Table Of ContentASHURA
Ayatullah Mahdi Asifi
Translator
Umar Kumo
ABWA Publishing and Printing Center Assembly
Ashura
Ayatullah Mahdi Asifi
Translator
Umar Kumo
Publisher
ABWA Publishing and Printing Center Assembly
Project supervisor: Translation Unit, Central Office of Research Cultural
Affairs Department / The Ahl al-Bayt (as) World Assembly (ABWA)
Translator: 'Umar Kumo
Translation Editor: Sayyidah Effat Shah
Proofread by: Sayyid Baqir Husayni
Publisher: ABWA Publishing and Printing Center Assembly
ISBN: 978-964-529-711-2
First Printing: 2011
Printed by: Mujab
Copies: 5,000
© Ahl al-Bayt (as) World Assembly (ABWA)
www.ahl-ul-bayt.org
[email protected]
Contents
Publisher’s Foreword ..................................................................................................................... i
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... iii
Critical Juncture in The Life of Mankind .................................................................................. 1
Days of Separation ......................................................................................................................... 1
Ashura is Among the Days of Separation .................................................................................. 1
First class ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Second class .................................................................................................................................. 3
Third class .................................................................................................................................... 5
Comparison Between the First and Second Class...................................................................... 6
The Story of How Umar Ibn Sa'ad Tried to Escape ................................................................... 7
Fighting Husayn (as) ..................................................................................................................... 7
The Story of How Al-Hurr Tried to Escape Fighting Husayn (as) .......................................... 9
A Return to Umar Ibn Saad at the Point of Separation ........................................................... 10
Comparison Between the Second and Third Class.................................................................. 11
Another Comparison Between Al-Hurr and Zuhayr .............................................................. 16
Aversion and Inaction ................................................................................................................. 17
Shock and Hesitation ................................................................................................................... 17
Willingness to Meet Husayn (as) ............................................................................................... 18
Response and Acceptance ........................................................................................................... 18
Analysis of Al-Hurr's Unusual Stand ........................................................................................ 18
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 21
Meditations on Husayn’s Speech on The Day of Ashura ..................................................... 23
1.“You Have Drawn the Sword with which ............................................................................. 23
We Armed You, Against us.” ..................................................................................................... 23
2. ‘And You Ignited The Fire Which We Kindled Against our Enemy and Your Enemy,
Against Us.’ ................................................................................................................................... 25
3. “You Have Joined Hands With The Forces of Your Enemies Against Your Allies.” ..... 27
4. “They Have Not Established Any Justice Among You, Nor Do You Expect Any Good
From Them.” ................................................................................................................................. 29
5. “Woe to You! are You Heading Towards These People and Forsaking us? .................... 30
6. “O Slaves of (This) Nation and Strangers!” .......................................................................... 30
7. “Away with You, O Slaves of The Nation and .................................................................... 31
Strangers to The Parties!” ............................................................................................................ 31
8. “An Old Treachery That was Part and Parcel of Your Forefathers” ................................. 32
Political Goals of Imam Husayn (as)'s Uprising ..................................................................... 35
The Imam Talks About His Death in Iraq................................................................................. 38
Where Military Campaigns Fail, Armed Struggle Succeeds. ................................................. 41
1.Freeing the people's will .......................................................................................................... 41
2. Stripping the Ruling System of Legitimacy ........................................................................... 49
Husayn (as)’s Letter from Karbala to His Brother, Muhammad .......................................... 53
The Reason the Letter Was Written ........................................................................................... 53
Devotion to God and Withdrawing from The World ............................................................. 54
What are the World and The Hereafter? ................................................................................... 55
How can a Person be Among the People of The Hereafter While Living in This World? . 55
From The Hereafter to The Hereafter ........................................................................................ 57
Incentives and Barriers ................................................................................................................ 58
‘As If the World Has Never Been’ .............................................................................................. 59
As If the Hereafter Has Always Been ........................................................................................ 61
The Results That Follow The Two Viewpoints ........................................................................ 64
The Outcome of The Second View ............................................................................................. 65
Expelling The World from The Mind and Replacing It with The Hereafter ........................ 65
First point .................................................................................................................................. 66
Second Point .............................................................................................................................. 68
Defying Death on The Day of Ashura ...................................................................................... 71
How Do We Deal with Death? ................................................................................................... 71
How Do People Face Death? ...................................................................................................... 72
