The testimony of Doctor al-Hilw is of increased importance...

The testimony of Doctor al-Hilw is of increased importance because of the dissertation he prepared in the past for his masters degree which was entitled: ‘The Salafi Movement and its Effects on the Islamic World.’ Presently he is preparing an academic study entitled: ‘Comparisons Between Christianity and the Imamiyyah . . . An Analytical Study.’ His Doctoral thesis was entitled: ‘The Area of Juzein Over 80 Years . . .

An Economic, Cultural and Sociological Study.’ This is the thesis which earned him his doctorate in the University of The Holy Spirit in Lebanon. We took the opportunity of directing some questions to him about this subject as well as other questions about the noble Husayni revolution. The answers given by Dr al-Hilw, which bore the hallmark of the analytical method, were more than beneficial. What follows is an edited version of the conversation that took place.

..al-Minbar: Why has the voice of the Husayni revolution not subsided and what is the secret of its survival and the renewal it experiences every year? According to my belief, the Husayni condition is not confined to the Shi’a alone. It is general and all-inclusive.

Hence we find that the Husayni revolution’s connection with the principle of resisting oppression has made it very relevant to a person whatever his religion or beliefs might be, because as long as there are oppressors and oppressed then there will always be Yazid and Husayn as two fundamental symbols of oppressor and oppressed. This is from a philosophical and spiritual standpoint.

From a practical and existential viewpoint, the rituals that are practised by the Shi’a, during the days of the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, attach an aspect of renewal to this revolution by which it is made to be continuously present in the human mindset. ..al-Minbar: How so? The sociological view of these rituals or ceremonies is that they are international or universal ceremonies, which express the idea of resisting oppression and aiding the oppressed.

This expression is what gives these ceremonies a universal flavour and which makes them accepted on a societal level in many different environments and cultures. That a revolution should take place in a certain place and time and also remain alive until our time means that this revolution is connected with universal human concepts on the one hand, and also that it relies upon recurring social interactions on the other.