- 7 weeks ago
Why The Shia Mourn Hussain (as) | Karbala Documentary in English | Ashura & Muharram Story
Discover the history, tragedy, and significance of Imam Hussain (as) and the Battle of Karbala in this powerful English documentary.
This film explains why millions of Shia Muslims worldwide mourn the sacrifice of Imam Hussain (as) every Muharram and Ashura.
From the events of Karbala to the spiritual lessons of his martyrdom, learn the deep meaning behind this mourning tradition.
Topics Covered in This Documentary:
The life of Imam Hussain (as)
Events leading to the Battle of Karbala
Ashura and its spiritual significance
Why Shia Muslims mourn every year
The impact of Imam Hussain’s sacrifice on humanity
Watch till the end to understand why Karbala is not just history, but a timeless message of justice and truth.
📅 Muharram 1447 / 2025 Release
📍 Language: English
Discover the history, tragedy, and significance of Imam Hussain (as) and the Battle of Karbala in this powerful English documentary.
This film explains why millions of Shia Muslims worldwide mourn the sacrifice of Imam Hussain (as) every Muharram and Ashura.
From the events of Karbala to the spiritual lessons of his martyrdom, learn the deep meaning behind this mourning tradition.
Topics Covered in This Documentary:
The life of Imam Hussain (as)
Events leading to the Battle of Karbala
Ashura and its spiritual significance
Why Shia Muslims mourn every year
The impact of Imam Hussain’s sacrifice on humanity
Watch till the end to understand why Karbala is not just history, but a timeless message of justice and truth.
📅 Muharram 1447 / 2025 Release
📍 Language: English
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Shia religious practice has for centuries been widely associated with the act of mourning.
00:11Its image in the mainstream is often linked with mourning rituals during the Islamic month
00:15of Muharram.
00:17Commemorations in remembrance of the martyrdom of the grandson of the Holy Prophet of Islam,
00:23Hussain son of Ali, peace be upon them, have long been a distinct feature of Shia religious
00:28practice.
00:31These acts of mourning can be traced back to as early as the era of the Prophet including
00:35the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him himself.
00:39Where exactly has mourning been referred to within the Quran and the early Islamic sources?
00:44Who initiated mourning rituals in commemoration of Hussain and in what historical context?
00:50And what are the spiritual, social and psychological benefits of mourning according to scholars
00:55and academics?
00:59This documentary delves into the philosophy of mourning, particularly for the tragedies that
01:04befell the household of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, as well as its impact on our souls
01:09and psychology.
01:10It has been said that grief is the inner experience of loss or pain or difficulty.
01:12It has been said that grief is the inner experience of loss or pain or difficulty.
01:13and mourning is the outer expression of it.
01:16It has been said that grief is the inner experience of loss or pain or difficulty and mourning is the outer expression of it.
01:18It has been said that grief is the outer expression of it, whether it be personal and individual or a communal sort of expression or ceremony.
01:24It has been said that grief is the inner experience of loss or pain or difficulty and mourning is the outer expression of it, whether it be personal and individual or a communal sort of expression or ceremony.
01:49The English word mourning actually comes from an old English word meaning to feel grief or discomfort.
01:55And it makes sense that it would come from an old English word since things which are fundamental to the human experience in the English language do tend to come from the older language and not be important words.
02:05The word mourning in Arabic, we use a number of terms that have appeared in the Islamic sources, jaza, for example.
02:13And mourning can be crying, weeping, also when you rever the sadness or grief, lamentation for someone, that is called mourning.
02:31And you can see that appear in the Holy Quran and Ahadith and also the Islamic history, Islamic sources and the practice of Ahlul Bayt .
02:41Sometimes mourning can be a statement.
02:44If a loved one has passed away and you want to preserve the legacy of that loved one, mourning can serve as that catalyst to bring forth that legacy.
02:59In the Islamic tradition, sometimes we use the word ruta'aza, which as most of us probably know, means to offer comfort through condolences and sharing one's difficulty.
03:10Sometimes mourning can also be a statement against injustice.
03:15If someone was unjustly killed, fighting for justice.
03:20When you mourn that person, you are actually rejecting injustice.
03:26You're upholding justice.
03:29Mourning serves many purposes.
03:31At the core of it is grief.
03:33Psychological benefits of grieving are ample.
03:38Modern psychology often points towards dealing with loss in healthy ways.
03:42And it suggests that the grieving process is an integral part of it.
03:45How is mourning beneficial for our mental health and wellbeing?
03:48According to modern psychology, crying on a regular basis can prove to be beneficial for one's mental health.
03:55Japanese academic Haida Fumi Yoshida says that the act of crying is more effective in reducing one's stress levels than laughing or sleeping.
04:05Listening to emotive music, watching sad films, and reading tear-jerking books can offer a stress-free effect for the mind.
04:13You have to relieve your stress, and the stress is relieved through crying.
04:20And also, when you hear about the problems of others, you understand that I'm not going through as tough a time that others have also been through.
04:32Because many times, you know, you think I'm going through the most difficult time.
04:36But when you hear about the others, then you build patience.
04:41Today, when people lose a loved one, you know, behavioural experts have said, don't tell them, don't cry.
04:47You know, because people often say, don't cry.
04:50But no, crying is good.
04:52Because it is an important step in the healing, in the kind of process of moving on to a certain extent,
05:03the acceptance of what has happened and part of reality.
05:07Closure is key.
05:10Some people do struggle if they don't have a way to express their loss or, again, to find meaning out of it.
05:17And sometimes this happens in my experience with some Muslims who are bracketed into only mourn for three days or everything is in the hands of Allah.
05:26So it's somehow unreligious to express sadness.
05:30Or also in places where it's taboo for women to go to the graveyard.
