| Benefiting from Ashura |
|
| Tuesday, 15 February 2005 | |
|
Page 1 of 6 View of Imam Shirazi [1]By Karim al-Mahrus [2] Benefiting from Ashura According to the View of Imam Shirazi [1]by ‘The month of Muharram is one of the months during which the people of pre-Islamic or pagan times prohibited fighting. Later, in the same sacred month, our blood was spilt and our inviolability was violated and our progeny and women were made captive and our tents were put to the torch and our belongings were plundered and no inviolable thing that the Messenger of Allah had in 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 and affliction has made us heirs to tragedy and affliction until the last day. So let the weepers weep over the like of Hussein, for weeping over him is a mitigation for grave sins.' These are the words of Imam ‘Ali ibn Musa al-Rida [4] (a) [5] in which he depicts for us the extent of the recidivism of the Ummayad regime and the indelible mark that the slaughter of Imam Hussein (a) left on the people of the Prophet's household or his Ahl-ul-Bayt (a). Such an immense tragedy it was and such a stain on the face of Islam. However, one of the secrets of the magnitude of the day of Ashura [6] lies in Imam Hussein's (a) knowledge of the fate that awaited him and the pure people, his household. He had certain knowledge that he would be martyred and he had alluded to this on many occasions in his sermons and speeches during his exit from Mecca and Medina, stating clearly that he was reconciling himself to meeting Allah and that he was determined to expend his lifeblood in the way of Allah and in the aid of the truth and in reviving the Islamic religion. Through this knowledge and certainty, we can see the secret of the divine protection and concern afforded to this uprising and we can see the greatness of this spirit and the correctness of his reading of the state of the Islamic nation and government. The Imam (a) put his hand on the pulse of both the nation and the government and when he found that the government was deviating from the way of the true religion, he took hold of the nation 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 the reform of the nation of my grandfather Muhammad. I wish to order the good and forbid the evil and follow the way of my grandfather and my father ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib.' He (a) also said: ‘Now, I summon you to revive the features of the truth and to slay innovation. If you answer my call then you will be guided to the ways of righteousness.' He (a) also said: ‘And I summon you to the book of Allah and to the way of His prophet. If you hear what I say and follow me I will lead you to the path of righteousness.' |