Shaykh Zayd Salami, in his Friday khutba of 4th Janary 2008, talked about the behavior of Muslims with regards to Imam Husayn
and his sacrifice of Karbala. He firstly mentioned the extreme some “modern” muslim go to refuse to pronouse “La’ana” to the enemies of Ahlul Bayt
, to the point of even removing it from reliable Ziarat of Ashura and why "La'an" should be done on the enemies of Ahlul Bayt
. He went on to explain on the other hand the extremes people go to, in the name of Azadari, to do things that are not beneficial to them or to the cause of Imam Husayn
. Among the several acts he mentioned, was Zanjeer which is practiced by some in Dar-es-Salaam. Following his explanation on the prohibition of such acts, the Dar-es-Salaam community erupted in debates and arguments to the extent that some punches were thrown, and security provided for the Shaykh.
The purpose of this writing is to explain to the reader, what is right and what is wrong with the aid of Masail from our esteemed Mujtahideen, ahadith and basic common sense.
According to his Eminence Ayatullah Sistani, "The principal objective of mourning and lamentation during 'Ashura, is to respect the signs and symbols of Religion and remember the suffering of Imam Hussain (a), his companions, and his uprising to defend Islam and prevent the destruction of the religion by Bani Umayyad dynasty. These rites must be done in such a way that in addition to serving that purpose, it draws the attention of others to these loft goals. Also, its ritual aspect should be preserved. So those actions which are not understandable for the enemies of Islam and non-Shia Muslims and causes misunderstanding and contempt for the religion must be avoided."
According to Late Ayatullah Lankarani, "The philosophy of mourning during 'Ashura, is to respect the symbols of Religion and remember the suffering of Imam Hussain (a), his companions, and his uprising to defend Islam and prevent the destruction of the religion by Bani Umayyad dynasty. These rites must be done in such a way that in addition to serving that purpose, it draws the attention of others to these lofty goals. Obviously, Qama Zani does not have such a role and the enemies of Ahlalbayt misuse it. So those actions which are not understandable for the enemies of Islam and causes misunderstanding and contempt for the religion must be avoided."
http://www.lankarani.org/eng/faq/q.html
http://www.lankarani.org/eng/faq/a.html#Azadari
Ayatullah Khamenei also expresses a similar view in his Practical Laws of Islam under Religious Events whilst answering a question from a muqallid.
Q1450. Is hitting oneself with swords Halal if it is done in secret? Or is your fatwa in this regard universal?
Ans. In addition to the fact that it is not held in the common view as manifestations of mourning and grief and it has no precedent at the lifetime of the Imams (a.s.) and even after that and we have not received any tradition quoted from the Infallibles (a.s.) about any support for this act, be it privately or publicly, this practice would, at the present time, give others a bad image of our school of thought. Therefore, there is no way that it can be considered permissible.
As can be seen quite clearly from the fatwas of these three great Mujtahids, actions like Qama Zani and Zanjeer must not be practiced. To support the Ulama’s belief that the kuffar misuse such actions, visit the sites below and see for yourself.
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20 ... _islam.htm
http://www.ansar.org/english/photos-eng.htm
http://www.allaahuakbar.net/shiites/maatam.htm
We then naturally come to the question, “How then, was Hadhhrat Uwais-al Qarni’s action justifiable?”
1. When Hadhrat Uwais broke his teeth, the enemies of Islam did not point that action out as something bad as they do now. Hence due to the situation today, the Ulama consider it best that such actions not be performed.
Surah Baqarah:Verse 104 is a Qur’anic reference to prove this viewpoint, as Allah says, “O you who believe, say not (unto the Prophet), Look upon us but say Look upon us…” The words raena and andharna have similar meanings in Arabic (look upon us). However, in Hebrew, raena is a swear word. Thus when the early Muslims used to call upon the Prophet with raena, the Jews used to mock them. To stop this mocking, Allah commanded the Muslims to refer to the Prophet differently.
2. When Hadhrat Uwais broke his teeth, he did it out of emotion and love for the Prophet. Thus when the Prophet used to praise Uwais, he did not praise the breaking of the teeth but the sincerity of the action.
3. Hadhrat Uwais broke his teeth only once; and never did he do any other such action. Thus we too cannot make it a habit as we see no continuation of such practice after Uwais; during the lifetime of the Prophet with the other As’hab or during the lifetime of the other Imams after the tragedy of Karbala. Imam Husayn
himself asked Bibi Zaynab
not to beat herself and pull her hair after his martyrdom.
As we have seen from the above explanations that the acts of Zanjeer, walking on fire and the like are not beneficial nor permissible. Let us, who have accused and abused the brave Shaykh go and apologize to him and to Imam Husayn
for our indecent actions. I would also like to ask those with “little education” to think carefully before slandering an alim or reciter of Husayn
.
All of us must have experienced loss of a dear one and thus real grief at one time or the other. We will only then feel like beating our chests and heads. That is a spontaneous reaction to the grief. Such is the reaction we show during azadari, however, with a difference: after smoking a couple of cigarettes and gulping down some juice, after cracking a few jokes outside the imambara. Can we call that real grief?
And if it is very important for us to give out blood, then why not donate blood? This way, we will be spreading the message of Imam peacefully and saving lives too. And if we feel the spirit is not there while doing so, let us take an mp4 player with us and play a nawha while doing this noble act!
Watch 'The Mukhtar Narrative / Mukhtar Nama' on Ask - a series narrating Mukhtar al-Thaqafi's revenge for Karbala.
- By BatoolM