05:33I'm not saying every woman has a problem with that.
05:35But I have known women who lacked closure because they weren't able to go to the graves of relatives that they had lost.
05:42So I think in these regards, it does seem that there is a psychological need for something.
05:50And the various rituals and customs we have as human beings provide templates to be able to do that.
05:55And they also provide a safe space to be able to express these feelings.
05:59You learn how to develop patience through Karbala and Ashura and through mourning.
06:03And psychologically that helps.
06:05And number four, according to modern psychology, when you share the grief of others, especially Ahl al-Bayt al-Musalaam,
06:16you know, because sharing releases stress and your tension, your depression.
06:22And when you share happiness, it increases.
06:25And that helps.
06:27And mourning would help psychologically.
06:29The act of mourning and expression of grief has been mentioned on several occasions within the Holy Qur'an.
06:41What is worth noting is that on each occasion, mourning has not been condemned or rejected by Allah.
06:46Where in the Qur'an has mourning been mentioned?
06:48And in what context has it been related?
06:52When the days of Muharram and Ashura come,
06:55and you find millions of the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt peace be upon them around the globe,
07:00mourning the tragic martyrdom of Al-Imam al-Husayn alayhi salam.
07:05Many people wonder, they ask,
07:07is there any basis for the act of mourning in the Holy Qur'an?
07:14Indeed, the act of mourning is well established in the Holy Qur'an.
07:20One example is Surat al-Buruj, when it discusses the tragic event of Ashab al-Ukhdood,
07:30the people of the pit, or the people of the ditch, as the Holy Qur'an refers to them.
07:36They were a group of believers, Christian believers, who were mercilessly killed.
07:44They were burned by the unjust tyrant of their time, an unjust king.
07:51See how the Holy Qur'an depicts and portrays this incident for us.
07:57The people of the pit have been killed.
08:07The flames of fire were lit because they believed in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
08:14You see how the Holy Qur'an dramatically portrays this incident for us?
08:19What is the aim of these verses in Surat al-Buruj?
08:23It's to elicit our emotions.
08:25So we mourn what happened to them.
08:28We reject the injustice that happened to them.
08:31Otherwise it's an incident that happened in history and that's it, it passed.
08:35Why does the Holy Qur'an depict this incident in such an emotional way?
08:42Nabi Ya'qub a.s. who very clearly says, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala quotes him in Surah Yusuf,
08:49Surah number 12, verse number 84.
08:52And he used to say, Ya'asaf ala Yusuf, meaning he used to long for his son Yusuf and cry.
09:07So much so that,
09:09that he lost his sight from grief.
09:13So he would cry so much that we don't cry as much.
09:17We only cry to the extent that we have tears.
09:20He cried to an extent where he lost his sight,
09:23which is a major loss.
09:26Wa huwa kadeem.
09:28So he was controlling his grief and even then he lost his sight.
09:31And you can see other sources where mourning or where lamentation have appeared.
09:36In Surah Dariyat, for example,
09:39Nabi Ibrahim a.s. with his wife is standing and
09:43Hz Jibreel a.s. comes with other angels.
09:48So even if you look in the tradition,
09:50the Holy Quran does not mention the names of the angels.
09:52It only says the angels.
09:54But in the traditions,
09:56it says that there were four angels who came.
09:59Three or four angels.
10:01And they gave the good news of a son
10:06to Hz Ibrahim a.s.
10:08Nabi Ibrahim a.s.
10:09And
10:10Wa imra'atuhu, you know in Surah Dariyat says that his wife was standing there.
10:16فَسَكَّتْ وَجْهَا
10:19She slapped her face.
10:21And that
10:22لِذُوَا نَعْجُوزَ
10:23Will I now give birth in old age?
10:26So you can see that even lamentation, even beating the face has appeared in the Holy Quran.
10:31Crying has appeared.
10:33And Allah does not condemn the crying of Hz Yaqub, Nabi Yaqub a.s.
10:38Or condemn the slapping of the face of Sarah,
10:43who was the wife of a messenger, the mother of a messenger,
10:48sister of a messenger.
10:49Because there are traditions to indicate that she was sister of Nabi Lut a.s.
10:54And she is the wife of Hz Ibrahim a.s.
10:57and the mother of Nabi Ishaq.
10:59وَإِذَا سَمْعُوا مَا أُنزِلَ إِلَى الْرَسُولِ تَرَأَعْيُنْهُمْ تَفِيدُوا مِنَ الدَّمْعِ
11:05You know, the Holy Quran says that when they hear what has been revealed unto the messenger,
11:10their eyes are full of tears.
11:13So mourning has appeared in the Holy Quran in many places and Allah has praised it and not denounced it.
11:19The books of hadith are replete with instances in which the Holy Prophet and his family,
11:23practiced acts of mourning to grieve the loss of their loved ones.
11:30The passing of his uncle Hamza, the death of his son Ibrahim,
11:33and the loss of his cousin Ja'far are but a few.
11:36The Holy Prophet peace be upon him, also names the year in which his uncle Abu Talib
11:40and wife Khadija died as the year of grief, demonstrating his deep devotion to these individuals
11:46and his sense of grief over their demise.
11:49To what extent has mourning for the deceased been encouraged according to both Shia and Sunni traditions,
11:55as practiced by the Holy Prophet peace be upon him?
11:58Or is weeping over the dead an innervation as suggested by a small minority of traditions within the Sunni school?
12:04The topic of mourning is much more elaborately discussed in hadith,
12:11and we have basically a couple groups of hadith.
12:15Within the Sunni hadith books, we do see two genres of hadith, if you will.
12:21One which is restrictive of mourning, or maybe casts a questionable eye on it,
12:29and the other which does condone it.
