The events of Karbala and our duties.!!

By

Syed Ali Mehdi

As the 10^th of Moharram approaches and black flags fly high in remembrance of the great sacrifice by Imam Hussain, as we once again remember the day when the day when 72 innocent people were brutally murdered and their bodies trampled under horses, we must ask ourselves what was the purpose of that glorious sacrifice? What was the essential message that the grandson of the prophet was trying to deliver? Why is it that we have remembered it, for 1400 years?

If you look at it, the event of Karbala was neither the bloodiest nor the most sophisticated battle in History, then why is it so important? The answer to that question is simple; it was the stark and huge contrast between right and wrong that made it so significant. At one end you had Evil, pure evil, evil that was willing to do anything to promote its evil schemes and achieve its goals and that included massacring the very family that had given them the religion they claimed to represent. On the other hand, you had right, right in its most pure form, right that was willing to sacrifice everything to protect what was right and that included sacrificing the family of the Holy Prophet. In essence, the events of Karbala are not a battle between one right and one wrong but a battle between every right and every wrong that will walk on this planet.

The message of Karbala is not for anyone community, time or religion. It is a universal message, for all communities, and all times, that will remain valid throughout History, a message that will tell every man, woman or child that no matter how old or young you are, it is your solemn duty to rise up against evil, against injustices and protect what is right even if that means giving the lives of your children and your family. It is this message that has helped millions all over the world because once they see that in History, a man went out against a well equipped army of 30,000 with a group of 72 people that included man as old as 80 and although he sacrificed everything, his sacrifice protected what was right and vanquished the evil in society, it gives them hope and they realize that no matter how small your army is, no matter how powerful your enemy, the truth will always prevail.

It is our duty in this time to learn from the message of Karbala and rise up against the injustices in our society, be it economic, social or indeed political. We live in a time where we see innocent people dying every day some from drone attacks others from domestic violence and so in this time of extreme injustices, the events of Karbala demand of us that rise up against evil in our societies and learn something from Imam Hussain, learn that to protect the innocent and fight against the oppressors we should not be afraid of sacrificing.

It is however clear, that everyone will not sacrifice and indeed it is not required that everyone sacrifice their life every time they see an injustice, so a more important question arises; Given the injustices in our society, what is our duty? First of all, if there is a mass gathering of right versus wrongs, a gathering similar to that of Karbala, we must choose the right and stop at nothing to make sure that right prevails and that includes sacrificing our families. However until that situation develops, I believe that in our everyday lives we have three levels at which we can perform our duties. First, if we see oppression we must physically rise against it and make efforts to stop that injustice. Second, if it is beyond our capability to rise against oppression, we must speak out against it and acknowledge that there is injustice, acknowledge that wrong is indeed wrong. Third, if it is not possible to speak out against an injustice, we must, in our mind and heart, hate the oppressors and believe within ourselves that given the chance and opportunity to rise up against them, we would do it with all our determination and commitment.

In this time of great crisis’s Karbala teaches us to rise up against whosoever does injustice and as Humans before anything else, we must accept this message and instead of fighting amongst ourselves we must fight against the real culprits in whatever capacity we can, because to ignore an act of injustice and not react, is equivalent to committing the act itself.