On this day of Ashura, Nazim Ali says that Sunnis, Shias and non-Muslims should take lessons from the life and death of Imam Hussain.
The great Sunni philosopher and poet, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, wrote: “The message of truth and justice is alive due to the sacrifice of Hussain (as) who defeated injustice forever. It was to save justice and truth that Hussain and his companions bathed in their own blood. By following this path they renewed the foundations of Islam”.
That is the uniqueness of Imam Hussain’s (ra) sacrifice, it has a universal dimension. After all, just as the Prophet Muhammad (saw) is a mercy for mankind Imam Hussain’s sacrifice rejuvenated his Prophethood.
It is therefore wrong to assume that Imam Hussain belongs to the Shias or to the Sunnis or even to the Muslims. Instead, Imam Hussain belongs to the whole of mankind.
So where has all this enmity against those Muslims who show love and mourn Imam Hussain’s death coming from?
Primarily it is the Shias being targeted but Sunnis are also being killed for showing their love for Imam Hussain and the Prophet’s family. In bomb blasts in Karachi in recent years targeting the Ashura procession, many Sunnis were murdered as they normally line the streets with water stalls serving those in the procession with free water in recognition of the thirst that Imam Hussain (ra) endured.
In Iraq we see Muslims and non-Muslims who are gathering in Karbala, where the grave of Imam Hussain rests together with his companions, being targeted. In centuries before, the grave itself was desecrated and visitors to it were murdered and tortured to death.
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Under Bani Umayyah and Bani Abassi great measures were taken to remove all signs of Imam Hussain’s grave, and re-write history. And yet 1,400 years on, his grave stands there as a beacon of light for all the oppressed to take inspiration from.
Yet across the dessert plains, where the grandfather of Imam Hussain was laid to rest, today we find buildings and institutions named after the murderer of the Prophet’s grandson and his family, Yazid ibn Mauwiyyah, with the letters “ra” after their names.
Can these people educate me and explain to me how one can have a blessing invoked upon them both even though they were the killers of the Prophet’s family? You cannot have it both ways – you cannot claim to love the Prophet’s family and invoke blessings on their detractors and murderers, whoever they are!
As Imam Shafii says: “He who asks for blessings for the one sent from the Tribe of Hashim,
but attacks his sons – truly, that is strange!”
Modern day Yazeedis
One cannot escape the fact that the people responsible for murdering those Muslims who love and mourn Imam Hussain are “Yazeedi” in nature and clear enemies of the Prophet and his family. No doubt!
But 1,400 years of killing, raping, torturing and massacring has not stopped the devotees of the Prophet (saw) and his family from visiting the grave of Imam Hussain and remembering him , eulogizing him and mourning him.
What do today’s Yazeedis really believe? That they can stop this movement? Never!
Yazid ibn Muawiyyah can today be seen in many guises, be it the Zionist entity or that of ISIS and other Saudi-funded takfeeri groups. They get angered by hearing the rememberence of Hussain (ra) and burn in jealousy when the Prophet’s family is also eulogized.
The lamentable truth is that it was not just Imam Hussain who was butchered in Karbala, in a way it was Muhammad (saw) himself as the Prophet said: “Hussain is from me and I from him, his blood is my blood his flesh is my flesh.”
This pure sinless family of the Prophet (saw) was chosen by God himself to challenge the Christians of Najran. And the Christians 1,400 years ago recognised their merits but unfortunately many Muslims didn’t and still have not.
Farazdak, the famous Sunni Arab poet, refers to Imam Hussain and his son Imam Zainul Abedin:
“He reigns supreme on the peak of dignity and respect, the peak which is insurmountable. The entire creation remains under his obligation. It is with the sunny rays of his great mercy that ignorance, sins, vanity and terror are annihilated.”
So let us all come together, Sunni, Shia and non-Muslim to remember and mourn in our own ways, the King of the Martyrs , the grandson of Prophet Muhammd (saw) and, according to Imam Shafii, the “sinless and pure one”. And let us all invoke the following prayer regarding Imam Hussain, as recited by the great companion of the prophet, Jabir ibn Abdullah Al Ansari, at the grave of Imam Hussain.
“I make peace with those who made their peace with you, I search out and confront those who waged war against you, I make friends with those who stood by you, I strive against those who came in conflict with you.
“Therefore, I make a request to Allah to acquaint (me) with the awareness that perceives you and your friends, to set me free from the corrupting influence of your enemies, to make me keep company with you in this world and in the Hereafter, stand firm beside you and follow your footsteps closely in this world and in the next world.”
Labaik Ya Hussain!