12:32And the fact that there is this group of hadith in the Sunni tradition
12:36does mean that sometimes there are differences in viewpoints between Sunnis and Shi'is about mourning and everyday loss.
12:42I mean like our own personal losses, or also commemorations surrounding Ashura.
12:46That being said, many Sunnis don't take these hadith literally
12:50and do still have mourning customs that are similar to Shi'is.
12:53I think in general, in most of the Islamic world, there does tend to be a lot of expression of grief when it happens,
12:59as opposed to some countries where these things are sometimes kept a bit more inward.
13:03But in any case, we are aware that among what is present in the canonical Sunni books is that a woman should not mourn for anyone for more than three days,
13:13unless it is her husband.
13:15Or also the idea that the deceased is spiritually harmed or tormented if people are wailing for them.
13:22Albeit we do see a counter hadith saying that the Prophet didn't actually say that.
13:25But the idea is there, which is one reason why this is sometimes in people's minds.
13:30On the other hand, still within the Sunni collections, we do see examples of the Prophet,
13:35peace be upon him and his family, mourning for the loss of his young son,
13:40or mourning for the loss of his uncle Hamza.
13:43We see Fatima to Zahra, peace be upon her, also mourning for Hamza and the martyrs at Uhud,
13:48visiting their graves and so forth.
13:50When you study the illustrious lives of those chosen by the Almighty subhanahu wa ta'ala
13:55to indeed disseminate the teachings and to guide mankind,
13:59you recognize that from the beginning they expressed mourning over the loss of loved ones or tragic events.
14:08The books of history have narrated to us that the Prophet ﷺ cried when his grandfather Abdul Muttalib passed away.
14:17When his mother Amina bin Twahab passed away, the Prophet cried at her gravesite.
14:24And all those around him also started to cry.
14:27Prophet Adam, peace and blessings be upon him, according to Tarikh al-Tabari,
14:31which shed tears when he realized that his son Habil was killed.
14:36Similarly, you have a tradition from the sixth Imam, Imam al-Sadiqh, peace be upon him,
14:41that states that for 500 years Prophet Nuh, peace and blessings be upon him, would cry.
14:47And his name Nuh comes from Yanuh, which means to wail.
14:51Similarly, you have other Prophets like, for example, Prophet Shu'aib,
14:55who's known for the shedding of the tears and crying, an expression of sadness and sorrow.
15:01When you look at the seerah, the life of the final and the greatest messenger,
15:07the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ,
15:10you'll find a number of instances whereby not only does he express mourning, but encourages it as well.
15:18One example is the grief and the mourning of the Prophet ﷺ
15:24when his beloved wife, Lady Khadija ﷺ passed away,
15:28and his beloved uncle Abu Talib ﷺ passed away.
15:32The Prophet cried over the loss of his wife Khadija.
15:37He cried over the loss of his uncle, his protector, his guardian Abu Talib ﷺ,
15:45to the point that the biographers, scholars of seerah,
15:51they came to label that year as Aam al-Huzn, the year of sorrow.
15:58When the Muslims came back defeated after the Battle of Uhud,
16:04and some were mourning for their loved ones.
16:09Seventy were martyred on this particular battle.
16:12The Prophet of Islam says,
16:14وَحَمْزَةَ لَا بَوَاكِيَ لَهُ
16:16There is no one crying or shedding the tears for Hamza, his beloved uncle.
16:21So he encouraged this and shed the tears himself when he went to see the mutilated body of his uncle.
16:28When the Holy Prophet ﷺ lost his son Ibrahim, he said,
16:32the eyes tear up, the heart is sorrowful, but we do not complain against the Almighty subhanahu wa ta'ala.
16:39He also shed the tears when he lost Fatima bint Asad, the mother of Imam Ali ﷺ,
16:45in which he referred to her as his own mother.
16:48So as we can study objectively the lives of the Prophets,
16:53we recognize just like all other human beings, they had emotions,
16:57but not only did they express these emotions when they lost loved ones,
17:02but they encouraged others to do so.
17:04And this was characteristic of their lives.
17:08When the Holy Prophet ﷺ came back from the Battle of Tabuk,
17:14when he lost his cousin Ja'far al-Tayyar with the motor Tabuk,
17:20and when he came back he went to the member and he cried and recited the musibah,
17:27you know, the masibah of his cousin, his brother.
17:31And he said that my brother lost his arms and Allah has given him two wings in place of those two arms.
17:37And he cried and the Sahaba were crying.
17:39So I say that this is the first majlis recited by the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself,
17:45where he cried and he made the Sahaba cry.
17:48One tradition narrated by Ahmed ibn Hanbal and others,
17:52states that once Umar ibn al-Khattab was taking a body to its grave site,
17:57the women started to crying.
17:59Umar ibn al-Khattab had a problem with women crying.
18:02He had an issue with that.
18:05So he rebuked them.
18:06The Prophet ﷺ interrupted him and he told him,
18:09let them cry.
18:11Why are you banning them from crying?
18:13It's okay.
18:14Let them cry the loss of their loved one.
18:17You don't have the right to stop them.
18:20We do understand that after the loss of the Holy Prophet ﷺ,
18:24Hazrat Fatima did lament his loss quite vociferously,
18:29to the degree that it was found uncomfortable by some people.
18:32But the issue was not religious.
18:34It wasn't that she was tormenting him in his grave by mourning,
18:37but rather some people didn't like attention being called to certain things.
18:41So you do see a sort of bifurcation there.
18:44In the Shi'i religious law, in general,
18:47there's more openness to mourning and you don't have ideas in the religious law
18:51that a woman can't go to a graveyard, for example,
18:54like some Sunnis hold.
