Seerah

F. OBJECTIVES

We have to remember that the 'ashra-e-Muharram is a very emotional period and this emotion has to be exploited by the ahle minabir to convey the message of Kerbala, to awaken a hatred against all that Yezid stood for and to rekindle a commitment to Islam as preached by the Ahlul Bayt and for which Imam Hussain laid down his life.

We can not perpetuate the illusion that aza-e-Hussain means no more than a few tears, matam and processions. These are the means and not the end. They are important only if they lead each of us becoming a better shiah than we were in the preceding year.

Imam Hussain himself advised a muslim who was claiming to be a shiah to fear Allah and not to make a false claim lest on the Day of Judgement he is raised with the liars. "Our shiah," the Imam added, "is the one whose heart is pure of malice, deception and corruption. His words and deeds are only for the pleasure of Allah."

We must during this forthcoming 'ashra-e Muharram pose this question to ourselves in all seriousness. Do we intend to make a commitment to Imam Hussain's objectives or do we wish to continue complacently in our current state, paying what can best be described a lip service to his martyrdom with demonstrative mourning only ??

While I pray that we begin, as we must, to understand the philosophy of aza-e-Hussain and make a serious commitment to the objectives of the King of Martyrs, I sincerely hope that there never comes a day when majaalis are replaced by clinical lectures devoid of all emotion ! Reason when supported by emotion has a more enduring effect, and it is for this very end that as a recompense of the rationality of the message of the Holy Prophet he is told by Allah to ask for no recompense save the love of Ahlul Bayt. Love, while being an emotional force, becomes hypocrisy if one fails to identify and follow the wishes of the loved one.

May all our Muharrams be true demonstration of our love for, and a confluence of emotion, reason and commitment to, Imam Hussain.

References:

Kitab al-Irshad by Shaykh al Mufid

The History of Tabari, the English translation, Vol. XIX

The Rising of al-Husayn by Shaykh Muhammad Mahdi Shams al-Deen

Imam Husayn, the Saviour of Islam by Maulana Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi

Al-Serat the Imam Husayn Conference Number, published by the Muhammadi Trust, July 1984.

The origins and Early Development of Shi'a Islam, by S.H.M. Jafri

Al-Tawhid, Vol. II No.1, the Editorial.

Al Tawhid, Vol. XIII, No. 3, Pages 41 to 74, reproducing the article by Martyr Murtadha Mutaharri entitled "Ashura : History and Popular Legend"

The History of Azadari published by Peermahomed Trust

The last issue of Jafferi News.

Source: al-islam.org