The Hosseini Ashura[1]
Haj Dr. Nour Ali Tabandeh
I seek refuge to Allah, from the accursed Satan. In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful
“O, My Lord! Open me my chest and ease me my task and make loose the difficulty from my tongue, till they understand my talk”[2]
O! Hossain!
The water of the sea will not suffice,
To bedew the fingers to count the pages of the book of your virtues,
What the dialect could be said for such greatness? Only if God makes loose of the knot of the tongue; and makes our “ear to hear and understand”[3] the advice; that is to say the rational tongue and the receptive ear. Ensha-Allah.
Quran is the main book of Islam or in another word is the constitution of Islam. It contains verses which have causes of revelations whose meanings are clear or they do not have the cause of revelation that the Ahl-al-Bayt (The Family of the Prophet) have explained their meaning (in their sayings), therefore some of these types of narrations and sayings (hadiths) are the bases for the meaning of these Quranic verses.
One of the important verses of Quran which is of importance to the mystics and is also one of the litanies (owurad) that some dervishes are due to recite, is the “Light (Noor) Verse”, which consists of several consequent verses: “Allah is the light of the skies and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lantern, the lantern is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light that He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is the knowing of all things. [Such niches are] in houses which Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and evenings.”[4]
“Allah is the light of the skies and the earth”; some have translated it as “Allah lightens (gives light) to the skies and earth”. But the text of the Quran verse says that “Allah is the light of skies and the earth”.
Literally, in physical terminologies, “light is manifested by itself, and lighten the others”.[5] That is, it is seen by itself and does not need something else to be shown (lightened) by; it lightens the other things. “Allah is the light of the skies and the earth”; that is to say, if Allah does not look, there will not be any sky or earth. As the verse follows, to explain more clearly, it says that “Its light is like a lantern, the light in a lantern with which He guides whomever He wills towards His light”. Where is this lantern? “In houses which Allah has ordered to be raised”. In the houses, in which Allah has permitted and let them to be great and high. Where is this house? This is the one that is said: “The Example of my Family is like the Noah’s Ark. Those who get in will be saved, and those who not reach it will drown”.[6] This house is the Family of the Prophet. This lantern was made in the Family of the Prophet. By the time when the Prophet was alive, the Family of the Prophet was five that “the cleansing verse” was descended for them: “O! Family of the house, Allah only wishes to distance fault from you, and to cleanse you, and to purify you abundantly”.[7] Where is its lantern? “Indeed Hossain is the Lantern for Guidance and the ark for rescue”[8]; the same light that was mentioned in Light (Noor) Verse: “Allah guides to His light that He wills. And Allah sets forth parables for mankind, and Allah is All-Knower of everything”. This lantern is there. This lantern is everywhere “In the houses in which Allah has permitted and let them to be great and high”. These houses have been being existed from the time of Adam to the time of the Prophet, and it will always exist. This lantern exists in all this times. However, sometimes Allah makes it shine more luminously; this shine is in the “order of the prophets and great masters”, among them our Prophet is more shining than those like him; and in infallible Imams, this shine is reflected by Hossain at its most. This does not imply that other Imams are not the guiding lights, they are all guiding lights, but in some, the light shines more luminously.
All the prophets and great masters and the infallible Imams have been engaged and tested in that love. However this love manifested in Hossain at its most for our dimmed eyes so that we can see namely the “Manifestation of the Supreme Love”[9], otherwise this love exists in all of them. When he says that “Indeed Hossain is the Lantern for Guidance and the ark for rescue” the whole life of Hossain is the Lantern for Guidance. But the whole lot is compressed in one single event and not in several days. A lantern is put in the darkness. By studying the history of Islam up to the time of Hossain, you can see how they were turning the light of Islam into the darkness, due to the people’s incompetency.
The Prophet dreamed that monkeys were climbing his pulpit (chair of speech), he saddened. This dream was interpreted as what the Umayyad family did to the caliphate and how their domination changed the reality of Islam.
The people of Mecca and Medina knew that how beloved Hasan and Hossain were to the Prophet. The affection of the Prophet (to them) not only was as a parent but the spiritual one. Other Imams also descend from Imam Hossain offspring and they were not considered only as his son, but they were also his spiritual descendants and they were Imams as well. And this “order of permission” always exists. People could see how beloved Hasan and Hossain were to the Prophet. As an Example, once the companions of the Prophet observed that he lengthened the prostrate (Sajdah), they then asked for the reason and His Holiness (the Prophet) stated that: Hossain was on my shoulder, and I did not want to hurt his feelings. The Prophet prioritizes Hossain while saying his prayers. Or, once Hossain was alone with the Prophet at home, he (Hossain) said: “a guy has a camel and I want one”. The Prophet stated that I will become a camel for you then he kneeled so that Hossain could mount on his back and moved around. (You see how he listened to Hossain since he was a young child). Hossain said: “The camel I saw would say afv-afv” and the Prophet said: al-afv, al-afv (in Arabic means Amnesty, Amnesty). He (the Prophet) continued until Gabriel came to him and said: “If you continue to say “Amnesty, Amnesty” some more times, all the sins of sinners will be forgiven”. This is the dignity of Hossain.