18:56Culturally it's a different matter, but I'm talking about the religious law.
18:59However, both Sunni and Shi'i hadith texts do speak of the Prophet,
19:03peace be upon him and his family,
19:05shedding tears for the impending loss of Imam Hussain
19:08and what would happen to him.
19:09So that's something that is agreed upon between the traditions.
19:13Jibreel descends upon him and he tells him,
19:16Ya Rasulullah, you love your grandson Hussain.
19:19The Prophet said, yes, I dearly love him.
19:21Jibreel would then say to Rasulullah,
19:24this grandson of yours would be killed in the land of Karbala.
19:28And in fact, according to Sunni hadiths,
19:31in one of those instances, Jibreel asked the Prophet,
19:34would you like to see the dust of the land of Karbala
19:38where your grandson will be martyred?
19:40He said, yes.
19:42Jibreel miraculously brought a handful of that dust
19:46and he gave it to Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa'alehi.
19:49And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa'alehi gave that to Umm Salama.
19:52She kept it until the day of Ashura.
19:55When over five decades later the incident happened,
19:58that dust turned into blood as narrated by Umm Salama.
20:02What is so fascinating when it comes to mourning within the history of the religion of Islam,
20:11specifically related to the events of Karbala and the 10th of Muharram,
20:16is that it started before the event itself.
20:19And this is very unusual.
20:22When you look around the world,
20:24usually people mourn after an event has actually occurred.
20:28When you look at, for example, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his Musnad,
20:33and a number of other sources in the Muslim world today,
20:37they include narrations that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
20:41and his holy progeny shed the tears and cried when he remembered Imam al-Husayn
20:46on a number of instances, peace and blessings be upon them all.
20:50And this is not only the Prophet of Islam, of course.
20:53This was also other Prophets, such as Prophet Adam and Prophet Nuh and others.
21:00Similarly, Imam Ali, peace and blessings be upon him,
21:03when he came to Safin to fight, he passed by Karbala.
21:09And this particular land was not known at that time.
21:13He stopped there.
21:14He told people that there will be people who will be martyred here.
21:19And he shed the tears.
21:20And there were witnesses who saw him do this
21:23and who were present on the plains of Karbala on the day of Ashura itself.
21:29Now, of course, after the 10th of Muharram,
21:32what happened was there was a responsibility upon those who were left,
21:36the family of the Holy Prophet to indeed raise the flag
21:41and make sure people are aware of the tragedy itself.
21:44So in Kufa and later on in Damascus, there were sermons,
21:50sermons by Imam Zain al-Abidin, peace be upon him,
21:53by Sayyid al-Zayna, peace be upon her, and others.
21:56And what these sermons did was truly move people.
22:00It enabled people to recall or somehow be conscious of what has happened.
22:05So these gatherings are kind of historically considered to be first instances
22:11where mourning would take place.
22:12Now, of course, you have others such as the Tawwabun, the penitents.
22:16They would hold gatherings of mourning,
22:18eulogizing Imam Hussain alayhi salam and the martyrs of the 10th of Muharram.
22:23In Kufa, you have the likes of Mukhtar al-Thakafi
22:26who would encourage people to go and visit the grave of Imam Hussain
22:29and indeed eulogize in such a manner.
22:32The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam cried upon the birth of Imam Hussain
22:35when Jibril alayhi salam comes to him.
22:37And later on he cries and whenever he remembers him.
22:40So Umm al-Fadl mentions Umm al-Salamah,
22:42radiallahu anha mentions it and others whenever he remembers.
22:45But when specifically for Imam Hussain alayhi salam or Ahlul Bayt alayhi salam,
22:49for Imam Hussain alayhi salam specifically,
22:50Imam Sajjad alayhi salam and Zainab al-Kubra,
22:52sallamullahi alayhimah, they started it after Karbala,
22:55on the day of Ashura and after Ashura.
22:58So for the rest of the life of Imam Sajjad alayhi salam he cried.
23:02So there are examples for mourning of Imam Hussain alayhi salam
23:05from the Ahlul Bayt alayhi salam.
23:07And they are role models for us, the Shia of Ahlul Bayt alayhi salam.
23:11There are accounts of matem ceremonies being organized
23:14after the passing of Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
23:16So it's not only that it happened for Imam Hussain,
23:18it's just that this has come into custom with respect to Shi'i practice
23:23over the centuries beyond that.
23:25So to my understanding there's a combination of things that happened spontaneously
23:29with the approval of the Imam.
23:32And also in the time of Imam Zain al-Abidin, peace be upon him,
23:37and afterwards there was encouragement to continue having memorials for Imam Hussain.
23:42For example, in the time of Imam Baqir, peace be upon him.
23:46In fact, not just his time, but himself he is said to have encouraged people
23:50to hold gatherings in their homes on Ashura to remember this.
23:53Keeping in mind that during the Umayyad dynasty it wouldn't have been possible
23:57in most places to have public ceremonies like at a mosque or Hassaniyah or something.
24:01So it would have had to have been private ceremonies in the home due to the political situation.
24:05But it does seem there was a sort of organic growth of customs and this particular practice starting,
24:12and the Imams all, after Imam Hussain, peace be upon him, all endorsed it.
24:18The fifth Imam, the sixth Imam, the eighth Imam in particular,
24:21as well as all the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, they would have gatherings.
24:25They would say recite lines of poetry, for example, to famous poets,
24:29who would talk about the slaughtering of the grandson of the Holy Prophet on the plains of Karbala.
24:35One day Abu Haroon al-Makfoof comes from the land of Iraq.
24:40He visits Al-Imam al-Sadiq alayhi salam in the city of Medina.
24:46The Imam alayhi salam tells him,
24:48I want to hear poetry, eulogizing Hussain alayhi salam, recite some lines of poetry.
