The message of Karbala

 

The message of Karbala

By S. Irtiza Husain

IN an article published in this newspaper on the eve of Ashura, 9th August, 1989, an attempt was made to summarise the develop­ment and evolution of the com­memoration of the tragedy of Karbala, that is to say, of the ritual of Azadari.

In that article, without suggesting any dis­parity or contradistinction between the themes more pronounced in different ages, three main approaches were mentioned. The first, and what formed and has stayed as the permanent basis of the commemoration remained "risa" (root of the word "marsia"), that is, mourning the loss of the martyrs, in particular of the Prince of Martyrs, and lamenting over the sufferings, cruelties and indignities perpetrated on the martyrs and, after them, on the vener­ated Prophet's (peace be upon him) family the ahl-e-bait.

This basis was laid down actually by Bibi Zainab (A.S.) herself who, when Yezid, for his own reasons, decided to free the ahl-e-bait from cap­tivity, and enquired about any wish of her, said just "we haven't had the opportunity to mourn our martyrs," and asked for "a house, a place where we can do that without being disturbed."

That is when and how the first majlis-e-aza was held, which is being followed to date and will con­tinue to be followed as long as thought can reach.

The second approach has been that of try­ing to understand and explain the meaning of the martyrdom in religious-cum- meta­physical terms, as, for instance, in the famous quatrain of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (Rah. A.).

Khwaja Gharib Nawaz highlighted the essential teaching of the faith and that the Imam re-inforced its foundation.

With the passage of time and with the spread of Islam among different peoples, with different backgrounds, in different localities, with different temperaments and different intellectual and cultural milieus in various regions more and varied approaches of understanding the significance of the martyrdom developed.

In Iran, Afghanistan (only as a political phenomenon dating back to not earlier than 1747), Pakistan and India, the approach of the mystics (sufia-e-kiram) perhaps exercised the most profound and extended influence over the people. Two, out of the hundreds of thousands of verses and prose writings, illus­trating the mystic's approach iriay be quot­ed:

(What I desire are arrows, spears, daggers and swords to wound me, do not try to join — —„„,,„„ heransp its is Shabbir's (A.S.) path which I desire (to follow); and (The story of love has two chapters — Karbala and Damascus, one was written by Husain (A.S.) and the other by Zainab(A.S.).

I recall an interesting episode in this connection. My maternal uncle, Chaudhri Jaafar Mehdi Razm Rudaulvi had composed a new marsia and Shah Hayat Ahmad Shah, the Sajjada-nashin of the dargah of Makhdoom Shah Saliib (and father-in-law of Maulana Jamal Mian Faranqi Mahali) and also a distant relation, arranged a majlis for the recital of the marsia-e-nau tasnif. When the poet, Razm Sahib, read out a line: (who can understand what in reality was Imam Husain), the Shah Sahib spontaneous­ly exclaimed: "Isay humari hi qoum samjhti hai" (only we people, the sufis, understand that).

Coming nearer our time and our own region in recent times, the status of the Muslim peoples, all of whom, except the Turks and, to a consiaerame extent, me Iranians, were either full-fledged Western colonies or disguised as Protectorates, was gnawing at their hearts.

The fire of freedom from Western, i.e, both alien and non- and even anti-Muslim domination was raging in their hearts, and in their struggle against unjust colonial rule, inspiration was sought from the martyrdom at Karbala (and also other sources.) Thus, a political dimension to the meaning of the tragedy was added.

As time marched and consciousness of human rights on the one hand and of the importance of peace among nations on the other developed, these two themes were added to those inspired by the martyrdom. The last mentioned formed the subject of the article written on Ashoora last year. It goes without saying that as human knowl­edge, experience and understanding of the relationship between the Creator and the created grows, more themes will continue to be added.

In short, all these interpretations mean ultimately one thing, that Karbala has no substitute. Its message is universal, for all people and for all times. It also means that the Imam's work is so compact, so complete, so perfect, and so abiding that its meaning cannot be comprehended by any one people and at any one particular time. Its under­standing is a continuing and un-ending process.

But, at the same time, it is so magnetic and compelling that die urge to expound its meaning would never fade, never slacken, never cease.

Karbala and its message reiterate the eternal truth, the truth that achieving God's pleasure is the only real object worth striv­ing for.

Once that becomes man's purpose, every other feeling, thought, or urge ceases to hold any significance. The journey on this path is long and arduous. It is beset by obstructions, distractions, attractions, temptations, desires, tribulations, terror and tortures, fears, and sorrows.

But one whose eyes are set on this goal of seeking God's pleasure (Razai Ilahi) sets them aside one by one as he continues to face them until he reaches his goal and, as it were, comes face to face before the Ultimate Reality, the Reality he had been seeking. There is no short-cut in this journey. All pos­sible adversities, tribulations, opposition and obstructions have to be faced without flinching, without faltering, without any weakening of resolve, and without succumb­ing to the attractions of compromising as an easy and perhaps even 'rewarding' and 'profitable' way out.

The path taken by the Imam is described metaphorically in Maulana Roomi's couplet cited above in this article and shows the dif­ficulties man has to face on this journey but the Imam (A.s.) did not bend before them. And, as it were, armed with his unshakeable faith in God, which in turn reinforced his faith in the righteousness of his cause, he proceeded on his journey towards his goal, without fear, ultimately over­whelming and conquering all the possible forces which had been arraigned against him and not being vanquished by them.

Then what is the message of Karabla? It is that the object defines the means of achieve­ment. The greater the object the higher is the sacrifice required to gain it. The object in the Imam's eyes was sc great that no sacrifice was toe high.

The Imam (A.S.) perceive quite clearly how the awami, bil maroof and Nahi ani munkar were being openb flouted, not only the Sheair were being discarded but gradually the message brought by and all the values taught by his revered grandfather (peace be upon him) were being assaile relentlessly and ceaselessly and the day was not very far when, if this trend was nc checked and checked with all the force at his command all the exertions and efforts ( the holy Prophet will be undone.

The Imam had two choices, either to fol­low the line of least resistance and go along with the majority in the direction in which they were going and thus lend his moral sup­port to the prevalent trend or to rise and check this trend with all the strength he could muster.

The main force at his command was his faith and with its help he adopted the course of action which the conditions demanded of him.

As submitted above, in a way, the inter­pretation of the message of Karbala has varied from age to age. But the one factor which has remained constant is the mes­sage of faith in God and of the duty to respond to the call of this message. It is for the individual to realize what his response should be.

The Imam (A.S.) knew that the very roots of the message brought by the holy Prophet were being relentlessly assailed and, if unchecked, would become invincible with the passage of time and lead to catastroph­ic consequences for the faith. At the same time he also realized that the situation was demanding the highest sacrifices and he alone was in a position to offer these sacri­fices.

That was the duty required of him. And he did perform what was his duty at Karabla. I apologise for the repetition but I cannot help repeating, yet one more time what the Imam (A.S.) after offering the sac­rifice of all of his friends, companions, rela­tives and family culminating in that of the last one, his infant son, Ali Asghar, and had nobody else left to offer except his own self which too he would and did a little while later, said to his Maker only.