Salaam dear young friends. Welcome to our weekly chat the focus of which is Karbala and the message of Imam Husain (AS), since Saturday on the 20th of Safar we commemorated the anniversary of Arba’een or the traditional 40th day after the heartrending tragedy of Ashura (10th Muharram).
The largest gathering was, of course, in the holy city of Karbala, in Iraq, where 21 million-plus from all over the world gathered to renew allegiance to the ideals of the Chief of Martyrs, Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).
As many as more than four million Iranians converged on Karbala for Arba’een, and we are sure many of you took part in this ceremony in Iraq, the world’s largest annual gathering. Perhaps several of you were among the millions marching on foot the 80-km distance from holy Najaf to holy Karbala.
Throughout Iran the Arba’een of the martyrs of Karbala was commemorated with the largest congregations being in the holy cities of Mashhad and Qom, while in Tehran, tens of thousands of men, women, and children walked on foot from the Iranian capital’s Imam Husain Square to the shrine of Hazrat Abdul-Azim al-Hassani (AS) in Rayy – a distance of 17 kilometers.
In India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Nigeria, the Arba’een ceremony was fervently commemorated, as well as in Yemen, the Persian Gulf Sheikhdoms, Syria and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The saga of Imam Husain (AS) is indeed immortal. It continues to seekers of truth and the conscientious irrespective of their religion.
As a matter of fact, Imam Husain’s (AS) is for all humanity. It is a source of divine enlightenment and a true road to the salvation of mankind.
In one of his speeches, Imam Husain (AS) said the usurper Omayyad regime had given him only two options: humiliation or death. He added: “And we do not accept humiliation.”
He bravely courted martyrdom, along with his male family members and the few loyal companions, rather than acknowledge the illegal rule of the libertine Yazid.
Few people desire death. The Holy Qur’an challenges the Jews for not welcoming death despite their claim of special relationship with Almighty Allah. Imam Husain (AS) deepened our comprehension of death by drawing attention to the three points below:
* Death is written for everyone and no soul can escape it. He said: “Death is an adornment of life as a necklace is an adornment of a beautiful woman.”
* Death with dignity is preferable to a life lived in humiliation.
* Dying for the cause of Islam is martyrdom and a great honour. In his farewell to relatives in Medina, the Imam said: “Whoever joins us will be martyred, those who remain behind will miss the victory.”
Imam Husain (AS) announced: “Don’t you see that truth has been replaced by falsehood? We must be prepared to sacrifice everything that is precious in support of Truth!”
An important point to note is that without the endeavours of the Imam’s sister, Lady Zainab (SA), during the equally tragic aftermath of the tragedy of Karbala, the mission of Imam Husain (AS) could not have been fulfilled.
Along with her nephew, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), she delivered memorable sermons, in the state of captivity to expose Yazid and his regime in their true pagan colours, thereby making the mission of her brother triumph in the court of the enemy.