24:58Abu Haroon states, I started to recite some poems, some lines of poetry, eulogizing Imam al-Hussain.
25:06Al-Imam al-Sadiq began to cry.
25:08Then he told me, Abu Haroon, I want you to read the poem like the people of Iraq do in that sad tone,
25:18when they mourn their loved ones, when they mourn the loss of someone.
25:22I want you to read like the people of Iraq do.
25:25This hadith is from an Imam al-Sadiq alayhi salam.
25:28Abu Haroon states, at that point, I started to read like the people of Iraq would do in a very sorrowful tone.
25:36And I said the following lines of poetry, the famous Arabic poem,
25:40Umrur ala jadath al-Hussain wa qul lia'adhumihi al-Zakiyya
25:45Pass by the corpse of Hussain and say to his blessed bones.
25:49That's how the poem starts.
25:51He says, I read this poem for Al-Imam al-Sadiq alayhi salam.
25:55He broke into tears.
25:57And there was a curtain.
25:59I could hear this, his family, the women also wailing, also crying.
26:04They were mourning Al-Imam al-Hussain alayhi salam.
26:07Then Al-Imam al-Sadiq alayhi salam said to me,
26:09Oh, Aba Haroon, know that anyone who composes a poem for Imam Hussain alayhi salam,
26:15even just a few lines of poetry, and he cries, and he causes others to cry,
26:21Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will give him a special reward in paradise.
26:25The 12th Imam alayhi salam says that the time has sent me much after you.
26:33Had I been in your time, I would have done Nudba.
26:39I would have cried upon you, I would have mourned, I would have.
26:42And now I will cry, sabaha wa masaa, on his zuhoor he will say.
26:47Badal al-dumu'i dama.
26:51And if my tears are dried up, then I will shed blood from my eyes in your mourning.
26:58So we have proofs from all Imams.
27:00After the major occultation, we find that this institution of mourning was strengthened even much, much more.
27:11The development, for example, of gatherings, for example,
27:17whereby a scholar sits on a raised platform such as a member gathered by others,
27:24is recorded, for example, in the year 351 and other years as well,
27:29by great scholars such as Shaykh al-Mufij, Shaykh al-Tusi, Shaykh al-Saduq.
27:33All these individuals would come and speak to people about the 10th and what happened on the day of Ashura,
27:39and they would cry and they would mourn.
27:44The traditions of the Ahlul Bayt have often placed great emphasis on mourning the tragedy of Karbala.
27:50Many Ahadith point towards the Ahlul Bayt expressing sorrow,
27:54expressing sorrow upon the onset of the holy month of Muharrar,
27:57and upon remembering the way in which Imam Hussain, peace be upon him, was mercilessly killed.
28:04They have often encouraged the recitation of the tragedy through both narration and poetry,
28:09and recommend that these practices are a means to attaining salvation in the hereafter.
28:14In a tradition attributed to the fifth Imam, in the book Al-Ghadir,
28:22Imam al-Baqir, peace be upon him, states that
28:26that he who remembers us or in whose presence we are remembered,
28:29and as a result tears flow from his eyes even though they may be in the measure of a wing of a mosquito.
28:36Allah shall construct for him a house in paradise,
28:39and make the tears a barrier between him and the hellfire.
28:43In a narration attributed to the sixth Imam,
28:45in the book Al-Rajal al-Shaykh al-Tusi,
28:48Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, says,
28:51There is none who recites poetry about Imam Hussain, peace be upon him,
28:56and makes others weep by means of it,
28:58except that Allah makes paradise incumbent upon him, and forgives his sins.
29:10With respect to the commemorations of Imam Hussain, peace be upon him,
29:14one can see a certain evolution over the centuries,
29:17keeping in mind that we do our best to understand these things from historical texts and so forth.
29:23But it does appear that the custom of gathering to remember Imam Hussain, peace be upon him,
29:27started off quite early and privately,
29:30until the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate,
29:32at which time there was a window of opportunity for more public ceremonies.
29:37And at one time some of the would-be Abbasid Caliphs
29:40were actually patrons of this and did encourage it,
29:43which is something that changed quite rapidly.
29:46But for a while there was this sort of public support for it as well.
29:50That being said, in the Abbasid era there was a certain amount of persecution,
29:56in particular of Shis, who tend to be the ones who hold these the most.
30:00So that did interfere to some degree with public commemorations.
30:03But nonetheless, that was the trajectory that happened.
30:06And about by the 10th century we do have records of purpose-built Hussainiyahs in Iraq and Egypt and Syria,
30:14because this stuff did spread to Egypt too during the Falthamid era.
30:18So that's something that's established fairly well back historically.
30:22The recitation of poetry for Imam Hussain was something that also was encouraged early on as an act of worship
30:30through which one might beseech Allah's grace to be brought to heaven,
30:35or to be united with the Prophet and his family in heaven.
30:38And we do have narrations from the Imams encouraging that as well,
30:42as well as some fragments of poetry, maybe even more than fragments.
30:46It also appears that within the first few hundred years there was a desire to use physical objects,
30:52like a horse or a shroud, these sorts of things.
30:56Although this custom of reenactment wasn't really fully formalized to what we have today until much later.
31:04Nonetheless, the basics of it were there from the early era.
31:09Perhaps it's just some sort of human inclination to want to do that.
31:12During the Buyid Shi'i dynasty, which was a relatively short-lived 12-year-old Shi'i dynasty,
31:18that gave a bit of a respite to the Shia in that time.
31:22And at that time, we do see some records of public processions
31:25and the markets being shut down on Ashura and covered in black cloth.
31:29And in particular, there's a mention of women lamenting and wailing.
