Karbala Tragedy shows where to find True Islam
Karbala Tragedy shows where to find True Islam
Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria
The leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, delivered a closing lecture of 1435 Ashura mourning gathering on 30thMuharram 1435 (December1, 2013).
According to ABNA, in his lecture he described the Epic of Ashura as a historic tragedy which became a landmark in the history of humanity as it affects humanity in general despite failed efforts to cover it up or distort it.
He added that many gave different reasons as to why the killers committed such inhuman killings, while others tried to give it different meanings. If the aim of the perpetrators was to kill then which meaning can be given to denying the Imam and his family water to drink! Why cutting the arms of the one who fetched the water (Hazrat Abbas) and killing him!? What is the meaning of killing a suckling child in the hand of his father(Killing of the infant Ali Asghar in the arms of Imam Husain (AS) as he pleaded for water for the child)!!!
He questioned: What is the meaning of beheading after killings? Why razing the tents and the beating of women; why dragging the women barefooted to Damascus? Why putting the heads of spears? All this crimes were committed by a people who claimed to be the followers of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).
Nothing can be derived from this senseless act except the highest level of enmity towards the Prophet(SAWA) and his Ahl al-Bayt- the enmity which started since the advent of Islam. At that time they could not ‘kill’ the religion as Allah saved it. Now they got opportunity, according to their logic, to completely do away with Islam by killing its save guarders
The aim of Karbala, said the Nigerian Islamic leader,was to totally obliterate Islam. Yazid even wanted to kill all the children of Imam Husain (AS) so that Islam will become a history.
He pointed out: The Prophet had explicitly said ‘I leave two things (Thaqalayn) among you, so that you will never go astray after me – the Book of Allah and my Itrah, the Ahl al-Bayt’, so they wanted to kill the Itrah so that the religion will be lost.
The Prophet even explained the Itrah- they are 12 Infallible Imams. The Itrah and the Book of God are inseparable. So, they wanted to remove the Itrahin order to interpret the Qur’an according to their whims and desires.
However, it was not possible to wipe out the Itrah as the Karbala tragedy kept Islam alive, though they wanted to change Ashura to be a different matter such as ascribing to it events related to the previous prophets that had occurred on other days of the year, such as the miraculous parting of waters for Prophet Moses (AS); the miraculous turning of the blazing fire into a garden for Prophet Abraham (AS), etc.
Sheikh Zakzaky added that all this was part of an elaborate plot to overshadow the significance of the heartrending tragedy of the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS) on the 10th of Moharram (Ashura)!!!!
They did everything in the past to stop Ashura commemoration and even prevented people from visiting the shrine of Imam Husain(AS) in Karbala. During the Omayyad caliphate, people were discouraged from being named in honour of the Prophet’s Household – Ali or Fatemah, Hasan or Husian– because of the regime’s enmity towards Imam Ali(AS) and his followers. Even people with Ali’s name were killed.
The pilgrimage to the Imam’s shrine was banned even during the Abbasid Dynasty, when hands were cut for visiting Imam then.
All Praise be to God, said Sheikh Zakzaky, now the epic of Ashura is growing daily and this casts fears in the hearts of the enemies because it is impossible to obliterate it.
Ashura becomes a scale of differentiating the right religion of Islam from the wrong one. Anybody who wants to follow true Islam should know it from Karbala through Imam Husain(AS).
Karbala is a living affair which still exists and will to continue to live; one is either with Imam Husain (AS) or with his enemies; there is no question of neutrality in such a vital issue to determine faith and disbelief. Guidance lies with Imam Husain(AS) and Ashura is a clear evidence in this regard.