Fear of Death .............................................................................................................................. 72
The Stand ....................................................................................................................................... 74
Changing from a Position of No Stand to That of a Contrary Stand .................................... 75
The Last Stage of Apostacy ......................................................................................................... 77
Realignment on the Opposing Side and A Turnabout............................................................ 77
Three States in Man’s Life ........................................................................................................... 78
The first state.............................................................................................................................. 78
The second state ......................................................................................................................... 78
The third state ............................................................................................................................ 79
The Effects of Fear of Death on Society ..................................................................................... 80
Educative Methods for Fighting This Situation ....................................................................... 80
First Method............................................................................................................................... 80
Second Method ........................................................................................................................... 81
Some Scenes of Confronting Death in Al-Taff ......................................................................... 82
His Companions’ Reply .............................................................................................................. 84
Some Instances of Loyalty in The Supplication: Ziyarat al-Warith ................................... 87
First Aspect: Salutation................................................................................................................ 87
Second Aspect: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 88
Third Aspect: Stand ..................................................................................................................... 90
Repudiation: The Other Face of Loyalty ................................................................................... 92
The Groups That are Cursed in Ziyarat al-Warith .................................................................... 97
What Conflicts of Civilization Do to Man? ............................................................................... 99
The First Day of Separation ..................................................................................................... 100
The Second Day of Separation ................................................................................................. 102
The Third Day of Separation .................................................................................................... 102
Loyalty And Repudiation in the Supplication of Ziyarat Ashura ..................................... 121
Loyalty and Repudiation: The Most Prominent Features .................................................... 121
of The Day of Ashura ................................................................................................................ 121
The Three Peculiarities of the Al-Taff Battle Theatre ............................................................ 123
An Inherited Theatre ................................................................................................................ 124
A Separating Theatre ............................................................................................................... 127
A Legator Theatre .................................................................................................................... 130
Emotional Co-Existence with The Al-Taff Tragedy as Expressed in Ziyarat Ashura ........ 133
Scenes of Loyalty and Repudiation in Ziyarat Ashura ........................................................... 134
Loyalty, Repudiation and Hostility ......................................................................................... 135
Greetings of Peace and Cursing ............................................................................................... 136
Peace and War ............................................................................................................................ 136
Association and Disassociation ................................................................................................ 137
Distress and Vengeance ............................................................................................................ 140
Loyalty and Repudiation are Two Faces of The Same Question ......................................... 141
Loyalty and Repudiation: Blessing and Honour That God Bestowed On Man ................ 143
Generalizations of Loyalty in Ziyarat Ashura ......................................................................... 148
Generalizations of Repudiation in Ziyarat Ashura ................................................................. 149
Monotheism and Purity of Faith Depicted In Loyalty .......................................................... 150
Loyalty comes under the concept of Monotheism ..................................................................... 151
Monotheism and Purity of Faith Depicted in Repudiation .................................................. 155
Two Loyalties Cannot Meet in The Heart of a Faithful Person. .......................................... 157
Ascension Points of Loyalty and Repudiation in Ziyarat Ashura ........................................ 159
Honour and Distinction ............................................................................................................ 161
Avenging The Death of Husayn (as) ....................................................................................... 161
To be in the Company of the Ahl Al-Bayt (as) and Attain a Good Standing with Them. 162
The Company of the truthful .................................................................................................... 162
The Laudable Station ................................................................................................................. 164
Sincerity to God in Life and Death .......................................................................................... 165
Unlimited Reward from God ................................................................................................... 165
Stairways For Getting Proximity to God ................................................................................ 169
Imam Husayn (as)’s Portrayal of Islamic Society During Umayyad Rule ....................... 171
1. The Condition of The World at That Time ......................................................................... 172
2. The Peoples Disregard for Truth and Their Inclination Towards Falsehood ................ 175
3. Need for Aversion to The World and Desire to Meet God .............................................. 176
The Four Unchangeable Aspects of Imam Husayn (as)’S Uprising .................................. 177
