The Immortal Message of Karbala Is for All Humanity

Date: 22 September 2017 - 21:41

News ID: ۴۴۴۸۱

By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

Once on the advent of the month of Muharram, which the Arabs of the days of ignorance used to celebrate as New Year, Imam Reza (AS) was visited by a person named Rayyan, who was astonished to see tears the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) in profound sadness with tears flowing down his eyes. The visitor asked the reason, and the Imam replied:
"O (Rayyan) Ibn Shabeeb! Muharram is the month in which (even) the people of the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyya) had forbidden the committing of any oppression as well as armed conflicts, yet, this ummah did not respect the sanctity of this month or the dignity of their own Prophet. In this month, they killed the Prophet’s offspring… God will never forgive them.
"O Ibn Shabeeb! If you wish to cry, then cry for (my ancestor Imam) Husain (AS) who was slaughtered like a sheep, and was killed along with the members of his household. Eighteen (Hasemite) persons were martyred along with him who had no equal on Earth. The seven heavens and the earths mourned in his martyrdom…
"O Ibn Shabeeb! If you cry for Husain (AS) in such a way that tears flow down your cheeks, then God will forgive all the sins that you have committed whether minor or major, whether they be a few instances or a lot…
"O Ibn Shabeeb! If you would like to meet the Honourable the Exalted God without having any sins then visit (the shrine of) Husain (AS).
"O Ibn Shabeeb! If you would like have the company of the Prophet in the halls of Paradise, then curse the murderers of Husain (AS).
"O Ibn Shabeeb! If you would like to be in the same high ranks in Paradise with us, then be sad when we are sad and be happy when we are happy.”
Today is the 2nd of Muharram, the day on which in the year 61 AH, Imam Husain (AS) stepped on the soil of Karbala when all routes were blocked to him by the forces of a tyrannical regime, which thought that pressures, threats, and blockade, would break the spirit of resistance of the Prophet’s grandson and compel him to acknowledge Yazid’s rule, thereby legitimizing the illegal existence of the usurper Omayyad state.
Like all arrogantly ignorant aggressors, the wretch, who masqueraded as caliph, was wrong.
The Imam was made of an indomitable spirit. In spite of the mounting intimidations over the next week by well-equipped battalions that cut off the Imam’s access to the waters of the Euphrates in the hope of cowing down his small band, which included women and children, he stood firm and steadfast, refusing to yield to injustice.
The heroic martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS) on the 10th of Muharram on the plane of Karbala continues to stimulate the human conscience, which means that those who fail to be moved by history’s most heartrending tragedy cannot be called human beings.
The British historian Edward Gibbon his work ("The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire has aptly remarked: "Even in a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the death of (Imam) Husain (AS) will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader.”
M. K. Gandhi, lawyer and leader of the non-violent uprising in India for independence from British rule, in one of his famous statements remarked that it was Karbala and Imam Husain (AS) that inspired him to struggle against colonialism. He said: "I learned from (Imam) Husain (AS) how to be wronged and be a winner.”
In another statement published in "Young India” in 1924, he wrote: "I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind... I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of (Imam) Husain (AS), the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission to save Islam.”
These are the words of persons, who although not Muslims, were human beings and possessed the conscience to distinguish between right and wrong, between truth and falsehood.
So fie on those who claim to be Muslims but indulge in the most inhuman practices against fellow humans, blasphemously celebrate the advent of Muharram as New Year Day and openly consort with the archenemies of humanity, the modern day Yazids, such as the illegal Zionist entity and the tyrannical US regime.
These regime and their court Mullahs who try to mislead Muslims with devilish fatwas, pretend to be Sunni, when in fact true Sunni Muslims hold Imam Husain (AS) in reverence, organize gatherings in his honour, and curse his killers, in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet as is mentioned in several authentic books of our non-Shi’a Muslim brethren.
Thus the message of Imam Husain and the mourning ceremonies of the month of Muharram are the heritage of humanity, and justice will never be realized until mankind realizes the significance of the immortal tragedy of Karbala.