benifiting from ashura

8/14/2019 Benifiting from Ashura

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Benefiting from Ashura According to the

View of Imam Shirazi[1]

by

Karim al-Mahrus[2]

The month of Muharram is one of the months during which thepeople of pre-Islamic or pagan times prohibited fighting. Later, inthe same sacred month, our blood was spilt and our inviolabilitywas violated and our progeny and women were made captive andour tents were put to the torch and our belongings wereplundered and no inviolable thing that the Messenger of Allah hadin us remained but it was violated. The Day of Hussein has

blooded our eyes and let flow our tears and humiliated our

beloved. The land of Karbala[3]

, the land of tragedy andaffliction has made us heirs to tragedy and affliction until the lastday. So let the weepers weep over the like of Hussein, for weepingover him is a mitigation for grave sins.

These are the words of Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida[4]

(a)[5]

inwhich he depicts for us the extent of the recidivism of the

Ummayad regime and the indelible mark that the slaughter ofImam Hussein (a) left on the people of the Prophets household orhis Ahl-ul-Bayt (a). Such an immense tragedy it was and such astain on the face of Islam.

However, one of the secrets of the magnitude of the day of

Ashura[6]

lies in Imam Husseins (a) knowledge of the fate thatawaited him and the pure people, his household. He had certain

knowledge that he would be martyred and he had alluded to thison many occasions in his sermons and speeches during his exitfrom Mecca and Medina, stating clearly that he was reconcilinghimself to meeting Allah and that he was determined to expendhis lifeblood in the way of Allah and in the aid of the truth and inreviving the Islamic religion. Through this knowledge andcertainty, we can see the secret of the divine protection andconcern afforded to this uprising and we can see the greatness ofthis spirit and the correctness of his reading of the state of the

Islamic nation and government.ttp://www.shirazi.org.uk/ (1 of 11)10/27/2006 11:06:33 AM
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The Imam (a) put his hand on the pulse of both the nation andthe government and when he found that the government wasdeviating from the way of the true religion, he took hold of thenation to straighten this deviation. He (a) said:

I have not come forth out of pride or arrogance, nor to cause

corruption, nor as an oppressor, but I have come forth to seek thereform of the nation of my grandfather Muhammad. I wish toorder the good and forbid the evil and follow the way of mygrandfather and my father Ali ibn Abi Talib.

He (a) also said:

Now, I summon you to revive the features of the truth and to slayinnovation. If you answer my call then you will be guided to theways of righteousness.

He (a) also said:

And I summon you to the book of Allah and to the way of Hisprophet. If you hear what I say and follow me I will lead you tothe path of righteousness.

In the thought of the supreme religious authority (marji) GrandAyatullah Sayyid Muhammad Husseini al-Shirazi (May Allahpreserve him.), we can clearly sense today the effects of themartyrdom of Imam Hussein (a) and the extent of its influence onthe survival of the Islamic religion and in protecting it from theguiles of the enemy, all because of the historical stance that he

took and the sacrifice he made on the day of al-Taff.[7]

We can

also discern with ease from amongst these effects that the powerof government, however great and developed that might be, cannever compare with the power of the Islamic nation. The power ofgovernment is partial and is derived from the power of the Islamicnation above which there can be no power as long as the nationremains firmly upon the religion and follows it. The Imam (a),alongside his knowledge by divine will of what would happen tohim and to his family on the day of Ashura, also knew of theoutcome of events and of the future. His uprising did not only

uncover the scandals and crimes of the Umayyad regime but therettp://www.shirazi.org.uk/ (2 of 11)10/27/2006 11:06:33 AM


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was a mission behind this uprising; namely to make clear thereality of the Islamic religion and to clarify its features foreveryone. The result of the battle of Karbala was the uprooting ofthe Umayyad government despite its tyranny, influence, power,wealth and military might at a time when the society was not evenallowing itself to consider the question of overthrowing theUmayyads because of their might and despotism. The events atKarbala renewed life for Islam and corrected the religious beliefsthat had arisen due to the Umayyads fabrication of prophetictraditions or hadithand their adoption of ideas from falsephilosophies. Ideas such as predeterminism (jabr)- the idea thatmen are compelled by Allah in their actions; delegation (tafwid),and theomorphism (tajsim) - the idea that Allah has a bodily form,and others like them, which served to shore up the pillars of theirillegal regime. Hence Islam appeared once again, shining in thetrue form in which Allah had revealed it to His noble messenger(s), in the form of the madhhab or school of the Ahl-ul-Bayt (a)after being cleansed of the detritus of Ummayad falsehood.

