By Catherine Shakdam
“Allah is the Guardian of the believers. He takes them out of darkness into light.” - Surah al-Baqarah, 2:257
Ashura … Ashura today is remembered for great many reasons; it has also been used to serve and assert the narrative of great many people – each to their own, each to achieve for distinct goals.
But what is Ashura if not a universal call for Liberation from the shackles of Falsehood? What is Ashura if not a grand declaration of allegiance to God, the Master of all world? Whether Muslims care to remember Ashura through the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the last prophet of God, son of Ali and Lady Fatema, or for Moses’ victory over Pharaoh matters very little for Ashura has always spoken of the Word enacted through the righteous deeds of men of God.
Allow me now to speak to you of my Ashura, the mourning and grief I share with that of my kin.
For all the reverence I hold towards Moses and those who follow in his journey out of Egypt, Ashura for me will forever echo of Imam Hussain, martyrs among all martyrs, son to the Holy House of the Prophet, God’s righteous commander, the one soul which darkness could never touch, not even for a fleeting moment.
Songs and poems have risen in his name across ages of men, it is Hussain ibn Ali generations’ of men and women have called out in eternal sorrow, for none could bear the manner in which he was stolen from us.
