injustice – and the chain of events it led to, where Imperialism in the name of Islam was unleashed on much of the civilised world – that many Muslims will mourn on Tuesday.

But this is about much more than history – it is about how, at the hands of a few self-elected strongmen, extremism and supremacism came to be a common byproduct of Islam’s interaction with the world, to the point where the two are almost indistinguishable to some. It is this blurring of the lines between faith and empire, that has led so many to wonder if Islam can peacefully exist in the modern world. It has also created powerful imagery of Islam’s “glory days”, used by extremists the world over to inspire their impressionable young recruits.

As many jump between two caricatures of Islam (that it is either an inherently violent and fascistic ideology, or that Muslims are perennially innocent victims of hatred and discrimination) we must understand that there are two Islams, both of which are very real. There is the Islam of the Umayyad dynasty and their modern ideological descendants in Wahhabism and Isis, which is a violent perversion of a harmonious faith. And there is the Islam of the vast majority of the world’s Muslims, which is an Abrahamic faith in the lineage of Judaism and Christianity.

Both Muslims and non-Muslims do the religion an injustice by confusing the faith with the historical acts committed in its name. There is a western intellectual tradition, going back to Orientalism and the idea of the “Clash of Civilisations” that primes some observers to believe that Islam is indeed an agressive, alien force. Many in the far-right seem more comfortable with the idea of being in perpetual conflict with Islam than with an acceptance of a shared Abrahamic tradition among the three major monotheistic faiths. 

At the same time, some Muslims fall into the trap of idealising their own history. Many in the diaspora prefer the self-image of being part of an ancient (albeit militaristic and unjust) empire, than an embattled minority with a range of complexities and often socio-economic disadvantages.

At the extreme end of this scale are some Islamists who believe that all the problems in the world can be solved merely by the existence of a Caliphate, regardless of its moral compass. The date 1924 (the end of the last Caliphate, the Ottoman Empire) has been immortalised by many activists who want nothing other than a return to Islamic political authority – whatever the outcome of that regime.

This idea, that the simple existence of a Caliph (however brutal or barbaric he may be) will solve all the world’s problems, is dangerous. Isis showed what happens when it is taken to its natural conclusion. 

But this ideology is not going to go away: “power at all costs” has been a belief amongst some Muslims from the time of the Umayyads and the Ashura massacre that will be commemorated on Tuesday. 

It was Yazid, the Umayyad commander, that introduced the Arabs to beheadings and the eating of one’s enemies’ vital organs – both of which are favoured tactics of Isis. And their sense of supremacism, evident in their exclusion of other tribes and sectarian minorities from power, is still alive today in some parts of the Muslim world.

Most importantly, Yazid used the Quran to justify his war crimes, and called his enemies (including Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussain) apostates.

If all this sounds familiar, it is because Isis themselves do not identify as a 21st century grouping, but rather the continuation of this war that began on the sands of Kerbala, Iraq 1339 years ago. It is a war that is far from over.

Salim Kassam is a community activist and co-founder of TheMuslimVibe.com

Art of Ashura, symbolic and epic (1)

Time and place are two concepts that seem very interconnected. Sometimes, it is the place that becomes important and sacred due to the presence of a certain person or an event. This is true about time, too. Ashura and Karbala are such concepts. We will discuss the issue in two episodes.

The event of Ashura is one of the most important events in the history of Islam and the history of mankind. Thus, it has a very rich potential for application of ritual and dramatic creativity. Artists have created beautiful works on Ashura in drama, theater, painting, poetry, song and so on. The art of Ashura is a branch of the Islamic art that started in the form of Ta'zieh (elegiac theater) in the early years and decades after the occurrence of Ashura but later on it found its way into other types of art.

In mid-12th century AH, the current form of dramatic art of Ashura was born in the form of drawings on draperies and walls of tea-houses. Then it became more common among ordinary people. Drawings on draperies, stones, glasses, walls and even vehicles became quite common.

Ashura and Moharram is undoubtedly the most effective and lasting event in the history of Shias. Ashura has been commemorated with the usage of a variety of elements in different forms of art.

