O king of Karbala!

Call for Change · #1 Monday, December 05, 2011

O king of Karbala!

Husain ibn-e-Ali Karbala ko jaate hai'n
Magar yeh log abhi tak gharo'n ke andar hai'n.
Husain (AS), the son of Ali (AS), walks towards Karbala
But these people still hide in their homes.

Guzre thhe Husain ibn-e-Ali raat idhar se
Hum mein se magar koi bhi nikla nahi ghar se.
Husain (AS), the son of Ali (AS), passed by this road last night
But not one among us stepped out of our homes.

The two sher above by the noted Urdu poet, Shahryar, sum up the popular sentiment among Shias and Sunnis alike about Husain (AS) - son of Ali (AS), grandson of the Prophet (PBUH), martyr in the Battle of Karbala. A handsome, charismatic and brave warrior and loving family man, Husain (AS) is the archetype of a good man wronged, tragically felled by forces beyond his control, a man choosing to fight till the end despite a foreknowledge of the odds stacked against him. It is precisely this element of choice that makes Husain (AS) such a powerful symbol of martyrdom, one that transcends his time and circumstance. It is also the quality of unflinching, unyielding uprightness that could neither be silenced nor bought over, that makes Husain (AS) the ultimate 'alienated' hero. What adds to the poignancy of his situation is his aloneness at the hour of reckoning. Save for a handful of family members, no one came to his aid. The majority watched and listened but did nothing.

Within 50 years of the Prophet's (PBUH) death, the small community of believers was torn by conflicting claims to leadership. The governor of Syria, Mu'aviya, opposed Ali (AS) and wrested the Caliphate from him. His son, Yezid, carried the enmity forward by demanding allegiance ( bay' ah) from Ali's (AS) son and successor Husain (AS). When Husain (AS) declined, Yezid issued an unequivocal call: Surrender or Die! Surrender meant recognition of Yezid and the power he had wrongfully wrested. For Husain (AS) both were unacceptable; instead, he chose willing sacrifice of himself, his family and supporters. In his speech delivered before his journey to Kufa he spoke of his choice in the following words:

"O God, You know that we did not seek, in what we have done, acquisition of power, or ephemeral possessions. Rather, we seek to manifest the truths of Your religion and establish righteousness in Your lands, so that the wronged among Your servants may be vindicated, and that men may abide by the duties ( fara'id), laws ( sunan) and Your ordinances ( ahkam)."

It was the year 679 AD - seventy men held out against 4000 in a desert named Karbala, approximately 70 kilometres from Kufa. Rations dwindled, men died in battle, children were slaughtered and the enemy closed in on the small, besieged group. On the eighth day of battle, the water supply was cut off. The river Euphrates glimmered in the distance but the way was barred. Ill, hungry, dying of thirst, the bedraggled but valiant group faced battle on the fateful tenth day, the day called Ashura, when all perished save for three male members and women and children who were paraded all the way to Damascus to be presented before Yezid. The decapitated bodies of those who were slain, including Husain (AS), were trampled beneath the hooves of the victors' horses, and their camps set on fire. Humiliated and defiled in death before the people he loved, his head carried on a spear, the women and children of his clan mocked, Husain (AS) thus became a larger-than-life icon of confrontation and resistance.

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It brings with it not festivity and rejoicing but the memory of the martyrdom of Husain (AS); that it should do so till this day, 1318 years after the terrible events at Karbala, is significant. It speaks of not just how dearly Muslims hold Husain (AS) and how deeply they still feel the anguish of his suffering but also how highly Islam, like many other religions, venerates martyrdom for it is the martyr who bears witness, and it is the witness who redeems what would otherwise be called failure. Upon reflection, it also highlights the universality of Husain's (AS) fight against unfairness and persecution. Husain's (AS) resistance to the tyranny of Yezid is emblematic of the suffering of all those who live under tyrannical regimes that seek to suppress the human spirit and snuff out every trace of resistance. In the lamentation and mourning over the King of Karbala, the Martyr of Martyrs, the Son of Ali (AS), small, personal, localized griefs are subsumed in the grief for Husain (AS) and his clansmen and women. A huge body of poetic literature has sprung up over the centuries that describes in heart-wrenching details the events of the Battle of Karbala and the various dramatis personae:

What is raining? Blood.

Who? The eyes.

How? Day and night.

Why? From grief.

Grief for whom?

