lessons from karbala
Contributed by Faiyaz Jaffer
A’udhu billahi min al-shaytaan Al-rajim. Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim. Wa bihi nasta’in. Wa as-salatu wa as-salamu ‘alaa Sayyidina wa nabiyyina Muhammadin wa ‘alaa ahli-baytihi, at-tayyibin, at-tahirin. A’dhama-Llahu ujuruna wa ujurakum bi masaa’ibina bi Sayyidina wa mawlaana Abi ‘Abdillah al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salatu wa as-salam.
I begin the name of God, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful, and peace and ever- lasting blessings be upon the best of his creations and the last of its Prophets and Apostles, Chief of His messengers, Muhammad and his immaculate progeny, the Ahlul Bayt peace and everlasting blessings be upon them.
My sincere condolences to all of my dear sisters and brothers on these days in which we commemorate and recollect the tragedy of our master, the leader of the youth of paradise, the grandson of the Messenger of God, Abi ‘Abdillah, al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salatu wa as-salam.
During the course of the next several days inshaAllahi Ta’ala, I hope to reflect upon a couple of very basic ethical spiritual lessons that we derive from the tragedy of Karbala’ and from the story of Imam Al-Husayn peace and blessings be upon him.
At the end of the day, these are days which really strike our heart in a very unique way, ‘Inna la qatala al-Husayn haraaratun fi qulubi al-mu’minin la tabrudu abadan’ The words of the Messenger of God when he states that, ‘Surely the killing of Al-Husayn, the martyrdom of Al-Husayn peace and blessings be upon him is a fire that burns in the heart of the believers and will never subside.’ And naturally, this intensity that we have over the epic tragedy and the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salam allows for us in a very unique way to reconnect with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala because we see that everything that Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salam does is for God, because the only thing that he saw on the 10th of Muharram, was Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala all around him.
That even when you fast forward to when Lady Zainab ‘alayha as-salam, was in the presence of ‘Ubaydullah Ibn Ziyaad, in Kufa and when he asks her, what did you see on that day in which your brother and your family, your children and your brothers were all butchered? To which she responds with her epic line, ‘ ma ra’aytu illa jamila’- ‘I saw nothing but beauty’ because she saw Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala beyond that what she saw on the surface.
And when we, as individuals, recollect and remembering, go through the storytelling of the tragedy of Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salatu wa as-salam, at the same time, it is an opportunity for us to remember what is our ultimate goal and our ultimate objective and our ultimate purpose in the same way. Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam takes all of the steps and strides in order to demonstrate his closeness and his proximity to his Lord and similarly, we need to be a community and a people who do the same.
Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salam is not solely understood like we know on the tenth of Muharram, we can understand the unique relationship that he has with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala, for instance, reading and reflecting upon du’a ‘Arafah of Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam that he recites during the days of Hajj, where he communicates this unique relationship between him and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and at the same time, we understand how incredibly generous and how incredibly merciful and compassionate our Lord is to us.
What I am trying to say is that amongst the most focal points that are often neglected when we talk about the tragedy of Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam in terms of a way that we can implement the lessons that we learn from the leader of the youth of paradise is in terms of God- consciousness.
Within the religion of Islam, upwards of two hundred times within the whole Qur’an, Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala mentions the word taqwa in one of its various derivatives and taqwa comes from the root word that means ‘to shield or to protect’. And this shield or protection is not meant to be a shield or protection against something physical, but rather any sort of spiritual deviations that have the potential to attract or push away our hearts and souls from where they accurately need to be and of course, that is in the presence of our Lord.
And often times when we talk about the word taqwa, it is really hard to translate, we often translate it as piety or God-consciousness. It means to feel the presence of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala at every moment during the course of our lives. When we are standing, when we are bowing, when we are prostrating, we truly feel the presence of God. When you are eating, when you are walking, when you are working, when you are doing anything, you feel the presence of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. That is not to say that every single one of us overnight can reach that state. No, it takes time toward building to that capacity.