What is significant in the art of Ashura is the prevalence of black color. Yet, the elements and motifs in the art of Ashura include a variety of white, red, green yellow and other colors which can be seen in decorations, flags and banners. These colors are ornamented so beautifully that they draw the attention of every viewer.

Although the mourning ceremonies of Imam Hussein are usually simple and the faithful try to be more thoughtful of the events of Ashura and Moharram, some tools are common among some age groups especially youths. Boraq is one of these tools. It consists of the head of a human and the body of a winged horse. Boraq was the name of the horse that the Prophet of Islam mounted on it and traveled by it on the night of Me'raj or ascension to the heavens. Some samples of Boraq have a tail of a peacock, too. Another tool is a bird with the head of a human. Some believe that it is a bird which nests on the tree of Tooba in paradise. It can be seen in the paintings of walls in tea-houses.

Another tool is the hand. It symbolizes the severed hand of Hazrat Abul Fazl Abbas, the valiant brother of Imam Hussein whose hands were both cut off from the arms in the heat of the battle of Ashura when he had set off to fetch water for the thirsty folks, especially children in the encampment of Imam Hussein (AS). Thus, it is common to see special metal bowls with metal hands attached to them vertically as a symbol of the sacrifice of Abbas (AS).

Another element is the peacock which can symbolize human spirit and purity of human spirit. There are other elements, as well, such as camels which symbolize the caravan of the Ahl al-Bayt before the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and after his martyrdom when the women and children were taken as captives in chains and fetters to the court of tyrants Ibn Ziyad and Yazid. There are also two cypress trees, symboyzing Tooba and Zaqqum. Tooba is the name of a tree in paradise while Zaqqum is the tree in the hell. Next time we will continue the discussion. 

How Muslim’s Imam Hussein inspired non-Muslim elites?

ARTICLE

ALWAGHT– “THINK NOT OF THOSE WHO ARE SLAIN IN GOD’S WAY AS DEAD. NAY, THEY ARE LIVING, FINDING THEIR SUSTENANCE IN THE PRESENCE OF THEIR LORD.” (QUR’AN 3:169) INDEED, THIS VERSE OF THE HOLY QUR’AN EXPLAINS THAT MARTYRDOM IN THE PATH OF GOD IS NOT EQUIVALENT TO DEATH, FOR THE BODY MAY PERISH BUT THE SOUL IS IMMORTAL.

Hussein bin Ali (Peace Be upon Him), the third Imam (infallible leader chosen by God) according to Shiite Islam, sacrificed his life and family to rectify the Islamic religion which was being distorted under the tyranny of those in power.

Imam Hussein’s small group of companions and family members (in total around 72 men and few women and children) confronted a large army of the then corrupt caliph, Yazid, in place named Krabla, Placed in today’s Iraq.

The Battle of Karbala lasted from morning to sunset on October 10, 680 (Muharram 10, 61 AH known as Ashura). The Yazid’s army under the command of Umar ibn Sa’ad martyred Imam Hussein and his companions, Including his six-month son Ali-e-Asghar, near the river of Euphrates, from which they were not allowed to get water.

The innocent infant was killed during while his mother Rabab and sister Sukaina were also present.

When water was cut off from Imam Hussein’s camp, all attempts to reach the Euphrates and return with water were to no avail. Imam Hussein’s last resort was to beseech Umar ibn Sa’ad’s army for water for the women and children. Ali-e-Asghar was extremely thirsty so Imam Hussein took him along, conceivably hoping they would show mercy at the sight of his suffering. However, Harmala, a member of Yazid’s army killed Ali el-Asghar with a three-headed arrow, according to history.

The Painting Shows Scene that Imam Hussein’s Infant Was Martyred by a Three-headed Arrow

Living in 7th century, Imam Hussein’s legacy spread after his martyrdom reaching almost every corner of the earth. Those who believed in the values of freedom and justice came to cherish and respect Imam Hussein.

Of those who were inspired by Imam Hussein’s struggle for justice is Mahatma Gandhi, preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India and spiritual icon for many. Gandhi’s first Salt Satyagrah was inspired by Imam Hussain’s resistance to the tyranny of Yazid, the caliph at the time.

