Skip to: Site menu | Main content

About

We believe that a true and comprehensive understanding of Islam would not be possible without careful recognition of the Prophetic Tradition and the Prophet's Household. And Allah is the Source of Strength.
 

Understanding Imam Hussain's (AS) Efforts

" Kerbala is a sacrifice where the blood of the Prophet (SAW) outshines the blood of all other Martyrs since the creation of blood, and thus Imam Hussain (AS) is titled the Syed us Shuhada or leader of the Martyrs.

There are so many dimensions to Kerbala, the Muslims and Non Muslims alike, commemorate it differently, learn from it different things, and gain inspiration from it in their own ways

Although i doubt if someone with a clean heart can read or listen about the events that unfolded at Kerbala, without shedding a tear or two, the Shias are known for their mourning rituals and thus have faced severe opposition from a school of thought which interprets the limiting of mourning period to no more than 3 days.

 I am today, 30 years old and remember atleast 26 Muharrams of my life. When the Masayab start, people cry, they just can not help it. I also felt for the Progeny of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Let's try on you as well.

When one of us has to travel on a luxurious airplane on a business trip, leaving behind family and friends, I assume, that all of us have no idea if we will be able to return or not, but we still rely on an extremely good air travel safety statistics to give our panic some comfort. I also assume that before the plane takes off, we would close our eyes and think about what we are leaving behind for a week, sons, daughters, wives, parents, sisters, loved ones. I would like to believe that such a journey is painful and we just cannot wait to get back home and reunite with our loved ones. To put things in perspective, when Imam Hussain (AS) left Medina with the certainty of death hanging on his shoulders, on horses and with limited supplies, with women and children, he left behind his daughter Janab Sughra (AS) and traditions state that one of the reasons was that Sughra (AS) resembled the mother of Imam Hussain (AS), the Khatoon e Jannah (AS). The pain a father like Hussain (AS) will go through when leaving behind a daughter like Sughra (AS), this is the family of the Prophet (SAW).

When i became a father, i realized how much my father and mother loved me, it was a paradigm shift. If you do not have a child of yours yet, you can not feel what it is to be a parent. When i became a father, and my 2 year old son had to undergo a small surgery, under anaesthesia so that he does not feel any pain, in the care of the best doctors available and in an airconditioned environment, those 30 minutes were one of my most tensed moments. How Imam Hussain (AS) chose Allah Hu Akbar over his son Ali Akbar (AS) and others?

And at that moment i realized that it took me 30 years to understand a single Musayb of Imam Hussain (AS). Half my life spent mourning over something which i could barely grasp and understand.

Such grief which took half a life time to be partially understood, verily the effort for which the Imam (AS) undertook such a grief, cannot be forgotten and wasted. It is a system of Allah who in his non-controversial wisdom has made the remembrance of Ibrahim (AS) and his efforts incumbent on us till Islam's existence on account of the faith-renewing lessons Ibrahim (AS) has left for us, did you expect Allah to decide on the effort's of Imam Hussain (AS), be forgotten and wasted?   "

Feel free to email your comments/replies to this article at author@sdol.org or post a message at our Forum, no registration Required.