Yet another way of paying homage to the signs of Allah is...

Yet another way of paying homage to the signs of Allah is when Muslims make diligent efforts to preserve geographical places where important events took place. For instance, Muslims have preserved the sacredness of the location where the event of Ghadir took place, the Cave of Hira’,[^3] the place where the Battle of Badr occurred, the mosques wherein the Holy Prophet (S) performed prayers, and various other places of this kind.

Nowadays, many Muslims visit these sacred places with the hope of seeking gifts of divine favor. Organizing mourning ceremonies in memory of Imam al-Husayn (as) and the other awliya’ of Allah is another way of paying homage to the signs of Allah. This takes the form of establishing memorial gatherings to commemorate the lives and the struggles against oppression of these great people.

Muslims all over the world establish memorial ceremonies to honor Imam al-Husayn’s martyrdom and recite accounts of his sufferings and the hardships imposed upon him, his family and all his companions in an attempt to keep alive his battle against corruption and oppression. Another type of religious ceremony is gathering to recite group prayers and supplications with a common intention.

Reasons for the preference for holding ceremonies People who believe that it is permissible and even desirable to hold religious ceremonies have resorted to a number of proofs. We will now refer to some of them: A. Verses of the Holy Qur’an that permit ceremonies There are many verses in the Holy Qur’an which talk about organizing and holding ceremonies: “O you who believe!

Do not violate the signs (rites) appointed by Allah nor the sacred month, nor interfere with the offerings, nor the sacrificial animals with the garlands, nor those going to the Sacred House seeking the grace and pleasure of their Lord.” [^4] ﴿ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تُحِلُّوا شَعَائِرَ اللهِ وَلاََ الشَّهرَ الحَرَامَ وَلاَ الهَدي وَلاَ القَلائِدَ وَلا آمِّينَ الْبَيْتَ الحَرَامَ ...﴾ We can infer two possibilities from this verse: a.

One possibility is that the verdict is affirmative; meaning that Allah has in fact ordered believers to pay homage and reverence to religious signs and rites. b. The other possibility is that the verdict is prohibitive, meaning that Allah intends to prohibit laziness when it comes to organizing divine rites. In other words, Allah has forbidden negligence as regards holding religious rites when we have distinguished their instances of application.

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