Even after the demise of the Prophet the two Sheikhs (Sheikhain) would respect Hasan and Hossain very much. The wives of the Prophet had each a room whose door opened to the mosque, the same was for Fatimah and Ali (AS). The Prophet had said that the doors of the rooms of the wives be closed and walled but only Fatima’s house was open to the mosque. Omar who was famous for strictly following the rules, was giving a speech on the pulpit in the mosque when Hossain who was a seven-eight years old child came in and said to Omar: “Get down of my grandfather’s pulpit and mount your own grandparent’s pulpit” – The word of the kings is the king of the words.[10] If whoever else -even a child- would say so, Omar would threaten him, but Omar came down of the pulpit and hugged him and said: “Of course ok, my grandparent did not have a pulpit”. Hasan and Hossain were respected so by the people of Mecca and Medina and the primary Muslims. Though later after Damascus was conquered – that it was far from the center of Islam – things started to change. The first governor they sent there was Yazid ibn Abi Sofyan who was the elder brother of Muawiyah, later they sent Muawiyah himself to govern Damascus. After Muawiyah, Yazid ibn Muawiyah was the caliph of Damascus. As there was no newspaper or broadcasting media, the news was announced by the government to the crowd. The government in Damascus did not mention the Family of the Prophet (Ahl-a-Bait) and only induced that the Umayyad is the family of the Prophet and no one else. They even used some of the jurisprudents (Faqih) such as Abu Hurrairah and Ibn Jundub who were also companions of the Prophet to say the contrary narrations. People would naturally believe so as they thought the companions of the Prophet would say the truth.
For example the verse regarding the bivouac: “And of mankind is he who would sell himself, seeking the pleasure of Allah; and Allah has compassion on the bondmen.”[11] refers to His Holiness Ali (AS) and is about his dignity. But Muawiyah said that this verse was descended because of Abd al Rahman ibn Muljam who Martyred (killed) Ali (AS).
Regarding the same subject Ibn Battuta wrote: “When I travelled to Damascus, I noticed no one would name his/her children as the names of the Family of the Prophet as Ali, Hasan, Hossain, Fatima … and on the contrary they would name their children as Yazid, Muawiyah, Marvan …. As I continued my trip – he was a tourist – I was guested in a family and saw that he calls his children as Ali, Hasan, and Hossain. I asked the father why he had chosen such names, he explained that any father would sometimes call his children by bad words; he had found it incorrect to name his children as Yazid, Muawiyah or Marvan. He had chosen Hasan and Hossain and Ali, so that he could easily and without guilt could say bad words to them.
The result was so that some of the people did not know Hossain and his Family and would consider him as someone out of the religion who had rebelled and they thought they had to fight him. This way they brought people to fight. Then after they first took the prisoners to Kufa and then to Damascus, an old man took some food to her highness Zainab. She asked what it was and the old man answered it was alms. She replied and asked him to take it away, because the alms are prohibited for us! The old man wondered and asked who are you? She explained that she was the granddaughter of the Prophet. The old man was astonished and ashamed and declared he did not think that the Prophet had other family except the Umayyad.
They had trained the people so. Omar was a wise man. Wise as we consider for intellect. He said: “The allegiance of Abu Bakr was something exceptional and extraordinary, may God protect the Muslims from its wickedness”.[12] Perhaps God may reward him for his very saying. One of the wickedness of this issue was the domination of the Umayyad on Islam. However, the Abbasid were no better than them in opposing the Imams. Sometimes they even were worse to the Imams, the difference was that the Umayyad did not believe in Islam from the very beginning but the Abbasid were from the descendants of the Family of the Prophet and were from the Bani Hashem’s offspring and did not disaccord the base of Islam, they disagreed the Caliph of their time. It is to say they were Shia who did not accept their own Imam of the time. When the grave of Imam Ali was found at the time of Harun-u-Rashid, the first tomb of Imam Ali was built by him. Ma’mun really wanted that His Holiness Reza (AS) would be his successor of caliph and would say: “Now that I am the caliph, why would I trouble myself with Godly punishment for my son?” and insisted that Imam Reza would accept to be his successor of the caliph, but, later on he realized that it was impossible for him to do so. That is the reason why the Umayyad only governed for a thousand months that “the night of power is better than a thousand months”[13] refers to that, whereas, the Abbasid was in power for five-six hundred years.
