Salaam dear young friends and welcome to our weekly chat.
We are meeting after a fortnight, because of the Ta’sua and Ashura holidays last Wednesday and Thursday to commemorate the world’s most heartrending tragedy that occurred in Karbala, Iraq, in 61 AH (680 AD).
Many of us in Iran, and in communities around the world where devotees of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) abound, are still in the state of mourning for the Chief of Martyrs, Imam Husain (AS), and the equally tragic sufferings of the noble ladies and children of his household in its aftermath.
Most would be wearing black throughout Muharram and the next month of Safar, as discourses on the ethical and humanitarian values bequeathed to us by the immortal epic of Ashura, such as faith, freedom, forgiveness, justice, compassion, valour, and steadfastness for the right cause, even if it means loss of life, continue to be held at mosques, at hussainiyahs, at homes, at the shrines, and on the radio and TV.
Indeed, if not for the Great Sacrifice offered by the Prophet’s grandson, Islam would have gone the way of the messages of the prophets that the interpolators and the imposters distorted out of shape.
Without the least doubt, it is you youngsters, who today hold aloft the torch of guidance that you inherited from your forbears. By treading in the footsteps of the Martyrs of Karbala, through your creative and constructive endeavours in various fields, including science and technology, you will be passing this immortal legacy to the next generation.
Your message of love, affection, compassion, magnanimity, monotheistic devotion and all humanitarian values, without the least doubt has been acquired from the Survivor of the Tragedy of Karbala, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), whose martyrdom anniversary we marked on Saturday, 12th of Muharram (as per a narration).
Surely, the unique jihad of the 4th Imam, along with his courageous aunt, the Prophet’s granddaughter Hazrat Zainab (AS), continues to inspire conscientious people all over the world, especially the faithful women, who are promoters of peace and virtue in our contemporary societies.
Let us join together our youthful hands to spread to even the remote corners of the globe the universal message of the Martyr of Karbala that has saved Islam and all humanitarian values throughout history by interacting with human conscience to set in motion revolutions and reformatory movements.
God bless you and goodbye until we meet again next week.