He writes: “My faith is that the progress of Islam does not depend on the use of sword by its believers, but the result of the supreme sacrifice of Hussain, the great saint.”

It is notable that Imam Hussein stood in the face of his oppressors. Although he was martyred in the Battle of Karbala, his voice resonated across distances and time. His martyrdom is commemorated to this day by millions of mourners on the day of Ashura. His martyrdom is believed to symbolize the victory of sacrifice over the sword.

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Rabindranath Tagore also described Imam Hussein’s approach to the pursuit of justice as exemplary.

 “In order to keep alive justice and truth, instead of an army or weapons, success can be achieved by sacrificing lives, exactly what Imam Husain did.”

Imam Hussein’s heroic endurance has also turned heads in the Western world, particularly among historians, writers, and scholars.

Charles Dickens, the English novelist, deduces from the events of Karbala that Imam Hussein had given up everything for the sake of Islam, the religion Prophet Mohammad, his grandfather had enlightened people with.

 “If Husain had fought to quench his worldly desires…then I do not understand why his sister, wife, and children accompanied him. It stands to reason therefore, that he sacrificed purely for Islam,” Dickens writes.

Edward G. Brown, the professor of Arabic and oriental studies at the University of Cambridge, praises Imam Husain in the following passage:

“… a reminder of the blood-stained field of Kerbela, where the grandson of the Apostle of God fell at length, tortured by thirst and surrounded by the bodies of his murdered kinsmen, has been at anytime since then sufficient to evoke, even in the most lukewarm and heedless, the deepest emotions, the most frantic grief, and an exaltation of spirit before which pain, danger and death shrink to unconsidered trifles.” [A Literary History of Persia, London, 1919, p. 227]

Considered the greatest British historian of his time, Edward Gibbon said in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire that the events of Karbala that led to the beheading of the revered Imam has the power to ignite the flames of compassion even in a heart of ice.

 “In a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the death of Hosein will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader.”

Thomas Carlyle, Scottish historian and essayist, understands from the story of Karbala that the minority can be victorious over the majority.

 “The best lesson which we get from the tragedy of Karbala is that Husain and his companions were rigid believers in God. They illustrated that the numerical superiority does not count when it comes to the truth and the falsehood. The victory of Husain, despite his minority, marvels me!”

Peter J. Chelkowski, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, New York University, summarizes the events of Karbala in a few lines.

 “Hussein accepted and set out from Mecca with his family and an entourage of about seventy followers. But on the plain of Kerbela they were caught in an ambush set by the … caliph, Yazid. Though defeat was certain, Hussein refused to pay homage to him. Surrounded by a great enemy force, Hussein and his company existed without water for ten days in the burning desert of Kerbela. Finally Hussein, the adults and some male children of his family and his companions were cut to bits by the arrows and swords of Yazid’s army; his women and remaining children were taken as captives to Yazid in Damascus. The renowned historian Abu Reyhan al-Biruni states; “… then fire was set to their camp and the bodies were trampled by the hoofs of the horses; nobody in the history of the human kind has seen such atrocities.” [Ta’ziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran, New York, 1979, p. 2]

The Battle of Karbala took place in 680 A.D. Yet, millions mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein to this day. The followers of Shiite Islam have been committed to ensure the remembrance of the person who sacrificed his life so that true Islam can live, and, in this remembrance, the story of Imam Hussein has spread across the world. Those who value freedom and justice have praised Imam Hussein even though there are not enough words that could do him justice.

Why Zainab’s (SA) mandate is heavier than Hussain’s (AS)

By: Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN - Ashura was marked across the world with tremendous religious fervor this weekend. Massive processions were taken out in different countries to pay glowing tribute to the martyrs of Karbala. Mourners wore black dresses, recited soul-stirring elegies and reaffirmed their pledge to uphold the sacrosanct principles exemplified by the grandson of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) on the desert plains of Karbala more than 1400 years ago.

Ashura is over but Muharram is not. The tragedy of Karbala does not culminate with the killing of Imam Hussain and his companions. It begins after that. Imam Hussain’s (AS) mandate is over. The ‘Master of the Martyrs’ has returned to his Lord, well pleased, obliging the command of his creator in Surah Fajr.