Grief for the King of Karbala

While the Islamic world, and the Shia community in particular, have appropriated the legacy of Husain (AS), the story of his martyrdom is not without global resonance. Husain's (AS) story is the story of all those who have chosen to stand up to their beliefs when others around them have caved in. While Muslims grieve for his death because he was the beloved grandson of the Prophet (PBUH), his blood that was spilt on the banks of the Euphrates is precious to all mankind because blood shed for a sacred cause is more precious than anything else. Husain's (AS) story finds echoes in the murder of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1070 or that of Mansoor al-Hallaj, the founder of Sufism and the arch-martyr of mystical Islam, who was cruelly executed in Baghdad in 922 or, for that matter, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. who fell to an assassin's bullet in 1968. It is disconcerting, therefore, that powerful symbols of resistance, such as Husain (AS), should be commemorated only by a particular group of people. For as long as there is tension between positive and negative, good and evil, oppressor and oppressed, believer and non-believer, Husain's (AS) life and martyrdom will continue to be brimful with associations. According to a popular saying in Arabic, "Every place is Karbala; every day is Ashura." One can only hope that some day, when the world is bright with consciousness ( bedaari), Everyman will wish to claim Husain (AS):

Insaan ko bedaar to ho lene do

Har qaum pukaregi hamare hain Husain

All across India, come Muharram, the daily rhythm of many Muslim households changes - for the devout for an entire 40 days till Chehlum, for others till the first ten days. In traditional Shia homes, festivities are shunned, no weddings are planned, even new brides shed bridal finery and take to wearing black, and a cloak of somberness descends. Majlis khanas across the country, such as the one at Jor Bagh in South Delhi and Panja Sharif near Kashmere Gate in the old city, even today reverberate with the doleful recitation of the marsiya recited in its stylised and time-honoured manner amidst much crying, beating of chests and chanting of Ya Husain, Ya Yusain. For many the words of the poet still ring true:

Qatl-e-Husain asl mein marg-e-Yazid hai
Islam zinda hota hai har Karbala ke baad

The murder of Husain (AS) is actually the death of Yezid

Islam comes back to life after every Karbala

[box8]North India, and especially the qasbahs of Awadh, have produced vast amounts of poetic literature commemorating the events surrounding the martyrdom of Husain (AS). Urdu poets such as Mir Anees, Dabir, Gauhar Lukhnavi have written a great deal of hauntingly evocative elegies, all of which are recited in homes and majlis khanas during Muharram even today:

Dhal gaya suraj shamma jali, nanha mera Asghar kaha'n gaya re
Banu pukarey khook jali, nanha mera Asghar kaha'n gaya re
Raat andheri sunsan ban, dhundhu kaha'n tuhje ay gul badan Ro ro pukarai maa dil jali, nanha mera Asghar kaha'n gaya re

Not only is this sort of elegiac poetry suffused with images of the physical sufferings endured by Husain (AS) and his hungry, thirsty companions, it also highlights the importance of martyrdom in Islam:

Paradise is their place, overpowering they have gone to Paradise,
They have become annihilated in God, with Him they have become He...

While rituals are an integral part of every religion, they cannot become a substitute for the true spirit of faith. So also, with the rituals associated with Muharram. While they provide a powerful vehicle to relive the tragic events associated with the Battle of Karbala and the sufferings endured by Husain (AS) and his family, passive mourning alone is not enough. Muharram must not be seen merely as a time of cathartic mourning; to understand its true significance is to appreciate, year after year, the sacrifice and struggle against injustice that lie at the core of Husain's (AS)martyrdom.

History: O king of Karbala! by Rakhshanda Jalil

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
People beware !	Hurriah	Islam	17	Monday, January 13, 2020 09:40 AM
British History Timeline	younis_78	British History	0	Sunday, July 17, 2011 11:49 PM
King Lear ( SHAKESPEARE) complete	Ahmad Bilal	English Literature	2	Monday, December 06, 2010 09:15 AM
The Kings, Queens and Monarchs of England and Great Britain	Waqar Abro	Topics and Notes	1	Wednesday, August 01, 2007 03:46 PM
HAMLET (SHAKESPEARE) Complete	Ahmad Bilal	English Literature	0	Wednesday, April 26, 2006 11:34 PM

The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Call for Change For This Useful Post:
Adeel Ahmed (Monday, December 05, 2011), Arain007 (Monday, December 05, 2011), mjkhan (Monday, December 05, 2011), Rida Abid (Monday, December 05, 2011), striver (Monday, December 05, 2011)