This uprising was and remains a model for all other liberationistuprisings in the world against oppressors. This uprising was thebig bang, which prepared the way for a succession of revolutionsand motivated those involved in the struggle to defend the sacredvalues of Islam and taught them the art of combating tyranny andto be steadfast in the struggle until they achieved a life of nobilityand freedom. The nation then is a great power, and governmenthas no power if the legality of its existence has not acquired theapproval of the sacred law (shariah) and the nation. The nationmust grasp however, that for the legal government to be righteousthe nation must also be righteous. On this note, the renowned

scholar Sheikh al-Bahai[8]

says:

There is no fault in the religion of Islam itself, rather the fault liesin the Muslims themselves.

Imam Hussein (a), through his uprising, pointed out the way forthe future generations and made clear the path to solving theproblems of society and attaining the happiness of this life and thenobility of the next. When Islamic society indeed put into practicesome of these Islamic teachings it lived a life of prosperity andnobility as history witnessed in the days of Sayyid al-Murtada andSheikh al-Mufid and Allamah al-Hilli and Sheikh al-Karaki andSheikh al-Bahai and Allamah al-Majlisi (May Allah venerate their

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souls). Then society was living an honourable life without beingafflicted by any of the problems that afflict the Muslims today. Onthe contrary, it was the enemies of Islam who suffered from thesecrises since they were drowning in the seas of ignorance andbackwardness and the like.Hussein is the lantern of guidance andthe ship of salvation,as the Messenger of Allah (s) said. Thishadithor prophetic tradition depicts the world in the finest of waysin order to bring us closer to understanding the true nature andreality of this world. It likens this world to the dark depths of theocean from which there is no salvation except by means of a shipand there is no way to escape from its glooms except by a lantern.This is a splendid simile. Man in this world is in need of a lanternto light for him the way otherwise he will be lost in the darkness ofignorance and poverty and illness and will fall into the abysses andwill not be able to perceive and hence avoid the wild animals andbeasts which seek to prey on him. He is also in need of a ship,which will preserve him from drowning and perishing in theclashing depths of the seas of the world and will take him to theshores of tranquillity in safety and peace. What is it that functionsas the lantern to guide mankind in the world and the ship torescue him from its depths? It is none other than that which wasspecified by divine revelation and which was pointed to by theMessenger of Allah (s) when he said:

The people of my household are as the stars, which ever one ofthem you seek guidance from, you will be guided.

He (s) also said:

The similitude of the people of my household is as the ship ofNoah, whoever boards it will be saved, and whoever tarries behindfrom it will drown.

These two descriptors; the lantern and the ship, apply to all thefourteen impeccable personages namely; The Prophet Muhammad(s), Ali ibn Abi Talib (a), Fatima al-Zahra (a), Hassan al-Mujtaba(a), Hussein al-Shahid (a), Ali al-Sajjad (a), Muhammad al-Baqir(a), Jafar al-Sadiq (a), Musa al-Kadhim (a), Ali al-Rida (a),Muhammad al-Jawad (a), Ali al-Hadi (a), Hassan al-Askari (a),and Muhammad al-Mahdi (a). The Prophet (s) himself is the

greatest lantern and ship. Allah has said: {]O you the

Prophet, surely We have sent you as a w itness

and a bringer of glad tidings and a warner andttp://www.shirazi.org.uk/ (4 of 11)10/27/2006 11:06:33 AM


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a summoner to Allah and as an il luminatinglantern]} . Humanity, living as it is in the darknessof ignorance and drowning in the depths of chaos,confusion and anxiety, has no cure available to it ifit wants salvation other than seeking illuminationby the light of those pure people and boarding their

ship; for they are the complement to the wise book(the Quran) as the Messenger of Allah (s) has said:

I leave behind me the two weighty things; the book of Allah andmy household. As long as you adhere to these two you will nevergo astray after me ever.

