Muharram and Karbala

Photo: Tanvir Ahmed / Driknews

Muharram is here once again. It is the first month of the Islamic calendar. Unlike other calendars the Islamic year starts not with celebrations but with prayers and sermons remembering the martyrs of Karbala. Karabala in Iraq was the place where the followers of Islam, very small in number, in 61 Hijri/680 A.D., led by Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS), the grandson of the Prophet of Islam Hazrat Muhammad (Pbuh), confronted Yazid's force which was opposed to the Islamic teachings. His army was huge in number, well-equipped soldiers, cavalries and archers, personifying evil and tyranny, gathered on the banks of River Euphrates. But the Imam's handful of men were not deterred. On 10 Muharram the decisive battle took place and these brave men, one by one, laid down their lives bravely and boldly embracing martyrdom. Their sacrifice was to uphold and protect Islam from the inimical and perverse force which was contriving against it, bent upon distorting and obfuscating the teachings of Islam and replacing it with their brand of teachings which served their personal interests and solidified kingship and dynasty rule.
So, we commemorate the martyrdom of those brave men who were killed mercilessly and those women and children taken prisoners and brutally treated. Even 1400 years have not been able to obscure and warp the significance of Karbala. Rather, time has strengthened it and highlighted the message of this sublime sacrifice. Humanity revisits this tragedy each year this day and absorbs and gleans the message and teachings so that they can brighten the paths and continue to guide. Karbala will for eternity show us the light and strengthen our resolve and conviction to stand up for truth, justice, equality and honour and fight all evils that scourge society.