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.
Why be so self-absorbed, my freind?
Why do you assume that every comment is directed at you? There are plenty of other comments here. Maybe you should look at the few before yours rather than getting all defensive. Actually, in any discussion it is nice to read other people’s comments anyhow!
Ciao
So you got “religious tableegh” out of my post? Re-read the post above… you will probably won’t find a more anti-religion post as some would say…
Also… I think the rule should be against cut and paste… not original comment.
I really think that this discussion is going into religious tableegh and I do not appreciate anyone trying to make me a better Muslim or to “save my deen”. I would reccomend that people try to save their own rather than insult our intelligence and our religion with these long khutbas.#
Also, could this website please implement its comment policy stated above, especially about length. Seems like the last few readers either can’t read or don’t care about the policy.
Looking back… I suppose one could conclude that Muawiyah was to Islam what Musharraf is to Pakistan :).
Saima Nasir,
Coming as I do from a predominantly shiite dominated household, I do get a lot of slack at home for saying what I am about to say.
But first of all let me say:
The great sacrifice and courage of Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS) is without question and the tragedy of Karbala is undoubtedly the only reason Islam is still alive today. Had it not been for Karbala and Hussain’s martyrdom, in my view, the Ummayads would have soon dispensed with Islam and established their own cult instead… The power struggle was very much between the Ummayads and Hashmites… ultimately the Hashmites came into power in the form of Abbassids though it was the Alids alone that became the scapegoat by both the Ommayads and their own cousins the Abbasids.
That said let me say this:
From a completely secular point of view… looking at history without our emotional and justifiable attachment with the family of the Holy Prophet, one is forced to conclude that Muawiyah was one of the greatest Arabs to live in history. This is purely from a secular point of view ofcourse and not a religious one. Not only was he a most successful military commander but a remarkably clever politician. Furthermore, his rule was marked with prosperity and peace throughout the realm and was the single most successful Caliphate in Islamic history … economically, socially, culturally and politically. Muawiyah- it must be recalled- was indifferent to religion and gathered around him political and military geniuses who were more often than not Christians from Damascus. The greatest quality that historians attribute to Muawiyah was “hilm” or his ability to use force only when absolutely necessary. He famously said “I don’t use my lash where my tongue suffices”.
The allegation that by nominating his own son, he brought in the concept of Kingship is true ofcourse… but we must investigate whether Kingship was a step forwards or backwards for that society in 662 AD? If we were to take the apparently liberal “point of view” and say that Muawiyah abolished the “republic” of Islam by his actions, could we say that Hazrat Ali (AS) had done the same with his own son ? Isn’t the Shiite support of Alid claim to Caliphate and Imamate a negation that “Republican” Islam as well?
My own feeling is that pre-Muawiyah, the “Republic” of Islam was as a matter of fact simply an alliance of tribes who were autonomous for all practical purposes and therefore the “pious Caliphs” were just not strong enough to establish their own dynasties… and we know both Hazrat Osman (RA) and Hazrat Ali (AS) tried to. The coming of Muawiyah… the Senator Palpatine (to use Star Wars analogy) or Augustus Caesar (to use the Roman Empire analogy) of Islam…. the loose confederation of tribes falsely rehashed as the “Republic” of Islam had reached critical mass … and it was Muawiyah, who emulating the advanced civilisations of his time i.e. the Byzantines and the Empires in the Indian subcontinent etc, who took that giant leap and transformed the Arabs into a great centralised Empire. Ofcourse his son Yazid was a nincumpoop and the butchery in Karbala turned out to be political suicide for Yazid and the Harbite Branch of Ommayeds… and ultimately brought down the dynasty itself.
But as far as Muawiyah is concerned… it must be remembered that both Hazrats Hassan (AS) and Hussain (AS) had taken bait and Hazrat Hussain did not oppose Muawiyah’s rule… but Yazid’s… So we need to be objective to history… Muawiyah must be praised for the good he did… atleast non-Muslims prospered for the first time under him… as he relaxed much of the strict regulation of non-Muslims under Omar, Othman and Ali (AS).