THE holy Ashura, commemorating the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA), is being observed in the country today with due religious fervour and solemnity. On this day in the Hijri year of 61, Hazrat Imam (RA), grandson of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (SM), along with his family and 72 followers had embraced martyrdom at the hands of Yazid’s soldiers in the desert of Karbala who went there to restore the succession order of the Caliphate and the unity of the state of Madina in accordance with the teachings of Prophet (SM). This is a public holiday.
As we remember the tragedy today we look back to the time when M’wabia had declared him Caliph of Islam and appointed his son Yazid as the governor of Kufa now in Iraq. That was the first attempt to break the state of Madina founded by the Prophet (SM) and to make Caliphate a dwarf of the M’wabia family. Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet went to Kufa on request of its residents to put an end to the rebellion and restore the unity of the Islamic rule.
Thus the stage for the battle of Karbala ensued. Imam Hussain’s entourage was cut off by Yazid army outside Kufa and he was brutally killed along with 72 members of his family and followers in a one-sided battle. Muslims all over the world will continue to remember the martyrdom of Imam Hussain for a right cause and curse his killers for all time to come.
Its lesson is that: Ambitious power struggle ends up in tragedies and must be resisted courageously.