31:35The traditions of the Ahlulbayt have often placed great emphasis on mourning the tragedy of Karbala.
31:40Many traditions point towards the Ahlulbayt expressing sorrow upon the onset of the holy month of Muharram,
31:48and upon remembering the way in which Imam Hussain was mercilessly killed.
31:52They have often encouraged the recitation of the tragedy through both narration and poetry,
31:56and recommended that these practices are a means to attaining salvation in the hereafter.
32:01In a tradition attributed to the fifth Imam, in the book Al-Ghadir,
32:07Imam Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, states,
32:10that he who remembers us or in whose presence we are remembered,
32:13and as a result tears flow from his eyes,
32:16even though they may be in the measure of a wing of a mosquito,
32:19Allah shall construct for him a house in paradise,
32:22and make the tears a barrier between him and the fire of hell.
32:27In a narration attributed to the sixth Imam, in the book Rajal al-Shaykh al-Busi,
32:32Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq says,
32:34there is none who recites poetry about Hussain alayhi salam,
32:38and weeps and makes others weep by means of it,
32:41except that Allah makes paradise incumbent upon him,
32:45and forgives his sins.
32:51Somebody asks the question, year after year,
32:54Muharram after Muharram, around the world,
32:57millions expressing their grief, mourning, crying, beating their chests,
33:02all the other forms of the so-called Aza or Aza Dari.
33:06But why?
33:07Shouldn't there be just a recalling of the legacy of Imam al-Hussain
33:12and the martyrs of Karbala by just understanding what happened,
33:16or a sermon, for example, or just reading it from a book?
33:19Why is there a need to have emotional attachment to it?
33:24Why is there a need to express this emotion publicly or amongst people?
33:29And this is because human beings today are very clear,
33:33and scientific evidence, behavioral experts have all come forward
33:36and spoken about the power of emotion and how it supports the intellect.
33:41And sometimes if emotion is separated from the intellect,
33:45many a times things just don't work out.
33:48Human beings don't learn, there's no progression.
33:51There is a great emphasis in studies today,
33:55scientific research about the role that emotion plays in the hearts
33:59and in the minds and in the lives of human beings,
34:01and has played since the beginning of creation.
34:05The Qur'an affirms this particular concept,
34:08and it's indeed interesting that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
34:11in the Huli Qur'an, in Surah An-Namil, verse number 14 says,
34:16وَجَحَدُوا بِهَا وَاسْتَيقَنَتْهَا أَنفُسَهُمْ ظُلْمًا وَعْدُوًّا
34:20That these individuals that were rejecting the belief in the Almighty and the monotheism,
34:29were intellectually accepting the fact that there is only one God
34:34and they must not worship other gods.
34:36But emotionally, they were not with it.
34:39They were not somehow bringing the heart and their brain in synchronized fashion.
34:46So that created a problem and so they rejected.
34:49They rejected the belief in the oneness of God.
34:52So it talks about the need for these two to come together.
34:56There's an interesting narration attributed to Imam Sadiq, peace be upon him,
34:59a couple of lines of which mention that sorrow for us is a form of praise,
35:04so tasbih for Allah, and sorrow for us is a form of worship.
35:08And at the end of the narration,
35:10he concludes it by saying these letters should be inscribed in gold.
35:14So there is a very strong sense that from early on,
35:17there was a sort of sanctity associated to remembering Imam Hussain, peace be upon him,
35:22and expressing sorrow.
35:24That it's not just about being sad or depressed or unhappy and that people can't be happy,
35:31but that it is in and of itself an act of worship which is expressed in this manner.
35:36Imam Sadiq says that if Allah desires a goodness for his servant,
35:47then he places love in the heart of his servant for Imam Hussain and for the ziyarat of Imam Hussain.
35:55And then he says, goes on and experiments in other ahadiths in Kaam al-Ziyarat and many other books.
36:00That if you want to cry like Imam R.A.S. says,
36:04In kuntab yabna shabib, rayyan ibn al-Shabib.
36:07This is a very authentic tradition and the sources have been checked.
36:11If you ever want to cry upon anything, then cry upon my grandfather Imam Hussain .
36:23And there are many many ahadiths along the lines from Imam Sajjad ,
36:26that every eye will be crying on the day of judgment,
36:29except for the eye that cries for my father Hussain ibn Ali .
36:33So it has been encouraged. Imam Sadiq says that every jaza and faza,
36:38jaza is basically when you grieve for someone,
36:42when you are either hitting yourself or you are mourning in, you know, like magnifying it,
36:52you know, like grief enormously.
36:55When people hit themselves, he says he is discouraged for everyone,
37:01except for Imam Hussain , for whom it is rewardful.
37:05And this is in Alamali, in Bahar al-Anwar, in many many books.
37:09So jaza is to grieve or mourn upon someone in extreme conditions.
37:15And for your own family members, it is discouraged and sometimes forbidden
37:20to beat yourself or hit yourself so much so that you either pull your hair
37:23or hit yourself and make yourself red.
37:26But for Imam Hussain , it has been encouraged.
37:29The spiritual benefits of mourning are so many.
37:33They include, for example, the journey towards purification,
37:39the journey towards proximity to Allah .
37:45The shedding of the tears helps with the relief and the burden of sins and disobedience.
37:51It is a means of establishing loyalty and allegiance to those who have passed away.
37:57When I feel sad over the loss of someone whom I love and I know,
38:01and I express this sadness, that means that that individual has a special status in my heart.
38:08Similarly, when I cry for Hussain, when I cry for the Holy Prophet,
38:12when I express my grief in other ways, that means they occupy a special place in my heart.
38:18And of course, the more I am closer to them, the more I am closer to the Almighty,
38:22the more I am closer to my faith and I can learn from them, understand their legacy and understand indeed their teachings.
