Seekers' thoughts

With the commencement of the month of Muharram, marking the new Islamic Year, comes the remembrance and commemoration of the day of Ashura – a monumental day in Islamic history, one of the holiest days in one of the holy months. Ashura, or the 10th of Muharram, is a day in which the great event marking Allah’s Mercy, Favour and Grace was displayed: Musa (peace be upon him) and his people escaped the tyranny of Pharaoh through the miracle that God granted Musa, to split the sea.¹ To honour and commemorate this, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), as he had already practised prior to the command of fasting in Ramadan², would fast this day and taught the Muslims to do the same.³ 

It was also on this day that we see what seems to be one of the darkest days in all of Islamic history. It was on the day of Ashura, the 10th of Muharram, that the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him), led by his grandson Imam al-Hussain, and some of their close supporters were massacred and martyred. No scene can be more heart wrenching than the beautiful Imam holding his 6 month year old son, Ali al-Asghar in his arms, who is dying of thirst, only for the small infant to have his dry throat quenched with blood rather than water – his own blood. From an arrow shot into his innocent neck.⁴ 

Can you imagine that this day can be called a mercy? In this series of posts, I will explore the different mercies found in this most tragic day.

As someone who has cried more due to this day, and more for this family, than anything else in my life – especially as someone who isn’t moved to tears much – it would seem strange to call such a tragedy a mercy. Yet that is the theme and motif for Ashura that Allah had set. Such is the mercy of this day that fasting it even expiates for the sins of the year.⁵ 

So why would the beloved grandson of the Prophet (peace be upon them), the one whom the Prophet himself named, raised, cuddled and played with, placed up on his shoulders for all to see and admire⁶, chosen to be from the Prophet’s chosen ones alongside al-Hussain’s brother, father and mother (the Ahlul Kisaa)⁷, the one who stood up to tyranny without large support or protection from people, the one who sacrificed it all for the religion of Islam to remain firm and pure from the influence of tyranny – why would the day of his tragic murder and the murder of his sons and nephews and supporters be a day of mercy? What is Allah trying to show us here? 

The ones who dive into the rank and reality of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) can only fall in love and deeper devotion; those who do so cannot but love and cry for al-Hussain, the beloved of God’s beloved. And it is in this that there is mercy for us. That the best of his time, al-Hussain, was treated in such a manner; neither his piety, his bloodline, his name or honour was recognised and yet he remained and forever remains the King and the Master (of all martyrs), truly. In this there is mercy for every oppressed and unrecognised, that recognition only matters from those with the right eyes to see. Your suffering is not unnoticed and you are not alone; for Hussain suffered yet He knew he was with the Truth, with God, and was going to meet Him.

For every soul suffering, when you hear how the grandson of the Prophet suffered, your pain decreases. Your burden lightens. Why? Because who are we? What are we compared to him? While Islam teaches us that trials and tribulations are expiation for sins, what sin did Hussain have? He was born from purity, from light and was pure, was light. As Imam Ahmed Rida Khan wrote in his poetry, that the Prophet is the source of Nur (light), and his household is that of Nur (light)! What large expiation was Hussain in need of when he was purified by Allah in accordance to the Ayat-ut-Tatheer, where the Prophet (peace be upon him) enshrouded his 4 family members (the Ahlul Kisaa) to include them in the meaning of the verse of the Qur’an “And Allah only wants to remove impurity, sin, from you, O people of the [Prophet’s] household, and to purify you with [a thorough] purification.” This was not about being forgiven through trials as we are; this was something different. This was about sacrificing for the Ummah.

Such is the mercy we find in this tragedy. If you’re suffering and in pain, read the tale of Karbala, learn about Hussain and the family of the Prophet (peace be upon them). Surely, your pain will decrease. He suffered so we could find relief. He suffered so we could keep our eyes on the bigger picture even when distressed, like he did amidst pain and hardship, so that we don’t forget our reality. That reality is: “Surely we belong to Allah and surely to Him we will return.”⁸

1.  Qur’an Surah, Surah Ash-Shu’ara, verse 63 https://quran.com/ash-shuara/63 ; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1130c https://sunnah.com/muslim:1130c 
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2.  Jami’ at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 753 https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:753 
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3.  Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1129a https://sunnah.com/muslim:1129a 
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4. Madinah to Karbala by Hadrat Faqih al-Millah, Mufti Jalal al-Deen Ahmad al-Amjadi, refer to sub-chapter “The Martyrdom of Sayyiduna Ali Asghar” under chapter “The Miracles of Imam Hussain at Karbala”. ↩︎
5.  Jami’ at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 752 https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:752 
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6.  Madinah to Karbala, refer to chapter “Sayyid-ush-shuhadaa Imam Hussain” for such details on virtues of Imam Hussain.
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7.  Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2424 https://sunnah.com/muslim:2424 
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8. Qur’an, Surah Baqarah, Verse 156 https://quran.com/al-baqarah/156 ↩︎