And we recognize from the story and from the life of Imam Al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam that even in moments of incredible trials and tribulations, the only thing that he saw was Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. When the six month old infant of his is in his hands and he is struck the Imam ‘alayhi as-salam states, ‘hawwana maa nazala bi innahu bi ayni Illah…. That ‘it is comforting to my heart and suffices me that I know that this tragedy is in the eyes of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.
When he brings back his son, ‘Ali al-Akbar on that tenth of Muharram back behind the tents, imagine how painful that must have been for Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam, he remembers Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala as a Creator as he calls out Allahu Akbar!
Even when the Imam ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam, he was alone and when he had been struck and when he was falling down from that horse on the tenth of Muharram, in those final moments of his, he calls out, ‘Bismillahi wa bi-Llah wa ‘alaa millati Rasulillah’ that I begin in the name of God, and in the way of God and following in the footsteps of my grandfather, the Messenger of God salla-Llahu ‘alayhi wa aalih. The only thing on his mind Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salam was Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.
Which is why when we understand when Zainab ‘alayha as-salam says in the courts of ‘Ubaydallah Ibn Ziyaad: ‘The only thing that I saw was beauty’ because she recognized the true meaning, the true essence of sacrifice. She recognizes the true meaning and the true essence of doing everything in the way of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.
The stand and the tragedy and the martyrdom of al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam was in order to revive a community that had lost this idea and this notion of God-consciousness, of the remembrance of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala at every moment. When one sees God, there is nothing else that is enjoyable in the course of their lives.
For instance, if you go ahead and you take a look at those most specific moments during the course of your life or upon reflection of my own life when you felt most connected to your Creator. Maybe it is the first time that your eyes glanced at the Holy Ka’bah. Maybe it is in the midst of the recitation of Du’a Abu Hamza al-Thumaali or Du’a Jawshan al-Kabir. Maybe it is when you perform the night prayer in the darkness of the night while everyone else is sleeping.
All of these incredibly unique moments during the course of your life in which you feel a sense of contention or connectivity, excuse me, and contentment with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. There is no moments like that, nothing else matters to you, not your family, not your children, not your hunger, nothing matters to you except being in a moment of what is known as ‘taladhdhudh’- that you are actually enjoying the delicate nature of munaajaat with the Lord of the Worlds, it is something beautiful.
And Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam as tragic and as difficult and as heart wrenching the moments of the tenth of Muharram from beginning to end were for Imam al-Husayn salamu-Llahi ‘alayh and his family, the only thing that he saw around him was his Creator.
We see that on the tenth of Muharram when the Imam ‘alayhi as-salam is fighting after every one of his family members and every one of his companions had been killed. One of the members of the army of ‘Umar ibn Sa’d narrated in the maqtal literature states ‘undhuru ilayh, laa yubaali bi al-mawt’- that ‘Look at this man, death is not even at the front of his mind’ because the only thing that Imam Al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam saw was being in a state of obedience and worship of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.
So I conclude with this as a reminder to myself and as a reminder to all my dear sisters and brothers that during these days and nights of Muharram in which we recollect and story-tell the tragedy of Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam let it not be days that are void of God-consciousness, of the remembrance of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.
By our love, by our adoration, by our loyalty, by our fidelity to Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam, it is important that we utilize the inspiration that we gain during the course of these nights to purify our prayers, our acts of worship, our obedience to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. Walk in the footsteps of Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam, to be vigilant and to be careful of the way that we speak with others, the way that we engage with others, the way that we engage with our Lord.
An idea whereby we truly feel the presence of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala in the same way that we take lesson and inspiration from Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhi as-salat wa as-salam’s actions. And that through that determination and through that will that we have to truly feel the sense of God-consciousness we will find that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala will place His love in our hearts and allow for us to only see Him in the midst of all of our actions and deeds.
We ask Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala for tawfiq. Wa al-Hamdulillah Rabb Al-‘Aalameen, wa salli-Llahumma ‘alaa Sayyidina wa nabiyyina Muhammad, wa ‘alaa ahli baytihi, at-tayyibin, at-tahirin.
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