Hussain (AS) chose death with dignity rather than life with humiliation, raising the slogan of ‘Hayhaat mina Zilla’ (never to humiliation). He gave blood to revive human values, to uproot despotism, to pave the ground for Islamic awakening and social reformation. He accomplished his task.

Zainab bint Ali’s (SA) mandate has now begun. Her ordeal has also begun. She will be paraded through the crowded marketplaces of Kufa and Shaam, manacled and chained, along with other female members and children of the holy household. Yet, she sees beauty in her ordeal. The beauty of God.

Zainab (SA) is no ordinary woman. She is the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) and Fatima bint Mohammad (SA). She is Fasihah (skillfully fluent), Balighah (intensely eloquent) and Alimah Ghayr Mu’allamah (who has knowledge without being taught).

Her mission is equally important, to reveal the truth, to unmask the tyrants, to be an eloquent tongue of her brother’s blood.

Martyrs gave blood and now survivors have to convey the message of that blood to future generations. Zainab’s (SA) mandate is heavier than her brother’s mandate. If blood has no message, it remains unspoken in history. She is well aware of her mandate and responsibilities.

As Dr. Ali Shariati reminds us, those who died committed a Hussainic act, those who remain must perform a Zainabic act. Hussain (AS) is the martyr of Karbala and Zainab (SA) is the messenger of Karbala. We have to choose either blood or the message, to be a martyr like Hussain (AS) or a messenger like Zainab (SA). Fence-sitters have no place in this revolutionary movement that has gripped hearts and minds of people for more than fourteen centuries.

The caravan Hussain (AS) led from Medina to Karbala was led by Zainab (SA) from Karbala to Syria. When the caravan halted in Kufa, Zainab (SA) courageously confronted the people of Kufa who had betrayed her brother after inviting him.

“O people of Kufa! Do you know whose heart you have burned, what blood you have shed, and what sanctity you have violated? You have done a monstrous deed, something for which the heavens are about to split asunder and so is the earth, and for which the mountains crumble. You have done something most defaced, duskiest, most horrible as much as the fill of the earth and of the sky,” said the daughter of ‘the leader of faithful’.

When the caravan reached Yazid’s court in Damascus, Zainab (SA) stood up and spoke with the valor and eloquence of her father and the indomitable spirit of her brother. Her sermon shook the foundation of Yazid’s mighty empire.

“O Yazid! I swear by Allah that I do not fear anyone except Him and do not complain to anyone but Him. You may employ your deceit and trickery, but I swear by Allah the shame and disgrace you have earned by the treatment meted out to us cannot be eradicated,” she said. The people present in the court were astonished, some were crying and some others were feeling remorseful.

Zainab (SA) carried out many responsibilities in the aftermath of Karbala. She protected the ailing son of her brother when the tents were set ablaze by the marauding soldiers of Yazid. She consoled little children like Roqayya and Sukaina when everything that belonged to them was forcibly snatched away. She led the caravan that was accompanied with the severed head of her brother perched atop a spear.

Zainab was crestfallen with grief but she stood firm because the mandate given to her was heavy. She wrote and recited marsiyas (poetic elegies) that jolted people out of their slumber and eventually led to the decline and fall of Yazidi empire. Today, nobody remembers Yazid, Ibn Ziyad, Umar Saad or Shimr. And everyone remembers Hussain, Abulfazl Abbas, Ali Akbar, Qasim, Asghar. Zainab is the savior of Karbala, who redefined patience and resilience in the face of insurmountable odds.

Zainab (SA) kept alive the movement of Karbala and inspired future generations to unmask Yazids and Ibn Ziyads of their time.

Her courage, steadfastness and resilience gives sense of hope and optimism to those who believe in the righteousness of their cause, like the women in Kashmir, women in Yemen, women in Palestine, women in Syria, women in Afghanistan. They are the flagbearers of Zainab (SA).

Last week, on Muharram 8, pictures of police personnel beating women during a Muharram procession in Indian controlled Kashmir, leading made it to newspapers and news channels across the world. Muharram processions remain banned in Kashmir since 1990, which human rights defenders have termed ‘blatant mockery of religious freedom’.