The Umayyad did not believe in base of Islam. Abu Sofyan turned Muslim when the Muslim corps conquered Mecca and when later the Prophet asked him: “Do you now believe in my Prophethood?” He replied: “You would not have gathered such army if you had not have a greater God.” He had such a belief and point of view. Muawiyah was also from the freed people (tolaqa). After The Muslim having conquered Mecca, the Muslims arrested them but the Prophet stated: “You are Free”[14] and thereafter the word “tolaqa” remained with them. You know the historical events and I do not repeat them.
In the time of Imam Hasan, it was not classy for Muawiyah to think of Caliphate. Even in the time of Ali (AS) Muawiyah was in Damascus emirate and the first thing His Holiness Ali did, was dismissing him. Some historians fuss about this statement of Ali (AS) that he said: “I cannot stay here even for a day, when my representative is misbehaving and oppressing there”. Surely, Machiavel can fusses, but if Ali would keep Muawiyah, he would not be Ali; and this was impossible. God created Ali to be Ali. That was the reason that Muawiyah rebelled with this excuse of vengeance of Othman. He requested tribute from Ali as he was used to, but Ali was not of the kind to have it accepted. Muawiyah would keep Islam appearances, he would go to (Friday) congregation prayer, and he would give speeches and fast. He would keep the appearances so that people would declare he was a Muslim until at the time of Yazid, Imam Hossain became the “Lantern for Guidance” and showed whomever would not follow him was a path looser; anyone who disapproved was a path looser too and the temperament of Bani-Umayyad was noticed since that time who were anti Islam. One of those whose name I do not recall – their names do not differ – would go to mosque every day and read Quran; and the day he was informed that he was the caliph, he closed the Quran and said “This is the separation between I and you”[15], and said: “we get out, bye”! Or, another caliph once used Quran for divination (Istikharah) and when the Quran verse was against him, he shot Quran and recited the Quran verse mistakenly with a different mispronunciation in which he changed “Allah is disassociated from the disbelievers, and [so is] His Messenger”[16] to (God forbid) “Allah is disassociated from the disbelievers and His Messenger”.
At the time of Imam Hasan, Muawiyah had gradually derived Islam out from its path. The agreement of Imam Hasan with him is declaring the Islamic rules. He had agreed not to choose a successor as caliph, and give freedom to Muslims to choose who they wished and not to hurt the Family of the Prophet. In fact they showed their agenda and whatever would not be followed, actually the people would understand that this party (Imam Hasan) was righteous.
As a result, things went on so that by the time of Imam Hossain, people would know who was righteous. “Ali was righteous and Ali is accompanied the right”.[17] The differences between the era of Imam Hasan and Imam Hossain made Imam Hasan to peace out and Imam Hossain to fight. The Prophet stated: “These (Hasan and Hossain) are the Imams of their time whether sitting or fighting”.[18] But, so that to understand the “Lantern for Guidance” means you should follow this one. The whole life of His Holiness (Imam Hossain) is to be followed and must be followed.
His Holiness Imam Hossain was very brave from the very beginning. He personally did not agree with the “Peace” (with Moawiyah) at the time of Imam Hasan but at the time, he (Imam Hasan) was in charge and responsible for the divine order. Later, Imam Hossain respected and obeyed the “Peace” made by Imam Hasan. This is a lesson for us to take, when the divine order is set, we ought to obey and respect it disregarding our personal tendency. He is the “Lantern for Guidance” in such cases.
Some people fuss on Imam Hossain and refer to “Do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction [by refraining]”[19]. So the question they raise is that: if Imam Hossain would know that he would be killed, why did he fight? If he did not know so, his being Imam would be under question, and he realized that at least the very last days; why did he not prevent it? But these are only our imaginations. Imam Hossain stated:
Tell the “death” to come to me,
So I would hug it with open arms.
