Muharam/Days of Mourning

In the name of the creator, that created me and you and everything else that ever existed, exists and will ever exist.

My condolences to the Imam of my time, and to the faithful of the muslim nation, (3atham allah ujoorana wa ujoorakum).

I wanted to dedicate a little in writing to Imam Hussain [as], the third Imam (spiritual leader) from the 12 Imam's that the shia, ithna ashari (twelver's) believe in. The month of Muharam for me, and for others from the shia nation, is a period of mourning and lamentation, where the tragedy of Kerbala is not only revived as such, but given the attention that it is worthy and deserving of. The story is familar with the majority and so, i do not want to repeat it here, as one can simply "google" it up online, and find the basic story line. The most important thing about this story however is the message that one takes and learns from it. We see that a series of humanitarian issues are actually raised in the story. From the patience of the Imam and his family and friends, even the smallest of children from having been prevented from reaching the Euphrates river for water and surviving through the thirst in the hot sands, to the forbearance that they endured, while their families were slaughtered before their eyes, their heads severed, and placed on spears, How women and children were made to walk bare footed from the hot plains of kerbala (in todays Iraq) to the distant land of Damascus (in todays Syria (Al-sham)). The story is not as simple as that, not the details so trivial, in fact the amount of injustice that the holy family received from the tyrant rulers of the time has been discussed by many historians, internationally. Those who have read the story of Kerbala, will be moved by the details from the migration of Imam Hussain, till his after death, when his family who remained after him faced further traumatic times.

Each and every year for the past 1427 years, the shia nation have commemorated the martydom of Hussain ibna Ali and kept his rememberance alive. It is such a great miracle that each year the Majalis (gatherings) increase in number all over the world, and people keep attending, and the rememberance of Imam Hussain does not die. It has been narrated that when the holy prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him and his holy progeny was speaking to his beloved daughter Fatima peace be upon her, he was telling her of what would happen to her son Hussain after she had long passed away. She began shedding tears and lamenting, who will be there when he dies, will you be there when they strike him with arrows oh prophet of allah, he replies no, will his father ali be there when they leave him in the hot burning desert oh prophet of allah, he says no again, will i be there when they cut off his head oh prophet of allah, he again replies no... so who will commemorate his martydom.. the prophet told fatima not to worry, that Allah swt will create a nation that will be loyal to the holy progeny of the prophet of allah, and who will mourn the death of her son, every year untill the day of judgement.

The 10 nights of majalis which we attend in muharam, and the few events held after, although packed with all sorts of people, and as stuffy as it may get, and as annoying people may be, the patience one uptakes just to pay his respects to the imam through his attendance, can spiritually lift a person, and make him think slightly of how the uprising of the imam, has actually saved our religion, which had almost died at the hands of the umayad rulers of the time.

Wa Salaam