38:32The psychological and spiritual benefits of mourning for the tragedies that befell the household of the Holy Prophet,
38:38peacefully upon him, cannot be understated.
38:41But what are the social benefits of holding mourning ceremonies in their remembrance?
38:45Why is there such a deep emphasis on coming together and creating space to recall the calamities
38:50that the Ahlul Bayt endured over 1400 years ago?
38:54First of all, mourning commemorations help to create a sense of unity and solidarity among the followers of the Ahlul Bayt.
39:00It allows their followers to come together and equates themselves with the traditions and biographies of the divinely appointed leaders.
39:09They provide a space for the revival of their legacy, help to establish people's relationship with them,
39:14and enable them to benefit from their teachings.
39:17The remembrance of Ashura and the events that took place in Karbala on that tragic day,
39:24is also a means to awakening the people to injustices occurring in this day and age.
39:28It allows people to empathize and side with the oppressed, while standing against the oppressors of all times.
39:33It motivates people to create positive change in society, to ensure that justice is upheld and tyranny is eradicated.
39:40Mourning for an event associated with the Ahlul Bayt is reviving their affairs.
39:48And this revival of the affairs revives the hearts.
39:51It revives the connection and the loyalty and the association with these holy individuals.
39:59Of course the Holy Quran comes forward and says,
40:02ذَلِكَ وَمَنْ يُعَظِّمْ شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا مِنْ تَقْوَ الْقُلُوبِ
40:06Anyone who indeed revives the signs of Allah is demonstrating God consciousness.
40:12And so the days that belong to Allah, Ayyamullah according to the Holy Quran,
40:17include the days in which those specifically chosen individuals by the Almighty left this world and sacrificed their lives.
40:26So in their remembrance, it is of the utmost importance that the mourning takes place.
40:32Why? Because we see in many instances in the lives of human beings whereby remembrance of an individual becomes a very dry,
40:41a very kind of robotic process whereby people just admire an individual and that's it.
40:48In the opinion of many of the scholars today, if there was no mourning sessions for Imam al-Hussein
40:55and what he stood for and the principles and the values of the 10th of Muharram would no longer be with us today.
41:02It would have indeed been abolished and somehow exterminated many, many hundreds of years ago.
41:08But the very fact that there was emphasis is indeed highlighting the fact that it's increasing in number.
41:14The world's largest annual peaceful gathering, that is the walk to the city of martyrs, the city of liberation,
41:23the city of peace and the city of freedom, Karbala, that takes place every year during Arba'een,
41:29is very much based on mourning.
41:31And it's increasing year by year.
41:33And the generosity, the kindness, the servitude that people express are all down to the fact that over the years,
41:41there's been emphasis regarding mourning.
41:43Around the world today, in many different continents, in many different countries,
41:48you'll come to the conclusion that there are sessions of mourning.
41:52Sessions of mourning are positive.
41:54They're not only lamentations in the negative sense.
41:58They are some kind of a rebirth, a commitment, when an individual strikes their chest with their hands.
42:04They're saying that I will want to follow in the footsteps of Hussain
42:08and I want to follow in the footsteps of the Ahl alayhi wa s-salam.
42:11It is not just a matter of he passed away 1400 years ago.
42:15So I'm just recalling a historical fact.
42:18It is history plus what is alive today, what is important today,
42:22and what can happen in the future.
42:24Mourning has inspired so many revolutions and changes within and in societies,
42:31and therefore it is absolutely necessary.
42:34Throughout the course of history, mourning practices both in public and in private
42:38have often raised questions from other schools of thought, as well as the wider public.
42:43Is mourning for the Ahl al-Bayt an obligatory practice according to the Shia school?
42:48And what of the issue of self-harm?
42:50Are some of these practices associated with self-harm?
42:55The misconceptions are two.
42:57One an ayat from the Holy Qur'an.
42:59Ya ayyuhallatheena amanu.
43:02Laa tulqu bi'aydaykum mila tahluka.
43:04O you who believe, do not place yourselves into destruction.
43:08And the hadith from the Holy Prophet.
43:09Laa dharar wa laa dharara fil islam.
43:11You cannot harm oneself and others.
43:13Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has requested us to do one thing in the Holy Qur'an.
43:19If we want to pay back Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa'alehi.
43:22The Prophet brought this beautiful religion of Islam, the final word of God.
43:27They asked him, Ya Rasulullah, how should we pay you back?
43:30The Prophet said,
43:32قُلْ لَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْبَةِ
43:35I ask for no wage, for no payment, for no compensation,
43:40except for the mawada of my family.
43:43Mawada is not only love, it's the expression of love.
43:46Express your love for my family, the Ahlul Bayt.
43:50This is a command in the Qur'an and it's wajib.
43:53It's an obligatory command.
43:55Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has commanded us to express that love for the family of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa'alehi.
44:02If you love someone, then you will be pleased in their pleasure and you will be grieved in their grief.
44:08There are those who come forward and say that some of the practices that we see around the world today
44:16under the kind of umbrella of Aza Dari or mourning or Aza al-Husayn
44:22were not necessarily sanctioned by the Ahlul Bayt or were not practiced by the Ahlul Bayt.
44:27For example, some might say running towards the shrine of Imam al-Husayn that happens on the 10th,
44:33known as the running of Tawarij, for instance.
44:37Some might come forward and say beating the chest.
44:40We do not necessarily have a narration that one of the Ahlul Bayt that did this.
44:46Is this permissible or is it not?
44:48And some of the enemies of Islam and the enemies of the Ahlul Bayt and the followers of Ahlul Bayt
44:54have utilized these things to try and attack the whole institution of Aza and the whole institution of mourning.
