Mahbubur Rahman :
Muharram is the first month of the Hijri year. The 10th day of Muharram is celebrated as the holy day of Ashura by Muslims all over the world. The word Ashura comes from the Arabic word ‘Ashara’, half of which means ‘Ten’. The day is so named because it is the 10th of Muharram.
The day has been observed as his martyrdom anniversary since the martyrdom of Hazrat Hussain (RA), the grandson of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) at the hands of the army sent by Yazid bin Muawiya, the second Caliph of the royal Umayyad Caliphate, in the desert of Karbala on the banks of the Euphrates in 680 AD.
Ashura is associated with many events in the history of Islam. It is said in Surah Tawba verse 36 of the Holy Qur’an, “Indeed, the month is twelve in the decree and reckoning of Allah, from the day the heavens and the earth were created.” Four of them are forbidden or respected.
This is a well-settled provision. So do not oppress yourselves in the meantime.’ One of those months is Muharram. As a result, Muharram is considered a holy month to Allah from the beginning of creation. Besides, on the tenth day of that month or the day of Ashura, many important and historical events began in different eras. In that regard, the historical importance of Ashura is immense.
According to Islam, it is on this day of Ashura that Allah begins creation to reveal Himself. It was on this day that he entered the soul into the first human Hazrat Adam (A.S.). Besides, one of the important historical memories that this Ashura day carries is that on this day, Hazrat Adam (A.S.) and Hazrat Hawa (A.S.) were sent to earth. After three and a half hundred years of crying, Allah forgave them on this day at the behest of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH).
Hazrat Ibrahim (A.S.) was saved from the fire of Nimrud and Hazrat Yunus (A.S.) was rescued from the belly of a fish also on this day of Ashura. Hazrat Sulaiman (A.S.) regained his lost kingdom and Hazrat Ayyub (A.S) recovered after a long illness on this day of Ashura. Besides, on this day Hazrat Yusuf (A.S.) met his father Hazrat Ya’qub (A.S.) after forty years and Allah saved Hazrat Musa (A.S.) and his nation from Pharaoh. It was on this day that Pharaoh drowned in the Red Sea and Hazrat Nuh (A.S.) descended from the ship at the Judi Mountain at the command of Allah after the Great Flood.
According to Islamic thinkers, doomsday will happen on one of the days of Ashura. Therefore, in all aspects, this day is considered a very significant day in the history of Islam.
Today, this day is remembered by Muslims as the martyrdom anniversary of Hazrat Hussain (R.A). According to historical accounts of Islam, the Battle of Siffin was fought between the fourth Caliph Hazrat Ali (R.A.) and the provincial governor of Syria Hazrat Muawiya (R.A.)over the brutal killing of Hazrat Uthman bin Affan (R.A.) the third Caliph of Khulafay Rashedin, in this context, after the martyrdom of Hazrat Ali (R.A.) by the assassin Abdur Rahman bin Muljim sent by Kharejid, Hazrat Muawiya (R.A.) became the Caliph.
A few days after Hazrat Muawiya(R.A.) became the caliph, Muawiya broke the agreement made with Hazrat Hasan (R.A.), the eldest son of Hazrat Ali (R.A.), and announced his son Yazid as the next caliph instead of Hazrat Hussain (R.A.). When Yazid became Caliph in 680 AD, Hazrat Hussain (R.A.) refused to accept him as Caliph.
He rejected Hazrat Muawiya’s (R.A.) nomination for royal succession.
Yazid, through the governor of Medina, asked Imam Husain (R.A.) to accept Yazid’s allegiance. But is it possible for a beloved grandson of the Prophet (PBUH) to be a true believer and obey an anti-Islamic, tyrannical ruler? Naturally, he refused to obey.
Then Yazid ordered the governor of Madinah to punish Imam Husain (R.A.) by throwing him in prison if he did not accept the pledge of allegiance. The governor of Madinah was in great danger. How will he throw the Prophet’s grandson in prison? He then requested Hazrat Imam Hussain (R.A.) to leave Medinah and go somewhere else. Imam Hussain (R.A.) was forced to migrate to Makkah.
When Hazrat Hussain (RA) appeared on the border of Iraq to help the people of Kufa, he found no Kufa people except the soldiers sent by Yazid. In this situation, he camped at Karbala on the banks of the Euphrates, hoping to receive the promised help. But in the end, unable to find even a shadow of the people of Kufa, he made three proposals to Yazid’s army: A. Let him return to Madinah; B. Be sent to the Turkish border forts, so that he may participate in the Jihad, and C. May he be allowed to meet Yazid safely.
But Yazid’s army did not heed any of his requests. As a result, he took up arms against Yazid’s army with only 30 cavalry, 40 infantry and 17 women and children in the wilderness of Karbala. He fought bravely in the war and was martyred along with 72 fellow soldiers.
Yazid’s forces were not only cruel enough to deny the children water from the Euphrates; they severed the head from the body of Hazrat Hussain (R.A.) and took it to the fort in Kufa. Besides, Ubaidullah expressed joy by flogging the severed head. Seeing that cruelty, a resident of Kufa shouted ‘Alas!’ Since that day, Shia or Ali’s supporters mourned the day of Ashura by saying ‘Hay Hussain’.
Following the basic rules of Islam and imitating Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Muslims should fast on Ashura, engage in worship, pray for all Muslims including Hazrat Hussain (R.A.), and be patient and ready to sacrifice for the sake of Islam. They should be remembered, in the words of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, ‘The month of Muharram is back today. Want sacrifice, doesn’t want to cry.
(The author is a PhD Researcher at University of Rajshahi. Lecturer, Rajshahi Cantonment Public School and College. Email: [email protected])
