30/08/2020
The lessons of KARBALA?
The first lesson is faith . By the passage of time , indeed human kind is at loss, except those who have certainty of faith and engage in righteous action, and work together to establish justice and support each other with patience and fortitude. The life of imam Hussain was such , Tawakkul Al ALLAHA. Faith is the raft that will take us through all turbulence.
Second is Amalus salehat, righteous action. Do what is right. Righteousness is the outward manifestation of faith.Imam Hussain had a choice. He could have given his Baiyat to yazid and could have earned for himself a high position in the Umayyad hierarchy. But he did what was right .
Third the central message of Karbala is justice, Al Haq . AL Haq is an ocean itself. It is exhaustible. It means truth. Imam Hussain stood for justice when Yazid demanded baiyat he stood for justice. When Yazid,s forces cut of their supply of water and even the children in the imam’s entourage were thirsty for a single drop of water.
His message for all the world and for all times . It is not just for the Muslims . In today’s world when wealth is focused in the hands of fewer people and millions are condemned to poverty , the message of justice resonates with every human hurt.
People often ask : what can I do to change the world? The imam provides a possible answer : stand up for justice . When he stood on the battlefield in Karbala , he had only 72 followers with him.But he saw billions around him. He saw generations to come , he saw you and I , and said to us Loud and clear; stand firmly for justice as witnesses before ALLAH . Work together .Reinforce each other .Muslims lost their leadership of the world when they swerved from their unity of purpose and started to work against each other. In a broader sense , it is not a time to call it a day on the historical animosity between the Shia and the sunni?
Imagine that the presence of Imam Hussain is here with us . What would he say to the Muslims? Would he call them Shia and Sunnis? Would he not advise them to rise above the perception of history and embrace each other, as one with the Kalma , following the prophet (PBUH) , standing firm on justice for all?