New Year - Time for Mourning

In many cultures the occasion of New Year is a time for celebrations and festive activities, such as in Western or Chinese traditions. However, the Islamic New Year is not accompanied by fun parties or fireworks, although marked by a public holiday in many Islamic countries. On the contrary, you will find streets, mosques, and community centres in certain areas of the Muslim population that are decorated with black banners and drawings of mourning people. That’s the time of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, with a very important date on its tenth day, Ashoora. For Shia Muslims and the followers of Prophet Mohammed’s Progeny this is a very special time of the year.


When the month of Muharram draws near there is this unique feeling of impatient anticipation for the commemoration of Ashoora that has been observed for hundreds of years with ever increasing zeal and love for Imam Hussain, his family and companions. For the outsider this zeal and love might seem very strange. In fact, before I knew anything about Imam Hussain and Ashoora, I too was bewildered but also intrigued by what I saw and heard in the streets, mosques, and religious centres. And even though I didn’t understand very much from what was being said in the vivid lamentation of the common sermons and the rhythmic lyrics of the night processions, I became fascinated by the whole spectacle and the genuine emotions so openly displayed by people. What was the reason for these outbreaks of compassion in grown up men and women? Then I wondered why I hadn’t heard about Imam Hussain and Karbala before? In actual fact, throughout 20 years that I grew up and lived in Europe from the mid sixties till the mid eighties I had never even heard the name of Imam Hussain anywhere, leave alone what happened to this important historical figure in Karbala.


After getting to know the story of Karbala and Imam Hussain in more detail, hearing its gruesome facts, and shocking descriptions of what exactly had happened to Imam Hussain, his family and companions, I couldn’t help but feeling a deep sense of sympathy and I began to ponder about its meaning and the impact it has on us today. People surely wouldn’t commemorate this occasion year after year with such enormous efforts and zealous emotions only to remember a historic battle in which the grandson of Prophet Mohammed had died. In order to remember this fact of history a simple memory service would be sufficient for this purpose. But during the Ashoora activities the followers of the Progeny of Prophet Mohammed, the Shia of Ahlul Bait, seem to relive the pain and sorrows of this battle, as if it happened only yesterday. Therefore, it began to dawn on me that there was much more to it than meets the eye of the observer of the Ashoora traditions.


For many people the battle of Ashoora is merely an unequal fight between a mighty army and a small group of the Prophet’s Family that happened in the background during the spread of Islam. However, considering the characteristics of Yazid’s army, the way they treated their Prophet’s family (while Prophet Mohammed had asked the Muslims for nothing but to love his family), so their behaviour should give considerable doubt of whether they were the right people to spread the Islamic message and whether it was their sword that helped to spread Islam. In fact, this very thought is underlined by a comment from a famous non-Muslim, namely Mahatma Gandhi, who said: “My faith is that the progress of Islam does not depend on the use of the sword by its believers, but (it) is the result of the supreme sacrifice of Husain, the great saint.” It is true that many history books accredit the spread of Islam to the sword, but of what is known about Yazid’s personality, who was of course the official leader of the Muslim nation at the time, it is at least questionable if such a character was interested in spreading the pure values of Islam or if he was more interested in spreading his own power. Consequently, it is only logical to ask if such a leader was in the best interest of Islam in general.


However, anyone who studies the story of Ashoora a little closer will be able to see beyond the mere facts of battle accounts and military victories. Because the sword can only win a superficial victory, but it can never win over the loyalty of the defeated. Indeed, Imam Hussain had not been interested in winning the battle or the highest number of people to support him but in winning their hearts so that they remember the true values of Islam. And this is what he achieved with his martyrdom. The proof of that is evident in the impressive processions during the Ashoora commemorations and the electrifying atmosphere during the ninth and tenth night of Muharram in Karbala every year. Everybody can witness this for himself on TV since the fall of the former president of Iraq. The viewer cannot but be impressed by this unique display of people’s devotion for someone who made such a strong statement with his death that toppled only a few years later the tyrannic and oppressive regime of Yazid.