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The Imam (a) put his hand on the pulse of both the nation and
the government and when he found that the government was
deviating from the way of the true religion, he took hold of the
nation to straighten this deviation. He (a) said:
‘Now, I summon you to revive the features of the truth and to slay
innovation. If you answer my call then you will be guided to the
ways of righteousness.’
‘And I summon you to the book of Allah and to the way of His
prophet. If you hear what I say and follow me I will lead you to
the path of righteousness.’
This uprising was and remains a model for all other liberationist
uprisings in the world against oppressors. This uprising was the
‘big bang’, which prepared the way for a succession of revolutions
and motivated those involved in the struggle to defend the sacred
values of Islam and taught them the art of combating tyranny and
to be steadfast in the struggle until they achieved a life of nobility
and freedom. The nation then is a great power, and government
has no power if the legality of its existence has not acquired the
approval of the sacred law (shari’ah) and the nation. The nation
must grasp however, that for the legal government to be righteous
the nation must also be righteous. On this note, the renowned
[8]
scholar Sheikh al-Baha’i says:
‘There is no fault in the religion of Islam itself, rather the fault lies
in the Muslims themselves.’
Imam Hussein (a), through his uprising, pointed out the way for
the future generations and made clear the path to solving the
problems of society and attaining the happiness of this life and the
nobility of the next. When Islamic society indeed put into practice
some of these Islamic teachings it lived a life of prosperity and
nobility as history witnessed in the days of Sayyid al-Murtada and
Sheikh al-Mufid and Allamah al-Hilli and Sheikh al-Karaki and
Sheikh al-Baha’i and Allamah al-Majlisi (May Allah venerate their
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Teachings of Islam
These two descriptors; the lantern and the ship, apply to all the
fourteen impeccable personages namely; The Prophet Muhammad
(s), ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (a), Fatima al-Zahra’ (a), Hassan al-Mujtaba
(a), Hussein al-Shahid (a), ‘Ali al-Sajjad (a), Muhammad al-Baqir
(a), Ja’far al-Sadiq (a), Musa al-Kadhim (a), ‘Ali al-Rida (a),
Muhammad al-Jawad (a), ‘Ali al-Hadi (a), Hassan al-‘Askari (a),
and Muhammad al-Mahdi (a). The Prophet (s) himself is the
greatest lantern and ship. Allah has said: {]O you the
Prophet, surely We have sent you as a witness
and a bringer of glad tidings and a warner and
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Teachings of Islam
‘I leave behind me the two weighty things; the book of Allah and
my household. As long as you adhere to these two you will never
go astray after me ever.’
‘By my life, the Imam is none but one who rules by the book and
stands up for justice and equity and follows the religion of Allah
and restrains himself for the sake of Allah.’
‘O Allah, you know that what we did was not out of competition
for worldly power, nor were we seeking the vanities of this world,
but we desired to see the features of your religion and reform in
your land and so that the oppressed of your servants might find
respite and so that your commands and laws might be carried out.’
‘Your wealth does not belong to you unless you spend it in the
way of Allah. Therefore do not leave it as a store for those who
come after you, when you yourself will be held responsible for it.
Know that you will not survive to make use of it and it will not
remain for you, so consume it before it consumes you.’
it raises its ugly head. Often, it is a low intellectual level that is the
cause of the deviancy of the youth and takes them to prisons and
detention centres, and to the grave or exile. Hence, those who
host gatherings and administrators must exhort the preachers to
deliver the best possible psychological, social, historical, doctrinal,
and other analyses. The speakers best equipped to carry out this
task must be invited and their lectures must be recorded and
published and distributed amongst the people to stir their
emotions and direct them towards the good and the right and
towards reform and so that a wealth of information is available in
all fields and aspects.
Islam is a world religion for the rescue of all people from darkness.
It is not the religion of one thousand million Muslims only.
However, this calls for great a deal of support. Is it not a source of
regret that there are no more than one hundred Muslim
missionaries working outside Islamic countries, whereas statistics
show that the number of Christian missionaries in Africa is ten
thousand and in Asia ninety thousand all equipped with all the aids
and technology they need and whose task is to convert the Asians
and Africans to Christianity? They have succeeded in converting
tens of millions in these two continents.
‘The running of affairs and rulings are in the hands of the scholars
of Allah who are certain of that which Allah has made lawful or
unlawful.’
Then the despotic organisations in all their forms will vanish, and
power will be distributed amongst all the classes and groups
whether that be power of governing or arms or knowledge or
wealth. Capabilities will appear and bear fruit and the realities of
knowledge in the fields of agriculture, manufacture, trade,
education, and in the military will be become manifest. The lands
snatched from Islam will be returned and their people will be
rescued from the claws of colonisers. All this however requires an
increase in sincerity of purpose combined with piety in the issues
of Imam Hussein (a). For Allah accepts the works of the pious as
he has said: {]Indeed Allah accepts from the
Back to Ashura
[1]
This is the translation of an article that appeared in the Arabic Kuweiti
periodical ‘al-Menbar’, issue 11 (2nd Year), April 2001, p.18. Translated by Ali
Adam, London.
[2]
A researcher in the Centre for Islamic Education, London.
[3]
The name Karbala is a contraction of karbun wa bala’, an Arabic compound
name literally meaning tragedy and affliction.
[4]
Imam Rida (a) (d. 818 C.E.) is the eighth Imam of Ahl-ul-Bayt.
[5]
(a) is an abbreviation of ‘aleihi as-salaam’ meaning upon whom be peace,
which is used as a term of respect after the mention of the names of the Imams.
Similarly, (s) is an abbreviation of ‘salla llahu ‘aleihi wa aalihi wa sallam’
meaning may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him and his family, which
is used after the mention of the name of the Prophet Muhammad for the same
reason.
[6]
Ashura is the tenth day of the month of Muharram, the day on which the
slaughter took place.
[7]
Al-Taff is another name for Karbala.
[8]
Not to be confused with the founder of the Baha’i religion.