Humanity comes alive at a place and time when people gather in the love of the grandson of Holy Prophet Muhammad (saww), Imam Husain Ibn Ali (as). The place would look even more appealing and spiritually enchanting when you steal a visit away from the din of the materialistic pursuits.
Sheikh Anjum Husain:
Humanity comes alive at a place and time when people gather in the love of the grandson of Holy Prophet Muhammad (saww), Imam Husain Ibn Ali (as). The place would look even more appealing and spiritually enchanting when you steal a visit away from the din of the materialistic pursuits.
Arba’een marks the 40th day of after the fateful and tragic day of Ashura. It has come down to us from various sources of Islamic history that it was the day when the famous companion of Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari (ra) reached Karbala as the first visitor to pay respect to the martyrs of Karbala. And it is said to be this very day when lady Zainab (sister of Imam Husain) lead the caravan of captives and reached back to Karbala for the same purpose as Jabir bin Abdullah.
Since then the day came to be known as Arba’een (which in Arabic means ‘the 40th’). And ever since, the lovers of Imam Husain (as) irrespective of their religious and political belief marking this annual event. Some do it at their respective places by arranging a Majlis (religious gathering addressed by a scholar and wherein eulogies and poetic tributes are paid to the slain martyrs) or a procession while some are privileged enough to visit in person the holy shrine of Imam Husain (as) and other martyrs of Karbala.
Najaf to Karbala, twin holy cities of Iraq housing the revered shrines of Imam Ali (as) and Imam Husain (as) respectively, is a stretch of about 80 kms. Millions of pilgrims ( without any exaggeration), walk the entire stretch every year in the run up to mark the 40th day of mourning the tragedy of Karbala. The connecting road is dotted with hundreds of makeshift camps called ‘Mokab’ where people from different walks (especially those from the host country) arrange food stalls, resting and prayer rooms for the visiting pilgrims. And all of it for free. For millions. Sounds incredible. It’s to be seen to be believed.
The walk is in remembrance of the events that followed the event of Ashura (10th Muharram) wherein the world witnessed the forces of the tyrant ruler Yazid parading the revered women of the holy household of Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (saww) barefood and without their head-covering/hijab, from city to city through the cheering crowds of ignorant masses because they had been fed with propaganda against Imam Husain (as).
Girls as young as of 5 years could be seen distributing water and tissues and dates to visitors, in remembrance of the 4 or 5 year old girl Hazrat Ruqayyah, the beloved daughter of Imam Husain (as) who had to bear and witness the treacherous treatment meted out to the side of her father.
Innumerable lessons could be learnt from this historic event of Arba’een. What stands out from the journey the valiant daughter of Imam Ali (as) Hazrat Zeynab had to take is her exemplary role to safeguard the mission of Islam; in essence the mission of her slain brother Imam Husain (as).
Zeynab per se is a great teacher of humanity and preacher of Islam in all respects. Why the tyrant governor of Kufa, Obaidullah Ibn Ziyad, taunts her saying , “How do you view the way God treated your brother and household?”
Lady Zaynab responded,
مارأيت إلا جميلا
I saw nothing but all of it [the sacrifices in the way of Allah beautiful.”
With this powerful statement, she destroyed the pride and arrogance that this tyrant possessed or that this tyrant was possessed by.
This holds for every human being and more so for a Muslim great lesson of ultimate devotion and finding strength in the face of the worst of hardest of trials and tribulations. We can very well related to this lesson in our era as we are seeing the couragingeous and amazingly resilient people of Palestine going through the worst possible and yet what we can find on their tongues is the praise of Allah. We often see them repeating that “Allah is enough for us and what a good advocate He is!”.
On the eve of Arbaeen, Karbala in Iraq shows amazing hospitality and care for the guests who comes from every nook and corner of the globe. We learn the lesson of selflessness from these people because that’s what Islam teaches and that what the love of Imam Husain inspires them to do. That we must care for our guests and ensure that their stay remains hassle free in our country, in our home. That we must always put others before ourselves. That’s one beautiful way of the earning the pleasure of Allah as He has laid great emphasis on the rights of his creation (huqooq ul ‘ebaad). That we all as one nation of Islam must live as one big family with utmost love and respect for each other. The unity of Muslims is the need of the current times and this goals must be adhered to in letter and spirit. The whole Muslim world is going through a crucial phase in time. From every corner of the globe, the enemies of Islam have upped the ante to support the evil child killer regime of Israel. It’s incumbent (and obligatory according to the teachings of the Holy Quran) for all Muslims to join hands to work towards unity and eliminate in a serene manner all ways leading to discord within the nation of Islam. Unity among Muslims is the most potent threat for the enemies of Islam. This has to be understood in a global geopolitical context.
