Courage and Hope: The Spirit of ‘Ashura’

O ye who believe! Bow down, prostrate yourselves, and adore your Lord; and do good; that ye may prosper. And strive in His cause as ye ought to strive, (with sincerity and under discipline). He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the community of your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before and in this (Revelation); that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind! So establish regular Prayer, give regular Charity, and hold fast to Allah! He is your Protector, the best to protect and the Best to help!

(Al-Hajj 22:77-78)

The New Year of Hijrah started last Monday, March 26, 2001. Today is the 5th day of Muharram and within few days we shall have ‘Ashura’, the 10th day of Muharram. It is an important day for us. Prophet Muhammad -peace be upon him- and his companions used to fast on this day. It is also recommended that we should fast two days 9th and 10th of Muharram. This year it should be on the coming Tuesday and Wednesday, April 3-4, 2001.

There are two historical events connected with ‘Ashura’:

  1. 1. One was in the time of Allah’s great Prophet Musa - peace be upon him. Allah delivered him and his followers from the persecution of Pharaoh in ancient Egypt. It was a great event in which Allah showed His mercy and kindness to those who followed Allah’s Prophet. Allah showed His anger and wrath against those who were arrogant and oppressors.

  2. 2. The second event took place in the year 61 after the Hijrah (681 of the common era). It was the shahadah of Syedna Husain son of ‘Ali -may Allah be pleased with both of them. He stood for truth, justice and for righteous government and he was willing to give his life for this cause. His death was tragic but heroic and gave us lessons of courage and steadfastness to challenge evil and wrong wherever it might be.

    Both events are very significant. They have a special significance for the Ummah now and we must learn some lessons. The Ummah is going through a lot of struggle and pain to establish justice and righteousness in this world, especially in the Muslim lands. There are many people who are dying and giving their lives as martyrs for this cause. We have our brothers and sisters in Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, Macedonia, Albania, Somalia and Ethiopia who are suffering under worst oppression and they are struggling for liberation. We have people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan and Iraq where they are suffering natural or man made disasters.

The people who claim to be the followers of Prophet Musa -peace be upon him- are acting like Pharaohs now a days. They are engaged in the worst persecution of Palestinians today. More than 400 Palestinian people mostly children have been killed by Israelis. They have inflicted pain and injuries upon thousands and they made hundreds of thousands lose their homes, jobs and other means of livelihood. And now they have started a new campaign of aerial bombardment.

The political leaders of the Muslim Ummah today are acting like Yazids. They are busy in their own pursuit of power and pleasure and have very little concern for justice, righteousness and for the plight of the Ummah. They meet, talk, make empty threats and do nothing. There is no one in sight who can act like Prophet Musa -peace be upon him- and save this Ummah from its internal strife and external threats and dangers. But ‘Ashura’ is a day of courage and a day of hope. We must have courage to follow the truth and work for social, political and economic justice and we must remain hopeful that the truth will prevail and the falsehood will be defeated.

The last two ayat of Surah al-Hajj give us a program of action both on the individual level as well as on the collective level:

  1. Ruku’, Sajdah and ‘Ibadah: Deep devotion

  2. Good deeds

  3. Jihad or struggle for truth and justice

  4. Shahadah ‘ala al-nas: Witness to mankind

  5. Holding fast to Allah

We need strong commitment to our faith, to Allah and His commands, to ethics and morality. We need deep loyalty to the Ummah, not to tribes, ethnic groups or nationalities. We need strength in education and knowledge. We need dedication to social services to help our people and the whole humanity. We need better communication with others. We need to act with love, kindness, and generosity.

May Allah help us. Ameen.

(Khutbah at ISOC on March 30, 2001)