Very busy this week because Muharram is going on. Have to keep attending Majalises but still I felt that I should tell you people about Muharram. I know that most of us would be knowing about this event already but still I felt that being a Muslim it is my responsibility to tell you about it. Today is 8th Muharram and on Thursday is the day of Ashura i.e. 10th Muharram. Now let's begin-
Muharram is the first month of the Islamic New Year and is marked by a 10 day period of mourning for the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (A.S. - Peace be upon him), Hussain ibn Ali (A.S.) who was massacred along with his family on the plains of Kerbala, Iraq. It was on the 10th of this month, known as the night of Ashura, 680 A.D.that Imam Hussain (A.S..), the choicest scion of the family of Prophet Muhammad (A.S.) became a marty under such difficult conditions by the cruel ruler, Yazid, son of Muawiyah who treated them so cruelly that he even stopped their food and water supply due to which they had to remain without food and water for 3 days in the extreme hot weather of that desert, Karbala.
Images from Google
In the events of 10 days, in that one spot on earth, all the great lessons of the Qur'an were brought to life in front of the witness of history - and all those who were or are in doubt that the highest ideals of the Qur'an could be lived up to - all those who felt that the highest Qur'anic ideals were beyond the reach of humans - were in that place on Earth, that Kerbala, proved wrong. Doubts were shattered, and the jewels of Qur'anic truth were brought out and displayed in the desert of Kerbala.
Painter imagines Imam Hussain(A.S) horse Zuljanah returning after war and Imam's martyrdom.
The beginning of the Muslim New Year in the year 680 A.D., the greatest act of renewal was begun. The events of the first 10 days of Muharram marked the point of a new beginning for Islam when truth was victorious over wrong deeds. Imam Hussain (A.S.) proved that wars are not only won by violence and by shedding each others blood but by sacrifice and patience.
Here are some famous sayings of some famous writers and authors-
Thomas Carlyle (Scottish historian and essayist):
“The best lesson which we get from the tragedy of Cerebella is that Husain and his companions were rigid believers in God. They illustrated that the numerical superiority does not count when it comes to the truth and the falsehood. The victory of Husain, despite his minority, marvels me!”
Edward Gibbon (English historian and member of parliament):
“In a distant age and climate, the tragic scene of the death of Husein will awaken the
sympathy of the coldest reader.” (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, London,
1911, volume 5, p. 391-392)
Mahatma Gandhi (Indian political and spiritual leader):
“I learnt from Hussain how to achieve victory while being oppressed.”
Charles Dickens (English novelist):
“If Husain had fought to quench his worldly desires…then I do not understand why his sister, wife, and children accompanied him. It stands to reason therefore, that he sacrificed purely for Islam.”
Edward G. Brown (Professor at the University of Cambridge):
“…a reminder of that blood-stained field of Karbala, where the grandson of the Apostle of God fell, at length, tortured by thirst, and surround by the bodies of his murdered kinsmen, has been at anytime since then, sufficient to evoke, even in the most lukewarm and the heedless, the deepest emotion, the most frantic grief, and an exaltation of spirit before which pain, danger, and death shrink to unconsidered trifles.”
(A Literary History of Persia, London, 1919, p.227)
Sir William Muir (Scottish orientalist):
“The tragedy of Karbala decided not only the fate of the Caliphate, but also of Mohammadan kingdoms long after the Caliphate had waned and disappeared.”
(Annals of the Early Caliphate, London, 1883, p.441-442)
So this was all what I wanted to tell my readers around the world about Muharram and it's importance. Hope you like this post. Have a great week!!!