It was not “destruction” or “death” to Imam Hossain. To us, who consider death as the end of everything, death from this world is “destruction”. When the angels and Gabriel went to him in Karbala desert and said: “Would you like us to do the same miracles we did in the Prophet’s battles so that we save you?” His Holiness (Imam Hossain) replied: “No, Leave. Do not be an intermediate between me and Allah. We do not want a curtain.” Death was life to them. “O the dead people! Kill me, as in my death there is life, and in my life it is my death, and my death is in this life I have.”[20] Or he stated: “If Islam would not be strengthened except that swords would kill me, so o you the swords come towards me soon” [21] For us, losing out in a battle is losing, but Imam Hossain did not lose out. He gained victory. He wanted Islam to transcend, and the Shia to be remained, as it is remained. Today we are proud and seek consecration to his name. Imam Hossain wanted this. According to what is said that: “Imam Hossain was defeated” we shall say: “No! He was not defeated. The victory of Imam Hossain was in this”. This is another lesson; that this life of ours is not the “Life”. What do we want this life for? For eminence of ourselves and our school. Therefore if we die for our school, it is not death, it is martyrdom.
Another case is moratorium. They asked to attack in Tasua (the 9th day of Muharram) but Imam Hossain postponed it to the day after (Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram). That night everyone was joyous. A special ceremony, Niaz (need) ceremony assembly, was formed to reunion to God. His Holiness showed their ranks to them, however many of them had reached such dignities that could see their ranks. His Holiness, whose rank was higher than them, took them beside himself and showed them their dignities. This is the secret why his highness Abbas never said “o brother!” until his passing moment; it is to say the moment that His Holiness Imam Hossain raised his hand and made him sit beside himself and then he realized his rank, then he felt that he was sitting by his brother and unconsciously he said: “Receive your brother”.
Another event that happened in Tasua was taking off the Bayat. This question occurs that the Bayat is the allegiance with Allah. How could this been taken off? His Holiness Imam Hossain stated: “If tomorrow there will be one who hear my voice and would not come to help me, will be a sinner and of hell, so leave not to hear my voice, I take my commitment from you”. What type of allegiance was it? A governmental one. As they had come for governmental allegiance with Imam Hossain; one of those they had done with the caliphs. Guardianship Allegiance (Bayat Walawi) cannot be taken off. Those with governmental allegiance left there, but those with Bayat Walawi could not leave. Where would they go? In fact they would say:
If I take my affection and leave,
Whom do I give this affection?
Where would I take this heart?
His Holiness Imam Hossain wanted to test some of the companions; he said to his highness Abbass: “Now, Shimr has come for you, leave and stay with them and be safe”. What would his highness Abbas say?
If I take my affection and leave,
Whom do I give this affection?
Where would I take this heart?
None of the great masters have had such a seventy two apostles. He permitted them to leave and that was for his good will for the people and for not having forced them. Anyone who would stay with them would be killed. So they spent the night joyously, the old men were dancing of happiness. The next day went to battle without armor, because they would be martyr sooner and reach the grade they had seen the night before.
These made some people to fuss that “why do you mourn for them? And what mourn is for?” It is true that they were joyous but we mourn for ourselves. We cry for our own destiny. We are the descendants of those who did not value Ali, did not value Hasan; they listened to what Hossain said but did not help him out. Shame on us! Shame on our ancestors that did so! This crying is for us. Socially talking, this crying is to lose of hope for a community that the caliphate would not be reached to its qualified owners. Several times in the history, the Shias lost hope from the government; but these actually showed that the “Order of the Allah’s Masters” continues.
His Holiness Imam Hossain at very last moments came and transferred the “Trusts of Wilayah” to Imam Sajjad – as it is said in terms and words. Of course, as it is said, the “Trusts of Wilayah” was not the cane of Moses or the ring of Solomon. Surely, it was the ring of Solomon, but not such as ordinary rings. It is a ring to empower the finger to turn the world. It is a cane that empowers the owner to turn the wood to dragon. After he transferred the Trusts, His Holiness Imam Hossain left. But the effect of this divine fight will stay until end of the time. Islam was brought by Muhammed and its life – especially Shiite’s life – is due to Hossain having been killed. Up to that time they (the public) thought The Family of the Prophet were desirous to government and caliphate. When Omar set a council of six person to select the caliph, he counted weak points of the candidates; he counted two so called weak points for Ali: one that Ali is too jocose and wits a lot, and that he is too greedy for caliphate. But, Ali would exchange the caliphate with an old shoe with seventeen-eighteen patches and once stated: “The caliphate over you for me is less worthy than this shoe”[22] He said: “If the good intention for people and the divine order be counted, the caliphate should be beside me”. But the public would think that it was an old tired fight for power between the Umayyad and Bani Hashem for caliphate. But at the time of Imam Hossain, as he did not accept to making peace and doing Bayat with Yazid and stated: “Such me would not do Bayat (pledge allegiance) with such Yazid” showed that the issue was not the caliphate and it is for something else.
