It’s the character we need to follow and that is the philosophy behind the event, writes Syed Arshad Hussain Kashani.

LIKE every year, we observed Karbala this year too. But the philosophy of 10th Moharram needs to be studied from a serious perspective. This whole episode has some fundamental characters;
i) Exploitation of power for the power by Yazeed and his company,
ii) Deceptive character of most of the Iraqis of that time towards the truth 
iii) Escapism from the duty by some for the fear of life and property and
iv) Small but determined group sacrificing everything they possessed without compromising on Haq for the Haq.
 Today the majority among us do possess those of the above listed characters which resulted in the martyrdom of Hussain (RA). Towards 10th Moharram, people of all classes attempt to take lead in paying tribute to Hussain (RA). Among this crowd at the top are those who for the want of power do anything to crush conscious Muslims struggling for life. This is happening all around; Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Algeria, Pakistan, Kashmir etc. offer such examples where power hungry men used and aided by enemies crush the conscious Muslims. They also shower praise on Hussain (RA) while themselves following Yazeed in principle. Hussain (RA) conveyed the message that letting people exploit at the highest level of power can prove disastrous and they are to be confronted. Hussain (RA) stood against Yazeed and the lesson taken is that if the people like him surface again at any time one should not compromise. Yazeed fought on his own against Hussain (RA) for power; here the present power hungry rulers went further ahead and aligned with bitter enemies of Islam and take on brutally the conscious Muslims. Surprisingly they beat their chests as well on 10th Moharram act well behaved and get sizeable audience.
 One of the significant factors towards Karbala was the deceptive character of the most of the Iraqis of that time. They invited Hussain (RA) sent around 150 letters assuring him all possible support against Yazeed, however when it was the time to test their claim they took a U turn and turned hostile. This is one of the ugliest chapters of our history, betrayal from own. Most of these people surrendered before power and money and then went ahead towards another extreme, targeted their guns against Hussain (RA) whom they invited. This is also very much happening around. Taliban had to face those who first projected them and here their killers after surrendering to big power have a lot in praise of Hussain (RA), amazing.
 We have people as well who may or may not seem silent on this day but keep the legacy of Karbala philosophy alive. They act in the selfless way to eradicate the evil so that Qur’an and Sunnah govern our life and style. They are butchered by the power hungry leadership, deceived by own brothers who support life under Batil and do not get the desired support from the masses. However they continue their advance unfazed, salutes and they are truly successful. They live to their word with Allah as Allah says, “Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah [i.e. they have gone out for jihad and showed not their backs], of them some have fulfilled their obligation [i.e. have been martyred], and some of them are still waiting, but they have never changed [i.e. they never proved treacherous to their covenant which they concluded with Allah] in the last. (Al-Ahzab- 23)”
 Last word: Let’s shun hypocrisy, let’s try to understand our responsibilities as Muslims, let’s understand Hussain (RA), his legacy, his thought, the system against which he raised his voice and laid his life.

(Feedback at arshadkashani@rediffmail.com)

Lastupdate on : Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:00:00 IST