These women, part of a peaceful Muharram procession, carried banners of ‘Ya Hussain’, when they were confronted by a battalion of policemen carrying guns and sticks. The women stood their ground even when the shameless policemen started to smash them with big sticks. They reminded one of Zainab’s (SA) struggle in carrying the same flag through Kufa and Shaam.

As Dr. Shariati reminds us, it was Zainab (SA) who stood against and confronted the ruling oppressive power and who destroyed all resistance, and it was Zainab (SA) who spread the thoughts and ideas of Hussain’s (AS) school of revolution and martyrdom everywhere. She took the drops of the blood of Karbala as a symbol of courage and justice to all places and all times.

Message of Karbala

by Zeeshan Rasool Khan 

Islamic year, consisting of twelve months begins with the month of Muharram. Although all these months are significant, holding a special importance but the Quran has declared four months much sacred, which involves Zulqadah, Zulhijjah, and Rajab and the first month – Muharram. Even before the advent of Islam, it was considered as blessed owing to many historical events of great worth that took place in this month. Prophet Moses (A.s) triumphed over his rival Pharaoh and month was Muharram .It was this holy month wherein the ship of Noah (A.s) found resting place in the terrible flood. Also, in religion of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the month of Muharram acquired much sanctity. About this month, Prophet (pbuh) said; the best fasting after Ramadan is fasting in the month of Muharram (Sahih Muslim).

Later in 680 A.D, 10th Muharram turned out to be the day when beautiful flowers of Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) garden were trampled by the army of Yazeed in the battle of Karbala- that became the recognition of this month. The tragedy of Karbala has profound significance for all Muslims. It has left such an impact that even after hundreds of years it is fresh in minds of the Muslims. This tragic event has not only influenced Muslims but non-Muslims as well, for it was not the battle for gaining power or to conquest a territory. It was a clash between monarchy and Khilafat (Islamic mode of government based on consultation, selective democracy, and piety). It was a confrontation between justice and oppression and purely a courageous act of opposing falsehood, despotism, and savagery. It was the struggle where the hallowed family members of Prophet (pbuh) under the leadership of Prophet’s grandson Imam Hussein (a.s) preferred to lay down their lives rather than compromising on their scrupulous stand. Literally, they watered and rejuvenated the field of Islam with their pious blood to maintain its pristine and to provide it everlasting liveliness. Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti rightly said; ‘Haqa ke Binaye Laila ast Hussein. Hussein is the foundation of ‘There is no God but Allah’- the fundamental of Islam.

Allama Iqbal, while explaining the philosophy of this battle writes: Mudda’yash saltanat boody agar; Khud na harday ba chunin samaan e safar (Ramooz e Beykhoodi). Meaning, Imam Hussein’s only aim behind refusing to give allegiance to Yazeed was to uphold the truth and the glory of Islam. It is clear from the fact that when he left Medina for Mecca, he had a small band of his kith and kin, including sisters and children with him. Some companions were in their 80’s. If he had envisaged raging a political war, he would not have taken such people with him. As for war old men, women, and baby like 6-month old Ali-Asgar are not required, which were accompanying Imam Hussein in the battlefield.

Muslims worldwide commemorate this event in a way as if the tragedy of Karbala has occurred yesterday, which is indubitably enlivening. However, the mere commemoration of this tragedy is not enough. In fact, restricting this tragedy to remembrance and mourning is injustice to the teachings of Imam Hussein and his companions, because their sacrifice has enormous meaning. They gave a lesson to us with their blood. To defend the truth they chose to clash with the government of Yazid. They knew they could not defeat the mighty army of Yazeed, but did not tolerate any change in the Islamic principles. For holding up the head of the Ummah, Imam Hussein allowed his own head to be chopped. Thus, to express our love for martyrs of Karbala especially with the sacred reformative mission of Imam Hussein, the best way is to imbibe the message of Karbala.

