ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Uprising of Ashura and Responses to Doubts Mourning from the Viewpoint of Reason One of the objections put forward by certain skeptics, such as the Wahhabis, is why the Shi‘ahs and lovers of the (as) mourn or wail for the distresses which befell Allah’s awliya’ [ awliya’ ] and why they cry for their sufferings and hold mourning ceremonies for them. They ask: why do the Shi‘ahs hit their chests in lamentation? Why do they dwell on past events?

Do awliya’ of Allah need us to mourn them or is it we who are in need of mourning for them? The Wahhabis consider mourning for the awliya’ of Allah to be an act of innovation and heresy and say that there is no evidence in Islam to prove that it is permitted to hold mourning ceremonies. Therefore, they contend that mourning ceremonies are not a part of the shari‘ah and must be abandoned. We will now examine this topic on different levels.

Mourning and the revival of the culture of ‘Ashura With recourse to sound reasoning, we come to know that holding mourning ceremonies for Allah’s awliya’ , especially the master and leader of all the martyrs Imam al-Husayn (as), is in accordance with logic because honoring Allah’s awliya’ through various ceremonies amounts to revering their great personalities and reviving their messages.

Without doubt, any nation or community which does not honor the great personalities of its history is condemned to failure and doomed to destruction. It is often a few great people who build history.

Some of Imam al-Husayn’s (as) messages “In circumstances like these, I do not see death to be anything save prosperity and life with the oppressors is nothing but shame and distress.”[^1] «اِنِّي لا أری الموتَ إلاّ سعادة، وَالحياةَ معَ الظالمينِ إلاّ برماً.» “Death with honor is nothing but eternal life while life with abjectness is nothing but death.” «ليسَ الموتُ في سبيلِ العزِّ إلاّ حياة خالدة، وليست الحياةُ معَ الذلِّ إلاّ الموت الذي لاحياة معه.

» “Beware that the illegitimate son of an illegitimately born man (Ibn Ziyad) has given me two options: either to draw my sword and fight, or to wear the dress of abjectness by swearing allegiance to Yazid. However, acceptance of abjectness is very far from us.” «ألا وإنَّ الدعي ابن الدعي قدْ رکز بينَ اثنتين، بينَ السلّةِ والذلّةِ وهيهات منّا الذلّة... » “We are from Allah and to whom is our return.