Adil Najam
Today is the 10th of Muharram. Ashura.
It commemorates a struggle that is steeped in deep spiritual meaning, not only for Islamic history but for all humanity. It is a struggle between good and evil, between just and unjust, between weak and powerful, between immediate and the eternal, between principle and ambition. The power of Ashura is not only in the epic events that it commemorates, it is in the narrative of those events, in the symbolisms that we construct. Ultimately, it is in the meanings that we derive from those events.
Muharram is, of course, of special significance to Shias. But the events and meaning of Ashura is of significance and relevance to all Muslims, and I would suggest, to all humans everywhere.
Like so many others growing up in a Sunni household I grew up observing ehteram-i-Muharram and am always drawn in the days leading up to Ashura towards thinking about the meaning of religion and of faith. To me these have always been days of deep spiritual reflection; especially of intellectual enquiry into the meaning of justice (the concept of ‘adl’ holds a deep significance to me given the name I was given at birth and therefore I have always interpreted Ashura particularly as a time to reflect on what justice is).
Growing up in Pakistan, the night of Ashura was always defined for me by the Majlis i Shaam i Gharibaan (often by Allama Naseer ul Ijtihaadi) on PTV on the night of dasveen Muharram, which was followed immediately - and at right about midnight - by Syed Nasir Jahan’s soulful recitation of Salam-i-Akhir.
Bachay to aglay baras hum hain aur yeh gham phir hai
Jo chal basay tou yeh appna salam-i-akhir hai
His soulful voice, so pregnant with a deep and heartfelt pain, always echoes in my head when I read of continuing sectarian violence and the instigation of sectarian hatred.
Also echoing in my head are memories of the eloquent narratives of those PTV Shaam i Gharibaan’s. What I took from my yearly ritual of sitting glued to the screen was that the message of Ashura, of Karbala, is a universal and humanist messages. Justice is a universal message. Courage is a universal message. Conviction is a universal message. Sacrifice is a universal message.
It is the universality of the messages of Ashura that I hope we will all reflect upon. Every one of these messages is literally torn asunder each Muharram when the merchants of sectarianism highjack these commemorations with their vitriolic politics of fear, of difference, of hatred.
While these are universal messages, they are also - as they must be - messages of Pakistaniat. Yasser Hamdani sent me this quote from Mohammad Ali Jinnah published in a souvenir commemorating the 1300th anniversay of Imam Hussain’s shahadat.
There cannot be a better and more illustrious example than that of Husein who was the greatest embodiment of courage, conviction and sacrifice and every Mussalman in particular should take the great example of his life and service and follow it.
Jinnah was right. He would probably be pained to see how not only his own message, but that of Imam Hussain’s life -and death - have been so very lost on so many of his countrymen today.
I am glad you highlight the spirit of Muharram and the importance of that message to all of us. It is a timely reminder on this date of what we remember but also of what we have forgotten.
I opened the page just now and scrolled down the page to realize ATP has something on its front page today on Moharram, on Panja Sahib Gurdawara, on Fog in Lahore, on Art being stolen, ona lighthouse and a church, on a working man’s difficult life carrying a toilet, on snake charmers, on the Kbul River and Atock Fort, on crimnal behavior, and of course on Edhi. I could, if there was jut one post on cricket too, you woudl have covered it all. This is Pakistaniat.
Adil,
Thanks for the right post at the right time. Asian Broadcasting Network did a Moharram Special show on Urdu Talk Radio Chicago this week which contains the audio of the famous Noha recited by Syed Nasir Jahan “Ghabraigi Zainab” which was also used to be aired on PTV after Maulana Ijhtehaadi’s Shaam-e-Gharibaan.
It also has salam from Iftikhar Arif and Tabish Dehalvi.
It also had a special guest the EX-Prince of Hyderabad Deccan from London who spoke boldly on the sectarian disharmony which plagued the muslim community more than ever before now.
Here is the link:
http://www.archive.org/details/DR.MujahidGhaziUrdu TalkRadioChicagoShowJan282007
(You can download the 64Kbps MP3 file from the bottom to listen to the complete show.)
Every year Data Sahib’s grave is given a wash by milk & Irq-ghulaab. Which religion these people are practing???
You may call me a qafir, but the way Muharam is celebrated by shias & sunnies is unislamic. Neither Holy Prophet or Hazrat Imam Hussain nor Hazrat Ali celebrated the event the way we, people in the east, celebrate it; and I do believe that they knew the details of the events in their lives.
Timely post. Wish I could see the Muharram processions in Pakistan. In India, the participation of large number of Hindus is a unique aspect of Ashura. Do the Sher and Sawari are also part of the procession along with azadars, tazia and alam?
We have just rememberd the events and forget the spirit, the real spirit of Karbala. We remember the sacrifise of Imam Hussain A.S and his companions but we forget the spirit of this sacrifise…
I’m a Shia Muslim, in Pakistan millions of people are on roads, they are in Ashora Majalis, in Jaloos. Infact they are protesting against Yazeed, Yazeediat and remembering the sacrifise of Imam Hussain A.S but I admit we forget the real spirit of Imam Hussain A.S.
…and in last words by an Urdu coulmnist;
[IMG]http://i15.tinypic.com/4999lqg.gif[/IMG]
Great post; regardless of the debates on the finer points, I think all Muslims agree on the basics. Hopefully historical accounts such as these remind us of what binds us together as opposed to that which tears us apart.
well said Adil!
I am a shia muslim but all my best friends have been sunny.
If we understand the message of Ashura(Karbala), world will be a different place