ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Understanding Karbala Why the Martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a.s) became Immortal? [This speech was broadcast from the Nairobi (Kenya) Radio on the eve of Ashura, 1383 A.H.] Since the beginning of creation until date, innumerable tragic incidents have occurred in the world. But in these tales of sorrows and tragedies the events of Karbala’ are seen to be as prominent as the moon among the cluster of stars.

Human nature demands that happy remembrances should always be retold and tragic reminders be obliterated from the memory as soon as possible. However, this law of nature had no control on the tragedy of Karbala’. Today, even after a passage of thirteen centuries every year this tragedy is remembered with such fervor as if it has just happened yesterday. Indeed this is an astonishing fact.

But if we ponder upon it we would be able to realize how the control of human nature became ineffective in this case. The significance and endurance of a sacrifice depends upon the significance and firmness of its aims. Some sacrifices are presented for worldly aims and such sacrifices take man towards decadence.

The Almighty Allah says: “Who created for you all that is in the earth…[^1] Now if instead of considering these worldly things as our servants, we destroy our life in their service, such a sacrifice, instead of carrying any greatness would be eligible for denouncement because we have considered our life inferior to those things that were created for our service. The greatness of man demands that he should consider worldly things as means of life and not that he should make it the aim of his life.

In the Islamic parlance it is the stage of, “There is no god except Allah.” And reaching this point man thinks that the whole universe collectively cannot become equal to the value of a single human being. The aim of the life of man should be higher than the universe and such a being is only the Creator of the Universe.

After, “There is no god” it is the stage of “except Allah.” To put it in a different way, “Say: Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the worlds…”[^2] The purpose is to imply that you must make the principle of your life such that all your worship acts, rituals, life and death etc. should be for Allah, Who is the Lord of the worlds. In other words, the entire universe is for man and man is for the Lord of the worlds. The world is transient.