The tyranny and oppression occur almost every day in different parts of the world. Almost everywhere, the people face atrocities, injustice has become the norm, and dishonesty has suppressed honesty. Morality has degraded. We have lost the ability to differentiate between good from bad. And in this situation, Karbala is issuing a clarion call to the people not to accept this system. It teaches us not be neutral or silent in situations of tyranny, oppression, and injustice, instead we ought to stand against all this. Karbala resounds even today asking us to reject any such idea that can be disadvantaging to our religion,  implicitly cautioning us to remain adhered to the teachings of Islam- a complete code of life.

May Allah grant us ability to follow teachings of Imam Hussein (A.S) and his comrades.

 Zeeshan Rasool Khan

Contemplation on the Ashura Tragedy

Heartfelt condolences to all our listeners on the anniversary of the most heart- wrenching event the world has ever seen, and which despite the passing over a millennium and three-and-a-half centuries, continues to interact with human conscience in every age and era to guide people and nations towards reforms and the quest for social justice based on dignity.

       "O Allah, exalted is Your station, great is Your power, and stupendous Your might! You have no need of the creatures, Your supremacy is all-embracing, and You have the power to do whatever You wish. Your mercy is near, Your promise is true, Your blessings are plenteous, and Your tests are beautiful…

      "I call You in the hour of my need and beseech You in the moment of my destitution! … I turn to Your help in my weakness and put my trust in You as being sufficient for me.

     "Judge between us and our people [with justice], for indeed they have dealt with us deceitfully and treacherously, forsaken us and betrayed us, and spilled our blood, though we are the progeny of Your Prophet and the offspring of Your beloved, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, whom You chose for Your apostleship and trusted with Your revelation…!"

The passages that you heard are excerpts from the famous supplication recited by Imam Husain (AS) on the day of his martyrdom in Karbala on the 10th of Muharram 61 AH (corresponding to 680 AD).

Today, a millennium, three centuries and seventy-nine years after history's most bloodcurdling tragedy the immortal saga of the grandson of the Seal of Divine Messengers, continues to be commemorated, not just in the land where he was treacherously martyred, but all over the world wherever are found the devout followers of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).

We use the term "devout followers", since devotion is the highest degree of love and affection for the Prophet's person and his God-given position, coupled with practical adherence to his way of life and teachings (that is, Sunnah/Sirah).

Moreover, without devotion, the mere claim to be a follower could be dubious, as is clear from the words of Imam Husain (AS) in the above supplication that he and the other members of the Prophet's family were the victims of the treachery and deceit – not of adherents of other creeds but of those styling themselves as Muslims.

It is an irony of Muslim history that Imam Husain (AS) – as a member of the immaculate Ahl al-Bayt whose spotless purity God has vouched in the Holy Qur'an (ayah 33 of Surah al-Ahzaab), and decreed love and affection for them as token of a believer's gratitude to the Prophet for enlightening him/her with the message of Islam (as is evident by ayah 23 of Surah Shura) – was slain on the orders of a person claiming to be the political heir of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).

Thus, although the Day of Ashura and the mourning ceremonies of Muharram and the subsequent month of Safar, might be expressions of devotional grief by the faithful and renewal of their allegiance to Imam Husain's (AS) ideals of justice and refusal to bow to tyranny, this annual commemoration definitely raises questions in the minds of conscientious non-Muslim observers.

They ask: How Yazid and the Omayyad regime climbed to the apex of power of the Islamic realm, since as late as 8 AH and the fall of Mecca (two years before the Prophet's departure from the world), Yazid's father Mua'wiyah, and grandfather, Abu Sufyan, were hardcore heathens, never missing an opportunity to strike at Islam and Muslims?

And if it is claimed that Omayyad rule was legitimate and as per the commandments of God in the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), what unpardonable offence had Imam Husain (AS) committed to deserve such a tragic death along with 18 other male members of the Prophet's family including his 6-month old infant son?

Both Muslims and non-Muslims ought to ponder on these questions. If the verdict is in favour of the righteousness of the stand of Imam Husain (AS) and against Yazid and his Omayyad hordes, then they should be true to their conscience and probe in a diligently scientific manner as to what went wrong after the passing away of the Prophet that a tragedy of such a bestial magnitude occurred in Karbala, which did not even spare the womenfolk and children of the Prophet's Household from imprisonment.