This points to the fact that without adherence to the household

alongside adherence to the book there will be a resultant strayingwhich, in this world means dishonour and ignominy and in thenext world means hell and the inferno.

The month of Muharram is the month of the sorrows of the peopleof the Prophets household (a). It is the month when the religionwas renewed by the uprising of the ship of salvation and thelamp of guidance. In this sacred month, a strong Islamic nationshould derive great benefit from this uprising. The supreme

religious authority Ayatullah Muhammad al-Shirazi believes thatthe benefit of this month has been confined previously to oneaspect only; namely to the reviving of religious practises such asestablishing prayer, and paying statutory alms and tithes alongwith other acts of worship, ethical practises and etiquettes, andthe building of religious centres in the name of Hussein (a) andmosques and developing sites of religious interest as well asfeeding the poor and providing water and the like. Two otheraspects should be added to this, namely:

1. The implementation of the laws and rulings of Islam generallyand fully. At the top of which comes a system of consultativegovernment through the holding of free and fair elections to setup a government which fulfils the conditions stipulated by Islam.

Next come the freedoms that Allah has ordered in saying: {]. . .

and (for the Prophet) to relieve them from theheavy burdens and the yokes that were upon

them]} , such as the freedom to form Islamicttp://www.shirazi.org.uk/ (5 of 11)10/27/2006 11:06:33 AM


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political parties under the supervision of the Islamicreligious authorities (maraji), the freedom to trade,the freedom to manufacture, the freedom tocultivate land, the freedom to build, the freedom totravel and settle in a place, the freedom to print andpublish, the freedom of association, the freedom of

expression, and all the other freedoms conferred byIslam and mentioned in the Quran and the sunnahor traditions and deeds of the Prophet. Next comesthe abolition of taxes and customs and excise, and ofall the laws that have no basis in the Quran and thesunnahor in the consensus of scholars or reason.Then comes the institution of Islamic unity meaning

that no borders will exist between the countries ofIslam and no differences small or large will berecognised between nationalities or races. For {]

The believers are brothers]} and in the words of

Imam Hussein (a):

By my life, the Imam is none but one who rules by the book andstands up for justice and equity and follows the religion of Allah

and restrains himself for the sake of Allah.

Imam Hussein (a) explains his eternal uprising saying:

O Allah, you know that what we did was not out of competitionfor worldly power, nor were we seeking the vanities of this world,but we desired to see the features of your religion and reform inyour land and so that the oppressed of your servants might find

respite and so that your commands and laws might be carried out.2. The propagation of the message of Allah Islam - to the peopleof the world as a whole and instilling Islamic values and ideals.The month of Muharram can become an appropriate starting pointfor propagating this message and these values and ideals, whichwere embodied in the goals of Imam Hussein (a), to a thirstyhumanity. This mission can be funded through collections atgatherings and Husseiniyas, and forming bodies, which will send

missionaries to every part of the world. Benefit may be derivedttp://www.shirazi.org.uk/ (6 of 11)10/27/2006 11:06:33 AM


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from the gatherings held in remembrance of Hussein in that theystir up deep emotions in the self and the occasion they provide forintellectual direction, which has an effect in changing humanbehaviour. Speakers should concern themselves in their sermonswith showing the way to social responsibility and institutionsshould be established in every mosque and Islamic centre for thetask of fulfilling the material needs of the people according topriorities. These may be funded by donations from charitablepeople and businessmen and the wealthy. Imam Hussein (a) saidin encouraging donations and expending in the way of Allah:

Your wealth does not belong to you unless you spend it in theway of Allah. Therefore do not leave it as a store for those whocome after you, when you yourself will be held responsible for it.Know that you will not survive to make use of it and it will notremain for you, so consume it before it consumes you.

