This article was written by Parma Abbas! Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. The word “Muharram” means forbidden which is derived from the word haram which also means sinful. Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar and is one of the four sacred months of the year. It is held to be the most sacred of all the months, excluding Ramadan. The tenth day of Muharram is the Day of Ashura, which to Shia Muslims is the main part of the Mourning of Muharram. Shia Muslims stop eating and drinking during sunlight hours to commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali on the Day of Ashura. The month of Muharram is mourned because Hussein ibn Ali entered Karbala (on the 2nd of Muharram) and Yazid’s forces banned their access to water within 5 days. On Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram Hussein ibn Ali was martyred in the Battle of Karbala. Muharram is well-known because of the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad. Imam Hussain and his family and friends sacrificed everything that they had in their struggle against tyranny and despotism and for upholding the human values of truth, justice and liberty of thought, word and deed. Yazid the oppressive ruler openly indulged in sinful activities like drinking, womanizing, terrorizing & yet claimed to be the rightful leader of Islam and demanded that Imam Hussain pay allegiance (bayaa) to him. When asked to give bay’aa to Yazid, Imam Hussain said, ‘’We are the household of the prophet hood, the source of messenger ship, the descending place of the angels, through us Allah had begun showering His favors, whereas Yazid is a sinful person, a drunkard, the killer of innocent people and one who openly indulges in sinful acts. A person like me can never do pay allegiance to a person like him. I look upon death as but the felicity of martyrdom and I regard life among oppressors and transgressors as nothing but agony and torture. By God I will never give you my hand like a man who has been defeated; nor will I flee like a slave.’’ Even though the month of Muharram lasts for 30 days, the mourning continues for 68 days and Shias begin mourning from the first night of Muharram and continue till the 8th of Rabi ul Awal, the third month of Islamic calendar. The last few days up until and including the Day of Ashura are the most important because these were the days in which Imam Hussein and his family and followers (including women, children and elderly people) were deprived of water from the 7th Muharram onward and on the 10th of Muharram, 72 people which included Imam Hussain and his followers were killed by the army of Yazid at the Battle of Karbala on Yazids orders. The surviving members of Imam Husseins family and those of his followers were taken captive, marched to Damascus, and imprisoned there. Till date the death of imam Hussain is mourned because he chose the righteous path and stood for what he believed in. Parma Abbas.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 09:54:09 +0000
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