It is an irony of Islamic history that in 19 AH (640 AD) Mua'wiyah was given the governorship of the vast province of Shaam – made up of today's Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine including the illegal entity called Israel.

In the subsequent years, Mua'wiyah, who is on record as saying that every time the Muezzin recites the Prophet's name in the Azan, he feels intense hatred deep down in his heart, came out into open armed rebellion against Imam Ali (AS). He next intimidated and bribed the Iraqis to betray Imam Hasan (AS) so as to seize the caliphate in 41 AH (661 AD). Then in violation of the clauses of the treaty with the elder grandson of the Prophet – whom he martyred through a fatal dose of poison in 50 AH (670 AD) – he nominated the libertine Yazid as his successor in 60 AH.

These are the bitter realities of Muslim history that climaxed at Karbala 61 AH (680 AD), where only the sacrifice on such a grand scale by the Prophet's younger grandson could salvage Islam. It ripped off the mask of hypocrisy from the face of Yazid, for the tyrant on seeing the head of Imam Husain (AS) in a tray before him, burst out saying that he had avenged his heathen ancestors killed in the battles of Badr and Ohad, which his grandfather Abu Sufyan had imposed on the Prophet and Muslims.

It should now be clear that the killers of Imam Husain (AS) were not Jews, not Christians, not Hindus, not Zoroastrians, not Buddhists, not Shamanists, not pagans, and not atheists, but people who called themselves Muslims, and knew him very well with full knowledge that he was a paragon of virtue.

Most of them had heard – either directly, or indirectly from their elders – the Prophet's immortal phrase "Inn al-Husain Misbah al-Huda wa Safinat an-Najah", whose English rendering is: "Indeed Husain is the Beacon of Guidance and the Ark of Salvation."

For the true believers, this wasn't the doting of a middle-aged grandfather, especially when God says that His Prophet neither errs nor speaks out of desire, and it is nothing but revelation revealed – as said in ayahs 2 to 4 of Surah Najm.

Perhaps, some of the Prophet's companions, who before becoming Muslims had spent the greater part of their life worshipping idols and indulging in all sorts of cardinal sins, might not have properly gauged the words of the Seal of Divine Messengers regarding his grandson or the rest of his Immaculate Ahl al-Bayt, whose spotless purity the Holy Qur'an vouches.

If they had, Islamic history would have been spared of the greatest ever discord as a result of their violation of Divine Commandments. If they had, 50 years after the Prophet's departure, Imam Husain (AS) would not have been so tragically martyred.

Now, we understand why the Prophet used to say in such explicit words: "Husainun minni wa ana min al-Husain" (Husain is from me and I am from Husain).

We also begin to comprehend his other immortal phrase regarding his two grandsons: "al-Hasan wa'l-Husain Seyyedai Shabab ahl al-Jannah" (Hasan and Husain are the Leaders of the Youth of Paradise).

Thus, it becomes obvious to us what Imam Husain (AS) means and to whom he refers in his supplication to God (cited at the start of this programme) when he speaks of the treachery, deceit and betrayal of the Ahl al-Bayt. 

Ashura and the ziyarat we recite on this day have drawn the clearest line between truth and falsehood for the guidance of human societies. For on this day blood triumphed over naked swords to jolt human conscience and present to mankind the most endurable barometer for ascertaining one's faith.

The Day of Ashura thus freshens up our memories every year of the heroic stand of the Prophet's grandson who refused to give his hand in allegiance to a tyrant, by preferring the glory of martyrdom to an abject life under an oppressive and corrupt system. Here is a passage from the famous Ziyarah or salutation to Imam Husain (AS) on this day:

"O Aba Abdallah, your martyrdom was a great calamity and the cause of great distress for us and all followers of Islam! It was a tremendous calamity that befell the heavens and which affected all the denizens of the heavens! May Allah’s curse be on those who instituted a regime of wrongdoing and injustice against you Ahl al-Bayt! May Allah’s curse be on those who sidelined you from your rightful station and withheld from you the status that Allah had assigned you! May Allah’s curse be on those who slew you, and may His curse be on those who paved the way for them making it possible to wage war against you! Before God and you, I repudiate them, their supporters, their followers and those who befriend them!