Regarding all, the headlight of this Light shone in Ashura. This Light trained those seventy two people. Each of which was a world of greatness and faith. Muslim ibn Ausajah and Habib ibn Mazahir had participated in previous wars and the fights of the Prophet. These were two old men who competing each other and were asking for permission to enter the battle soon, though they knew that they would be killed. When one of them was badly wounded and was going to die, His Holiness Imam Hossain went to him. Muslim or Habib said to the other: “though I would quickly come after you, tell me if you have a will”. The other one said: “My will is that: Never leave this Sir”.
This is the Lantern for Guidance that guided them. The spotlight that dazzled the Horr’s eyes, and took him from the depth of the hell to the heaven. He went to Imam Hossain and cried: “Will my repentance be accepted?” “I did not know they would do so to you while I closed the way to you; is my repentance accepted?” He continued. How grateful was His Holiness reply as a reflection of the Light; he stated: “You are great and liberated (horr) in this world and the next”.[23] He had the duty of lightening all issues. When all left, His Holiness knew there was no one left and he shone once more as the sun shines to the flowers and rubbish both. His Holiness would see the rubbish in front, but he asked “Is anyone to help me”? [24] Did His Holiness really need help? He had rejected the help of angels! He said all these for us. This voice is even broadcasting now: “Is anyone to help me?” The same voice that Jesus said: “Who are my helpers for Allah?”[25] Then His Holiness entered the battle on his own alone, the story which all you know and we really feel terribly sorry to hear it again. We may cry for ourselves.
Then at the very last moment that no one was willing to cut His head off, they saw a Christian young man arrived in the appearance of a journalist. They thought, he would have no knowledge and asked him to do so. He went and at the very last moment he fell in love for His Holiness. He returned and fought with them and was martyred. He reached the perfection in one moment. But that evil, the evil who fought beside Imam Ali in Saffin battle and later he left and joined the Nahravanis, and then left them and joined the Umayyad, he, the evil of the evils, went (to cut the head of Imam Hossain). What happened in the pit fall where His Holiness had fallen? “O the father of Abdullah! There is no day similar to your day”[26] A moment later, they saw this evil came out and was holding something. A head, that one day was on the Prophet’s lap …
[1] Speech of His Holiness Haj Dr. Nour Ali Tabandeh (Majzoub Ali Shah) at early dawn (sahar) of Ashura (10th. day of Muharram) 1422 Lunar Hijri, (4 April, 2001 AD).
[2] Surah: Ta-Ha, Verses: 25-28. قَالَ رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِّن لِّسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي
[3] Surah: Al-Haqqah, Verse: 12. That We might make it a remembrance for you, and the keen ear (person) may (hear and) understand it. لِنَجْعَلَهَا لَكُمْ تَذْكِرَةً وَتَعِيَهَا أُذُنٌ وَاعِيَةٌ
[4] Surah: A-Noor (The Light), Verses: 35-36.
اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ الْمِصْبَاحُ فِي زُجَاجَةٍ الزُّجَاجَةُ كَأَنَّهَا كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌّ يُوقَدُ مِن شَجَرَةٍ مُّبَارَكَةٍ زَيْتُونِةٍ لَّا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلَا غَرْبِيَّةٍ يَكَادُ زَيْتُهَا يُضِيءُ وَلَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ نُّورٌ عَلَى نُورٍ يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَن يَشَاءُ وَيَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ. فِي بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ فِيهَا بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ.
[5] النور ظاهر لنفسه و مُظهر لغیره.
[6] الأمالی، شیخ طوسی، ص 349. قال النَّبِيِّ (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ)، إِنَّمَا مَثَلُ أَهْلِ بَيْتِي فِيكُمْ كَمَثَلِ سَفِينَةِ نُوحٍ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ)، مَنْ دَخَلَهَا نَجَا، وَ مَنْ تَخَلَّفَ عَنْهَا غَرِقَ.
[7] Surah: Ahzab, Verse: 33. إِنَّمَا یُرِیدُ اللَّهُ لِیُذْهِبَ عَنْکُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَیْتِ وَیُطَهِّرَکُمْ تَطْهِیرًا
[8] قال الرسول (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ) اِنَّ الْحُسين مِصباحُ الهُدي وَ سَفينَهُ الْنِّجاه.
[9] ظهور العشق الاعلی.
[10] کلام الملوک، ملوک الکلام.
[11] Surah: Al-baqara, Verse: 207. وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْرِي نَفْسَهُ ابْتِغَاء مَرْضَاتِ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ رَؤُوفٌ بِالْعِبَادِ
[12] إنما كانت بيعة أبي بكر فلتة وقى الله المسلمين شرها.
[13] Surah: Qadr, Verse: 3.
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