Do You Realise?

There is often a tendency of a person to distance themselves from the acts they perceive to be dishonourable, disloyal etc. However, it is also common for human being to see the twig in another’s eye, and forget the log in their own. In these days, as we remember the trials that the family of Prophet Muhammad faced, and the statements that were made those days, it is quite easy to convince oneself that they would indeed have been “with” and his companion and achieved the fawzan adheema (great success) with them. However, we must also ask ourselves, were there no Muslims at the time of Imam Husayn? Were there no people who claimed to love them but then deserted them when the call of Imam Husayn was made. Imam Husayn (as) stood on the plains of Karbala that day, and said it aloud, so that history would record that the ummah had deserted the family of the Prophet, and he asked, facing different directions:

“Is there anyone who will come to assist us? 

Is there anyone who will respond to our call for aid?”

It was not only Imam Husayn who asked these questions to the ummah. Our lady Zaynab (sa) similarly asked of the people of Kufa:

"Woe upon you O people of Kufa. Do you realise which piece of Muhammad's heart you have severed! Which pledge you have broken! Whose blood you have shed! Whose honour you have desecrated!. It is not just Hussain whose headless body lies unburied on the sands of Kerbala. It is the heart of the Holy Prophet. It is the very soul of Islam!"

Often, in shia communities, you will find reference is made to the treachery of Ahl Kufa because of this statement. However, the people of Kufah represent an ideology that is present within us, within our societies, and one which we must fight or else fall in the same group. When we fail in our duty towards justice within our wider global community, it is we who are silent to the call of Imam Husayn, and it is us he asked that day, as he turned in different directions and asked “Hal min naas...”

Next time we are Ziyarat Waaritha and repeat the words: “And I make Allah, His angels, His prophets, and His messengers, witnesses to the fact that I believe in Imam Hussain and in my return to Allah. I also believe in the laws of Allah and in the consequences of human actions. I have subordinated the desires of my heart to his (Imam Hussain's) heart and I sincerely submit to him and (promise to follow his commands)." 

We must make sure that we mean the words we say, and it is not just an annual ritual we go through, like Hey! Time to get the black clothes out and attend the social events and cry some, then live our normal lives, not changing or incorporating any part of Hussainiyat in them. Each season of azadari (mourning for Imam) must be a season of life changing, a formal commitment, and continuation of a pledge to distance oneself from all injustice, starting with, but not limited to the injustice against the self (sin).

Imam Khumayni in his will states a valuable point about mourning. He says:

"The memory of this great epic event (Ashura) must be kept alive. Remember, the cries of damnation and all the curses that are rightfully raised against the cruelty of the Bani Umayyayah caliphs towards the Holy Imams, are reflected in the heroic protests against cruel despots by the nations through the centuries. It is the perpetuation of such protests that shatter oppression and cruelty. It is necessary that the crimes of the tyrants in each age and era be indicated in the cries of lamentation and in the recitals of elegies held for the Holy Imams." 

I end my entry today with a reminder about a noble man who dedicated his life towards serving Imam Husayn (as). This man is Habib ibn Madhahir, one of the faithful and loyal companions who stood that day, to the last moment and guaranteed his path to jannah by his blood.

After the events of the day of Ashura, and the rest of the camp of Imam Husayn (as) were taken captive and paraded through the cities, there was one unique thing about the decapitated head of Habib. Unlike the others which were mounted on spears, history tells us his head was tied to a horse and dragged around. It is said that while in Kufah, a young boy called Qasim followed the horse around whose neck his head was tied. Finally, the rider of the horse asked the boy: “Why are you following me around? What do you want?” Qasim was silent. Again the man asked, “Why are you staring at the head?” and Qasim replied:

This is the head of my father, Habib ibn Madhaahir. Please give it to me so that I may bury it…”

May Allah make us among those who realise who the call was made to, and who was asked for help and take up the worship of loyally serving and dedicating our lives to the Imam of our time, so as not leave him lonely as he wanders, seeking the avengers of the blood of his forefathers and their loyal companions.