1. Inevitability of Martyrdom ................................................................................................... 177
2. Certainty of Victory ............................................................................................................... 179
3. Relationship Between Victory and Martyrdom ................................................................. 184
4. This Victory will not Be Repeated in History ..................................................................... 185
Loyalty and Repudiation on the Day of Ashura ................................................................... 189
Conflict of Loyalty ..................................................................................................................... 189
Monotheism and Polytheism in Loyalty ................................................................................. 189
Ferociousness of the Conflict of Loyalties .............................................................................. 190
The Theatre of Conflict Entails a Stand and Rejects Onlookers ........................................... 190
Elements and Instance of Loyalty ............................................................................................ 191
1. Obedience and Submission ................................................................................................... 191
2. Love and Sincerity to God the Glorious ............................................................................... 191
3. Helping God, His Messenger (s) and the believers .............................................................. 191
Direction in Loyalty ................................................................................................................. 192
Repudiation .............................................................................................................................. 194
An Analysis of the State of Challenge and Confrontation Between Monotheism and
Polytheism ................................................................................................................................... 195
Loyalty Is Within the Domain of Monotheism ...................................................................... 197
True Guardianship Is Only by God's Permission, Within the Domain of His
Guardianship and By His Appointment ................................................................................. 198
The Role and Importance of Guardianship in the Life of the Community ........................ 199
Arrogance and Abasement ....................................................................................................... 201
Features of the Conflict Between Truth and Falsehood ........................................................ 202
The Incident of Al-Taff: A Touchstone for Loyalty and Repudiation ................................. 208
The First Speech of Imam Husayn's (as) Uprising ............................................................... 213
1. Listen! Anyone Who Will Sacrifice His Life For our Sake ................................................ 214
2. 'Who Will Sacrifice? ............................................................................................................... 215
3. 'For Our Sake'.......................................................................................................................... 217
4. Sincerity ................................................................................................................................... 218
5. Reconciling Oneself ............................................................................................................... 219
6. Meeting God ........................................................................................................................... 221
7. Let Them Set Out.................................................................................................................... 223
8. 'With Us' .................................................................................................................................. 224
9. 'If God Wills' ........................................................................................................................... 226
Publisher’s Foreword
In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful
The invaluable legacy of the Household [Ahl al-Bayt] of the Prophet (may
peace be upon them all), as preserved by their followers, is a comprehensive
school of thought that embraces all branches of Islamic knowledge. This
school has produced many brilliant scholars who have drawn inspiration
from this rich and pure resource. It has given many scholars to the Muslim
ummah who, following in the footsteps of Imams of the Prophet’s Household
(as), have done their best to clear up the doubts raised by various creeds and
currents within and without Muslim society and to answer their questions.
Throughout the past centuries, they have given well-reasoned answers and
clarifications concerning these questions and doubts.
To meet the responsibilities assigned to it, the Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly
(ABWA) has embarked on a defense of the sanctity of the Islamic message and
its verities, often obscured by the partisans of various sects and creeds as well
as by currents hostile to Islam. The Assembly follows in the footsteps of the
Ahl al-Bayt (as) and the disciples of their school of thought in its readiness to
confront these challenges and tries to be on the frontline in consonance with
the demands of every age.
The arguments contained in the works of the scholars belonging to the School
of the Ahl al-Bayt (as) are of unique significance. That is because they are based
on genuine scholarship and appeal to reason, and avoid prejudice and bias.
These arguments address scholars and thinkers in a manner that appeals to
healthy minds and wholesome human nature.
To assist the seekers of truth, the Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly has endeavored
to present a new phase of these arguments contained in the studies and
translations of the works of contemporary Shī‘ah writers and those who have
embraced this sublime school of thought through divine blessing.
The Assembly is also engaged in edition and publication of the valuable
i
Ashura
works of leading Shī‘ah scholars of earlier ages to assist the seekers of the truth
in discovering the truths which the School of the Prophet’s Household (as)
has offered to the entire world.
The Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly looks forward to benefit from the opinions
of the readers and their suggestions and constructive criticism in this area.
We also invite scholars, translators and other institutions to assist us in
propagating the genuine Islamic teachings as preached by the Prophet
Muhammad (s).
We beseech God, the Most High, to accept our humble efforts and to enable
us to enhance them under the auspices of Imam al-Mahdī (as), His vicegerent
on the earth (may Allah expedite his advent).
We express our gratitude to Ayatullah Muhammad-Mahdi Asifi, the authors of
the present book, and Umar Kumu, its translator. We also thank our
colleagues who have participated in producing this work, especially the staff
of the Translation Office.
Cultural Affairs Department
Ahl al-Bayt (as) World Assembly
ii
