It is time for Muslims to come out of their comfort zones and understand their history better, especially the disastrous subversion of Khilafah into kingship with its attendant bloodshed including the martyrdom of Imam Husain.
Imam Husayn (ra) sacrificed his life and that of his family for a very important principle: to save Islam from corrupt rulers. Regrettably, like Imam Husayn, today’s Husayns also stand alone in the world.
If Muslims want to learn how hadith literature has been distorted, these two books will help them in this quest.
2Every year, in the month of Muharram, millions of Shi'as and Sunnis alike, mourn Imam Husayn's martyrdom. It is regrettable, however, that of these mourners very few focus their attention on the objective for which the Imam not only sacrificed his life but also the lives of his kith and kin. It is but natural for his family members and those who foster feelings of love, respect and empathy for his family to express their grief over his martyrdom.
The sacred month of Muharram follows the sacred month of Dhul Hijjah. Salina Khan argues that the true significance of Ashura and the martyrdom of Imam Hussain must be addressed honestly to create awareness among Muslims about issues of legitimacy, justice, dignity and freedom in Islam.
I must be a bigger fuddy-duddy than I thought because I’m finding the rich-and-famous lifestyles of many religious scholars quite scandalous.
History repeats itself. The less people know their history, the more inclined they are to repeat it. We find this particularly applicable to the affairs of the Muslim Ummah. For example, we know the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the Muslim world, testament to the glory and magnificence of Islam and a matter of pride for Muslims.
Muslims worldwide have just commemorated the tragic events of Karbala when more than 1,300 years ago Imam Husain, his family and a small group of committed Muslims were massacred by the army of Yazid...
There has been much written and said and much continues to be written and said about Imam Hosein and the role he played in history. The ancients have explained him one way and the innovating intellectuals in another. But as I realized recently, we cannot know what Imam Hosein has done without understanding what the meaning of martyrdom really is.
In this month of Muharram, as Muslims all over the world remember and mark the martyrdom of Imam Husain (ra) at Karbala, ZAFAR BANGASH, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought, relates those events to our current situation
In the year 61 AH, 680 AD the martyrdom of Imam Husain [AS], grandson of the Prophet [sAW] and the third among the Imams [AS], took place. It was plain from the narrative elements that this was an extremely tragic event. In part it is the extremity of the atrocious death to which Imam Husain [AS], his companions and relatives were subjected that has anchored Karbala and the memory of Imam Husain [AS] in the Shi’i consciousness. Of course from one point of view it might be said that all of the Imams insofar as they had the quality of Imam are equal and no distinction is to be made among them, in the same way that the Quran tells us that an article of Islamic belief is not to make distinction among any of the messengers – to accept all of them with respect to their quality of Prophethood – not to affirm for one and deny for the other.
1Imam Husayn, the son of Imam Ali (a), was born on the 3rd of Sha'ban, 4AH (626 CE). Like his brother Hasan (a), the Imam was very close to his grandfather the Prophet (s), and resembled him in appeareance. His name was given to him by the Prophet, and is the dimunitive form of the Arabic 'Hasan'. The Prophet recited adhan in his ear at birth, and foretold the fated of the Imam at Karbala, calling him "Sayyid ash-Shuhada".
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