Cultural-propagational recommendations of ABWA’s Secretary General in Muharram

News News of Secretary General

Sunday, 23 July 2023

Ayatollah Ramazani stated, “In addition to explaining how Ashura happened, the missionaries of AhlulBayt (a.s.) culture should also shed light on the reason why this event happened and explain the roots of its formation. What events caused that shortly after the silent Quran was speared in the battle of Siffin, the head of the speaking Quran was speared in Ashura?”

ABWA Official Website – With the arrival of the days of mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (a.s.) and the holding of speech ceremonies for expressing Ashura teachings, Ayatollah Ramazani, the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, presented cultural-propagation recommendations for missionaries.

The recommendations are as follows:

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

First of all, I would like to express my condolences on the arrival of the month of Muharram of Imam Hussain (a.s.). Muharram and Safar of Imam Hussain (a.s.) are great opportunities for the preachers of Ashura culture. By using the capacity of media outlets and virtual space, they need to have the maximum use of these two months. In this regard, I would like to mention some points about Muharram and Imam Hussain (a.s.):

First: Imam Hussain (a.s.) is a universal dignitary who can definitely have global effects. Because he is an accepted person among all world nations. Our duty, wherever we are, is to correctly introduce the Imam and set him as a role model in different dimensions. He is a role model for Shiites and Muslims, followers of Abrahamic religions, and even the general public from human schools. This is according to his saying: “If you don’t have religion, be free in mundane life.” Also, in this regard, Imam Ali (a.s.) said, “Do not be a slave to others; While God created you free.”

Second: In relation to Ashura, we must operate on three levels:

a. Our quotations from history must be correct. We must be careful to use authentic and documented sources to explain the event of Ashura. In his narrative books, the late Muhaddith Nouri says that definitely there have been some people who have been trying to distort the Ashura culture. Also, martyr Motahari in his “Hosseini Epic” book, and other contemporary historians have also mentioned distortions about the Ashura incident. Therefore, first of all, our quotations from the Karbala epic must be correct and authentic.

b. “In addition to explaining how Ashura happened, the missionaries of AhlulBayt (a.s.) culture should also shed light on the reason why this event happened and explain the roots of its formation. What events caused that shortly after the silent Quran was speared in the battle of Siffin, the head of the speaking Quran was speared in Ashura? What caused them to feast in the Levant after a short period of time? Why did the situation of Muslims and Islamic society suddenly turn upside down, so that it led to this bitter and sad incident?

c. Missionaries also need to adapt past events with the present. It should be clarified who today propagates and explains the Ashura thought, and on the other hand, who distorts and even try to eliminate that thought. Who are oppressors and who stand against oppression and seek justice? Who guides people on the path, and who throws spanners on this path? Today, who is looking for Yazidi thought, oppression, tyranny, colonialism, and looting of people and nations in different ways? This adaptation should be done using the correct vocabulary, international literature, and keywords, such as defending human rights.

Today, in the West, animal rights are well followed and respected. While humans are grossly oppressed. A clear example of this problem occurs in Palestine. In Palestine, women and children are displaced, adolescents and young people are killed, and houses and agricultural lands are destroyed. But with complete censorship of the news, they never allow these crimes to be mentioned. Even they bully and arrogantly use deceptive words in their global media outlets.

Therefore, our preachers, in addition to correct citation and analysis, must adhere to correct adaptation as well. Missionaries as ambassadors of Islam aim to serve the AhlulBayt (a.s.) culture. Therefore, they should familiarize the general public with Islamic concepts and emphasize belief in religion, which is only verbal at the present time. But in reality, the current situation is an opportunity for divine tests. As Imam Hussain (a.s.) said, “People are slaves of the world and religion is on their tongue and they will follow it until their lives revolve around religion. But when they are tested by disaster, the believers become few.”

Today we have to promote Islam in the true sense of the word based on wisdom, rationality, and spirituality in the world. What people expect us is to explain and promote comprehensive, deep, and accurate religiosity. Imam Hussain (a.s.) based his movement on the same foundation and demonstrated practically that the Islamic leader must adhere to the fundamentals of Islam. He introduced false leaders who promote evil and ugliness to the people. In this regard, he said, “Don’t you see that the right is not followed and the wrong is not forbidden? Indeed, the believer should turn to meet God. Therefore, I do not see death as felicity, and life with oppressors as suffering and boredom.”

Today, we must explain to our audience that Islam is comprehensive for this world and the hereafter, external and internal, and individual and social responsibilities. Therefore, man must work hard in this world. In the West, unfortunately, social responsibilities are not paid attention to. They do not consider others’ problems as their own. This is despite the fact that according to the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h), “If someone hears the call, “O Muslims, help me”, but does not respond to this call, he is not a Muslim.” Whether the caller is a Muslim or a non-Muslim. Also, the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) says in another place, “A person who wakes up in the morning and does not pay attention to the affairs of Muslims is not a Muslim.”

Islam has emphasized the unity and unification of Muslims and believers. In this regard, in a hadith, Imam Jafar Sadeq (a.s.) emphasized that the believers should be as such, “A believer is a brother of a believer, like one body. When one part hurts, other parts feel it too. The souls of believers are also from one soul.” In this way, many problems are solved.

Ashura culture has other clear messages too. For example, not only the murderers in Karbala are in eternal divine punishment, but even those who were satisfied with such massacre are also considered murderers in Karbala. In terms of new tools and virtual space, today we have a golden opportunity. Some missionaries have Minbar, some others preach Islam face-to-face, while some are active in virtual space to promote the AhlulBayt (a.s.) school. We should use all these platforms to expand the awareness of human society. The last point is that all God’s prophets have come to educate mankind. In a hadith, the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, “Be knowledgeable, or a learner, or a listener, or a lover of them. Don’t be the fifth, or you will perish.”

In Ziarat Arbaeen, after salutations on the oppressed, salutations on Aminullah, and salutations on Wali Allah, this phrase of Imam Sadeq (a.s.) is read, “O God, I testify that that noble man sacrificed his blood in your way to save your servants from ignorance and astonishment astray. While they, who were deceived by this mundane world and sold their interest in the hereafter to the humble and lowly world, conspired against him.”

With this view, and with our understanding of the aforementioned sentence, we should try to confront those who speared the head of God’s friend (Imam Hussain) in the ignorant society and also to fulfill the goals of the prophets and remove ignorance from society. Like martyred ulama throughout history, such as The Two Martyrs (the First martyr: Muhammad Jamaluddin al-Makki al-Amili, and the Second Martyr: Zayn al-Din al-Juba'i al'Amili), Sheikh Fazlollah Nuri, and Ayatollah Kashani in Iran, Qazi Nurullah Shustari and others, who tried to raise awareness and remove ignorance from the society, and eventually were disrespected and removed from the society.

We should be very vigilant and avoid using religion as a tool. ISIS, Takfiris, and extremists, even though they have a religion and use many Islamic words deceivingly, in the name of God, behead innocent people! We should strictly avoid such so-called pious people who use religion as a tool and warn others against them.

What is more important is that in propagating Islam, we must pay attention to its basics, including the correct knowledge of Islam and the correct belief in it. As a result, if we are true believers, society will also become believers and seek justice and feel responsible for solving the problems of human society, and work harder than before.

Once again, I would like to appreciate and thank you for your valuable services, dear missionaries, and while wishing you success, I ask you all to pray for me on these holy days.

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AhlulBayt (a_s_) World Assembly Muharram propagation Secretary General