45:01The answer to this is everything is halal unless there is evidence that it is haram.
45:06And we do not have any evidence that, for example, beating the chest is actually haram.
45:11In fact, we have narrations that women in Medina used to strike themselves when they heard about the sad demise of the Holy Prophet ﷺ.
45:24And as we said, the wife of Prophet Ibrahim would strike her cheeks when she heard that she is about to have a child.
45:32It's an expression. It's something that is absolutely fine.
45:37Now, some might say, what about the whole concept of self-harm?
45:41Could these practices be considered self-harm?
45:46And the answer to this is very important because self-harm is not something that is an easy label to place on any practice.
45:55If I eat five pieces, large pieces of a whole entire cake, that is self-harm.
46:03If I don't do enough exercise, that is self-harm.
46:06Just by itself, self-harm is not necessarily considered to be a haram practice.
46:12What is forbidden is excessive self-harm that causes damage to the body that is considered to be quite extensive damage.
46:24And so this becomes subjective now. This becomes something that people differ in.
46:29And that is why within the school of Ahlul Bayt, we have the beautiful system of Ijtihad and Marja'iyya.
46:34We have Maraja, we have great scholars who have invested all their lives into producing these edicts and fatwas to issue whether such a practice is permissible or such a practice is not.
46:47And therefore, people would follow their own Marja' in certain cases, whether they are doubtful about a certain particular practice that may not be entirely practiced by the Shia,
46:58of whether it is permissible or not.
47:01But self-harm has to be placed on a degree and is not just something that can be somehow painted with the same brush towards every practice of Aza and more.
47:13Critics have often alluded to the fact that mourning over a battle that took place over 1400 years ago holds little relevance in the modern day.
47:22They claim that the tragedy of Karbala is an event that occurred far back in history and that delving into it to such an extent holds little value today.
47:30To what extent is the remembrance of Karbala still relevant in this day and age?
47:36What role does mourning continue to play in our lives today?
47:39How can mourning for Imam Hussain, peace be upon him, be a tool for reviving the spirit of Islam and its principles, especially when it comes to fighting against injustice and standing for the oppressed?
47:51Mourning will always remain relevant because of a number of reasons.
47:58Number one, it reminds you of the pain that Imam Hussain went through.
48:02Just like Eid al-Adha is a reminder of the pains that Nabi Ibrahim , Nabi Ismail and Hajra went through.
48:10So Ashura is a reminder of the pains that he went through.
48:13Number two, it reminds you of the stance against evil and against oppression.
48:19Sometimes we have to also be aware of the perception of the Western world of certain practices.
48:26Whilst it may be okay to perform them in our own places of worship, Hussainiyahs and Masajid, it may not be on the streets.
48:36Because as much as you try to explain that this is out of love and demonstration of loyalty, it may not still sit well in the minds of some of the Westerners.
48:46And the message of Imam Hussain might get lost then because we might not be able to impact them the way we can and should.
48:53When the Holy Quran talks about the method of the prophets, Allah states,
49:00He sent every prophet with the language, the tongue of his people.
49:04You have to communicate to people in a way they can understand that is in accordance with their mentality.
49:11I know there are some elders in our communities, in various communities.
49:18They want to mourn Imam Hussain the way they did back home.
49:21And they don't give the youngsters, the youth, a chance to mourn Imam Hussain in a different way.
49:28It's okay, let's keep our traditions, value and cherish your traditions.
49:33Let your children see how you did it back home, that's fine.
49:37But we also have to give room to our youngsters.
49:40If they live in a society, and in that society there are more effective means to mourn,
49:47we should give them that freedom, we should give them that flexibility.
49:52Otherwise we will lose these generations.
49:55I think we need to utilize the new languages.
49:58So not only just Arabic and Farsi and Urdu and some of the other languages that we use.
50:03We need to use the languages of the countries that we are in.
50:09In our speeches, in our latmiyyahs, in the nohahs and the recitation, the poetry.
50:18We need to use the local languages.
50:20We also need to give message to the locals.
50:23So these were means of introducing the Ahlul Bayt al-Muslam to the people.
50:28And they should continue to be the means.
50:31And we can only do that if we use the language of the people to do tabligh to them, to preach to them.
50:38Also we need to understand what do these different methodologies that we use for grief.
50:48You know, we need to explore other methods that people would understand that they are grieving, they are crying, they are mourning.
50:57And we need to convey that very clearly.
51:00They should understand that we are saddened.
51:02And we should also continuously say who we are mourning for.
51:07People should understand that this is not for someone, you know, now.
51:12Someone 14 centuries back means so much to us that we still grieve for them.
51:17That needs to be conveyed.
51:19When you look at the story of Imam Hussain alayhi salam, it's one that resonates with everyone.
51:24The young and the old, the poor and the rich.
51:27Children, they're moved by it.
51:30Educated people, uneducated people, people of all races, of all backgrounds, even non-Muslims.
51:37When they hear the story of Imam Hussain, which is filled with grief and sadness and sorrow, they are motivated to learn about Imam Hussain.
51:47They are moved.
51:48That emotional dimension of the legacy of Imam Hussain, which causes us to mourn, is an invitation to everyone to join the ship of Imam Hussain alayhi salam.
52:00For he is the torch of guidance and the ship of Salat.
52:04The
52:23The
52:27In
52:30And I'm sorry
52:34I've been in my life
52:38And I've said a word
52:41And I'm sorry
52:43About my lips
52:45When I'm broken
52:50I'm a mess
52:51You're a mess
52:53I'm sorry
52:55I'm sorry
52:56I'm sorry
52:58You're not a good one, but you're not a bad one
53:02You're not a bad one
53:05You're not a bad one
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