Attention and concern must be paid to Islamic institutions for theycontinue to experience two crises; quantitative and qualitative.There is a noticeable lack in the number of Islamic cultural andsocial institutions and places of worship for Muslims in the Islamicworld and for the Islamic communities in other countries. Thisquantitative lack may be filled by exploiting the occasion of Ashuraso that preachers and hosts of gatherings concern themselves withsetting up such institutions by encouraging and persuading the

people to participate in providing the means and laying the groundwork. In this way and through these gatherings, which are spreadthroughout the world, we will be able, each year, to found onehundred thousand institutions of differing types such as schools,mosques, Husseiniyas, libraries, clinics and hospitals, orphanages,radio and television stations, research institutes and newspapersand the like. After fifteen years this would probably equal thenumber of institutions the Christians have provided in Africa alonewhere they have founded one and a half million institutions.

As for the qualitative side, we must attain the necessaryadministrative and other skills to run these institutions in anorganised and lasting manner so that the cultural institutions suchas the Husseiniyas and mosques can be a source of thought andawareness including the scientific analysis of the events of Karbalaand elsewhere, and linking the past to the present and the future.Without this, society will not be able to combat the dangers thatsurround it. The intellectual level of the pulpit must be deep so

that the youth in particular can be protected from deviancy whenttp://www.shirazi.org.uk/ (7 of 11)10/27/2006 11:06:33 AM


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it raises its ugly head. Often, it is a low intellectual level that is thecause of the deviancy of the youth and takes them to prisons anddetention centres, and to the grave or exile. Hence, those whohost gatherings and administrators must exhort the preachers todeliver the best possible psychological, social, historical, doctrinal,and other analyses. The speakers best equipped to carry out thistask must be invited and their lectures must be recorded andpublished and distributed amongst the people to stir theiremotions and direct them towards the good and the right andtowards reform and so that a wealth of information is available inall fields and aspects.

Islam is a world religion for the rescue of all people from darkness.It is not the religion of one thousand million Muslims only.However, this calls for great a deal of support. Is it not a source ofregret that there are no more than one hundred Muslim

missionaries working outside Islamic countries, whereas statisticsshow that the number of Christian missionaries in Africa is tenthousand and in Asia ninety thousand all equipped with all the aidsand technology they need and whose task is to convert the Asiansand Africans to Christianity? They have succeeded in convertingtens of millions in these two continents.

If we, then, were to take the month of Muharram as a startingpoint for these three tasks, we will have fulfilled what is incumbent

upon us as far as possible, as well as bringing Muslims fromslavery to mastery and many non-Muslims from the darkness tothe light. This is in reality a world Islamic movement not merely alocal or territorial one, which has begun to adopt these threetasks. Our condition today is as that of the person yawning as heis newly awakened from a long sleep. However, this is a sign ofthe beginning of an awakening rather than a preparation for sleep.The Muslims have slept long enough so that their lands have beendivided up, their wealth plundered, their honour torn, and their

blood spilt. Illegal laws have been placed over them and chaos,ignorance, illness, poverty, enmity and sectarianism reign. Now,thanks be to Allah, they have begun to rise and they are able tomake a programme for this rising out of these threeaforementioned tasks and starting from this sacred month ofMuharram so they might reach their lofty goal if Allah wills. Amongthat which Ayatullah Shirazi strongly recommends as part of thisprogramme is:

1. The establishment of an organisation and expanding it tottp://www.shirazi.org.uk/ (8 of 11)10/27/2006 11:06:33 AM


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encompass all the lands of Islam so that communication may takeplace amongst the various wings, on the condition that thisorganisation includes free and fair elections held for exampleevery two years.

2. The founding of a supreme council for all Islamic organisationsto discuss affairs and confirm activities by majority opinion. For

Allah has said: {]And your affairs are settled bymutual consultation]} and Amir al-Muminin Ali

ibn Abi Talib (a) has said:

I adjure you by Allah to organise your affairs.

