Message of Karbala

I think you can all tell by now that the volume of blogs have somewhat decreased since the start of the New Year. It's mainly been because the level of interest in the blog has seemed to drop following a peak period in late November and with it my commitment has also waned. So now I'm only typing a couple of times a week with a few guest blogs here and there, although none this week so far.

Following on from Monday's blog, I've been attending lectures (Majlises) every evening since Sunday to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (a.s.) leading up to Ashura (10th Muharrum). The message of Karbala seems to get stronger every Muharrum only to be forgotten during the rest of the year. More and more people appear to be attending majalis every year. The message of Karbala has a strong attraction but seems to wither as the months pass after Muharrum.

I often joke with friends and family that we are all '10 day Muslims.' To varying degrees we are. Almost every Shia I know (including myself) gets energised and religious during the first 10 days of Muharrum. Regardless of how religious we are beforehand, Muharrum seems to make us even more religious. Some even manage to stretch it further to include the 40 days of remembrance after the 10th. But afterwards we all seem to go back to our usual activities and nothing ever changes. For some that is not a bad thing, since their usual activities incorporates increasing religious knowledge, but for many that is not the case.

In the past I've spoken about the need to refresh yourself (here and here) and mentioned the importance of Muharrum for that. At the risk of repeating myself, Muharrum plays an extremely important role for us to increase our faith. The story of Imam Hussain's sacrifice has always been an invigorating one, but one from which we need to take the message and act accordingly.

The lectures themselves provide the first opportunity for that, the lecturers (highly learned and respected people) discuss a wide range of topics in Islam. It's almost a unique chance to have an audience attend for 10 consecutive days and to then educate them (us) about Islam. It obviously comes with a lot of responsibility to make sure mistakes aren't made and the information served is of a responsible, valid and useful nature. However, that has not always been the case.

The sacrifice of Imam Hussain (a.s.) and his family and friends has a message for everyone. Everyone has been represented. Baby, young, teen, middle-aged, old, male and female. Everyone has someone they can identify with and learn from. The Holy Prophet introduced Islam, Imam Hussain (a.s.) saved it. The situation at the time had become so dire, that the only solution was for Imam Hussain (a.s.) to sacrifice himself so that the message of Islam could continue. After his battle, no other subsequent Holy Imam engaged in warfare, no other corrupt ruler challenged the authority of the Imam of the time to such a level and the supposed military victory for Yazid was a huge loss, which inevitably lead to his downfall and inshallah destruction at the hands of God.

However, a lot of the time we feel extremely emotional and mournful of Imam's sacrifice, and although there has to be time for that, it is not the be all and end all of his sacrifice. The message of Karbala is not simply to mourn Imam Hussain (a.s.) and then continue with our usual activities. Imam Hussain (a.s.) did not engage in such action because he only wanted to be remembered as a martyr and mourned. Their actions were not an act of desperation or heroic defeat. They served a purpose. They saved Islam so that we could continue increasing our faith and Islamic actions, so that we could spread the correct religion of Islam. Islam is what it is today (not the fundamentalist and terrorist side which constantly gets portrayed) because of Imam Hussain (a.s.). All branches of Islam, Shia and Sunni exist because of Imam Hussain (a.s.).

So, it is simply not enough to remember his sacrifice, mourn and move on. That is not the purpose. We have to take the message of Karbala. For example, one of the biggest messages of Karbala is the importance of prayer (namaaz). One the eve of the battle, the leaders of Yazid's army were anxious to start the battle. Imam requested an extra night to engage in prayer to God. On the dawn of Ashura, Yazid's army launched an aerial arrow attack on the camp of Imam Hussain (a.s.) whilst many members were engaged in Fajr (morning) prayers. During the prayers the Imam was protected by his companions who took arrows to their chests whilst standing over the Imam. When something is thrown at you, your first instinct is to get out of the way. To actually stand in the way of a lethal arrow seeing it arrive towards you, just shows the level of dedication to the Imam his companions had.

Much fighting ensued after Fajr prayers and many family and friends of the Imam were killed. The time had come for Imam Hussain (a.s.) to head for the battlefield. After much fighting, the Imam managed to move away from the battlefield. It was time for Zuhr prayers and so the Imam stopped to perform his prayers. Only then did the general of Yazid's army summon up the courage to attack Imam Hussain (a.s.). Whilst the Imam was in the act of sajdah (prostration), the general mounted his back and killed the Imam - the greatest act of the devil.

With that the battle of Karbala was over. Yazid won the battle, but the women of Imam Hussain's (a.s.) camp, lead by his sister Bibi Zaynab, ensured that the war was not over and victory would be theirs. And so it proved. Today we remember the greatest sacrifice. What happened to Yazid and his puppets has become irrelevant. The Imam realised at the time that it was going to take a huge event to wake up the so-called Muslims of the time and beyond and to save Islam. The huge event became his and his companions’ martyrdom.

There are many more messages from Karbala and I've used today's blog as a sort of introduction for that. Today's message was the importance of namaaz. Imam Hussain (a.s.) was killed in the act of sajdah. He stopped fighting to perform his prayers. That says it all. Even when his life was facing its greatest danger he still stopped to remember God. Hopefully throughout this month of Muharrum I can type some more about the various messages of Karbala, but I also know of people much more learned then myself who can contribute as well and will be asking them to do so!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?