3. Creating complete awareness by alerting the nation to its pointsof weakness and strength so that the former may be eliminated

and the latter may be benefited from. This calls for millions ofbooks. The Imam (a) said:

He who has knowledge of his times cannot be taken unawares.

4. The adoption of fine morals as in Allahs words: {]You

were the best nation brought out for thepeople, enjoining the good]} like adopting

reason and critical examination, flexibility, andaffability, co-operation, sincerity, consultation, andmutual respect and the like, and {]and forbidding

the evil]} like weakness, cruelty, despotism,

sectarianism, hatred and feuding.5. The organisation should maintain links with the populace and

not become isolated from it as can be seen today in some Islamicorganisations where pride, conceit and snobbery are present aswell as the adoption of innovations and other things that willdistance them from the people and will prevent them from beingable to attract the people and will lead in the end to their failure.Imam Ali (a) said: He who acts despotically on his own opinionwill perish.Imam Hussein (a) said: You should know that theneeds that the people have of you are among the blessings ofAllah upon you.



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6. The following of jurists (fuquha) and authorities (maraji). ImamHussein (a) said:

The running of affairs and rulings are in the hands of the scholarsof Allah who are certain of that which Allah has made lawful or

unlawful.

If the organisation distances itself from the religious authorities,which have been chosen by the nation, it will fail even if theorganisation creates an authority for itself upon whatever pretextor excuse. The nation should follow the true authorities and shouldnot be fooled by falsities.

7. The recruiting of Islamic talent such as scholars, preachers andthinkers, teachers, and staff as well as infrastructure such aspublishing houses, libraries, printing presses and schools. All these

talents are important in ensuring the arrival at the desired goal,for the seas are made of raindrops and the deserts from grains ofsand!

If we make the gatherings in remembrance of Imam

Hussein (a) a starting point for building an authentic and trueIslamic nation, distinguished by the consultation of the religiousscholars and the following of their rulings, and party pluralism, and

the just rule of Islamic laws, then we will have conveyed a greatdeal to Imam Hussein (a) who sacrificed himself, his family and hiscompanions for nothing less than implementing Islam andrescuing the people. In the ziyaratof Imam Hussein (a) are thewords of the Imam (a) addressing Allah: . . . to rescue Yourservants from ignorance and the confusion of losing the way.

Then the despotic organisations in all their forms will vanish, andpower will be distributed amongst all the classes and groups

whether that be power of governing or arms or knowledge orwealth. Capabilities will appear and bear fruit and the realities ofknowledge in the fields of agriculture, manufacture, trade,education, and in the military will be become manifest. The landssnatched from Islam will be returned and their people will berescued from the claws of colonisers. All this however requires anincrease in sincerity of purpose combined with piety in the issuesof Imam Hussein (a). For Allah accepts the works of the pious as

he has said: {]Indeed Allah accepts from the



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pious]} . If we do all this, we will have participated

in explaining the goal of Imam Hussein (a) and incontinuing on the path he took.

Back to Ashura

[1]This is the translation of an article that appeared in the Arabic Kuweiti

periodical al-Menbar, issue 11 (2nd Year), April 2001, p.18. Translated by Ali

Adam, London.

[2]A researcher in the Centre for Islamic Education, London.

[3]The name Karbala is a contraction ofkarbun wa bala, an Arabic compound

name literally meaning tragedy and affliction.

[4] Imam Rida (a) (d. 818 C.E.) is the eighth Imam of Ahl-ul-Bayt.

[5](a) is an abbreviation of aleihi as-salaam meaning upon whom be peace,

which is used as a term of respect after the mention of the names of the Imams.

Similarly, (s) is an abbreviation of salla llahu aleihi wa aalihi wa sallam

meaning may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him and his family, which

is used after the mention of the name of the Prophet Muhammad for the same

reason.

[6]Ashura is the tenth day of the month of Muharram, the day on which the

slaughter took place.

[7] Al-Taff is another name for Karbala.

[8]Not to be confused with the founder of the Bahai religion.
http://www.shirazi.org.uk/ashura.htmhttp://www.shirazi.org.uk/ashura.htm

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