Interesting Points gathered from the Majalis in  Muharram 2008

www.Hussainiat.com Mainly from Moulana Sadiq Hassan

1)Three things are 'Aafat' ( causes of destruction) for Islam ; a)Ignorant worshipper , b)Knowledgeable Alim without character /high morals & c)Oppressive rulers .

The ignorant worshipper permits Alims w/o character to function, who in turn give credibility to Rulers who oppress

2) Many momins praise the Ahlulbayt(as) as the Safinat Najat - 'Ark of Noah/Salvation ',  which is undoubtedly true .However the mistake that is made ,is that they do not 'board' the Ark of salvation but only eulogise it from afar .It can offer salvation provided you board it ie go wherever  it leads you to & not act as per your own will .     

3) Hazrat Abbas (as) was destined for Kerbala before birth itself . His entire objective of life was to defend Imam in Kerbala .However when Kerbala took place, he did not get the opportunity to fight at all .!

He is a monumental sign of Unconditional Obedience to Imam .At no point did he express dissatisfaction or opposing views ,despite his entire being created for a purpose, which was' apparently' not getting  fulfilled

4) Imam Ali(as) says in Nahjulbalagha that ...I do not understand whether you are my Imam or I am your Imam ,.You are not prepared to follow my orders/instructions & instead keep giving suggestions to me .This is the same case today when we give suggestions to Marja .

Imam Ali (as) says ' I am prepared to exchange 10 of my followers with 1 follower of Muwaviah ...because though they are on falsehood (batil) , they unconditionally follow the one whom they have accepted as leader.

In order to oppose the Prophet (saws) he was labelled as ' Magician' , 'Poet' &  'Madman' so that the Women ,Intellectuals & Children ,would keep away from him. Similar tactics are being used today to keep the people away from our leadership in form of Marjayiat. The Marja is the representative of our Imam (atfs) ,just as the Imams are representatives of Allah swt on earth .It is a foundation stone which is under systematic attack from adversaries who know its strength & use the ignorance/emotions of people

5)Imam Hussain (as) did not destroy 'Yazidiyat' ,since we see that the oppressive rulers have continued . However he unveiled it & made it clearly recognizable to all .The end of Yazidiiyat will take place when Imam(atfs) reappears .

We take the name of Imam, but ignorantly adopt the practices of Yazid of changing religion ie namaz , not following rules etc .

By inserting the third Shahadat in Tashahud ,we are in effect admitting that all our predecessors & Imams prayed Namaz in a wrong way ! .This is the trick of enemies .Belief in Imam Ali (as) is an Article of Faith & is the basis of ALL Ibadat BUT the Method of Ibadat will be shown by Imams /Marja .

6) Imamat is a' divine position' as per beliefs of the followers of Ahlulbayt . But 'Khilafat' is a man made position as per the Ahl e Sunnah .Hence non acceptance of a position created by Men ,cannot entitle anyone to label followers of Ahlulbayt (who dont accept Khilafat), as Kafir .  In contrast Ahlulbayt followers do not label other Muslims as kafir ,despite they not believing in a' divine position' as per their beliefs.         

7) Adalat /Justice of Allah swt ,is a v imp belief. The belief in a Just God is a foundation which also supports the belief in Imamat & Tawhid as well . If HE is Just then he is expected to send an error free messenger to guide

8) Yazid made a mistake by thinking that Kerbala was over on 10th Muharram . That led to his downfall .However we too make same mistake & think that Kerbala is over . Each one has to identify what is his kerbala in his time & place & act to defend Islam. .When we say' Fa ya laytani' in Ziarat we have to examine if it is lip service because we think Kerbala was over in 61 AH or do we believe that 'Every day is Ashura & everyday is Kerbala '& try to identify Kerbala here & now?

Fa ya Laytani (wish we were there ..) is only in the ziarat of the Companions & not of Imam or H Abbas or H Ali akber . We  say that we cannot emulate Imam , we can atleast emulate the companions of Imam? ,as they were all normal people non-masooms who rose to that level .We have to be sincere in saying ' wish we were there ' as we can be at same station today ,provided we play our role to defend Islam today as well.

We cannot be the 'Silent majority ' else the curse may also fall on us as we recite in ziarat waritha that 'Lanallah sami-at be zalek ' those who remained silent in the face of the atrocity/opression.We need to identify the Truth /falsehood today , current oppressors & be with/support the oppressed .

9)The women are as important in this fight as the men. Yazid thought that Women were weak & could not play any role .Saddam however killed Bintul Huda (sister of Ayt Baqr us sadr) mentioning this mistake of Yazid in kerbala.

 Imam Khomeini did not rise up when he had to go to exile to Najaf & people objected, but he mentioned ,that his army was yet in the laps of the mothers. When the enemy uses the tactic of Deceit, the women are more capable of identifying the same as Hajra identified the Shaitan ( & his trick despite pious appearance) when he came to her to prevent H Ibrahim from sacrificing his son.

10) The Family is the foundation of an Islamic Society. Our Mothers are important ,but providing a conducive environment to the 'mothers of our children' is equally important . Each member of the family has to understand & carefully balance each others rights ie Wife vs Mother etc Our societies are plagued with .Kerbala required the participation of the entire family too,Despite all advices recieved by Imam not to take his family ,Imam knew that the family had an iimportant role in the objective to be achieved. Similarly the Prophet started propogation only after he had Lady Khadija & Imam Ali(as)  to support him

11) Sura Mohammed Ch 47 :v 6 :says "If you will help Allah ,HE will help you " ie .HIS help appears conditional to we helping HIM !. We cannot expect 'No action' from us & for HIM to be obligated to respond to our prayers.

BUT How can WE help the ALL powerful ? The same Help ( hal min nasr) was also cried out by Imam Hussain (as) on Ashura after all were martyred .This call for help is a call to us the future generations to help him .This same 'help' is explained in ziarat waritha as Nasr a deenillah .. It means we have to help Islam & the cause of Islam in our own time /place ..             

12) Losing Imaan/Faith is worse than losing life .Protecting  Imaan of  our children is also v important. Hujr ibn hadi wished his son to be killed in front of him ,before his own death, which is against human nature because he was concerned that his son would not turn away from imaan for fear of his life & follow Muwaviah

13) Weapons used -Recall the Trick of aising quran on spears not for love of quran but as a trick in battle of sifeen .This caused discord in the army of Imam ali(as) ,.due to emotions. Simpleton of Abu musa ashari was also tricked. Similar tricks were also used in Kerbala,giving reference of relation etc .. Also used today ..emotions are used to say that Ulamaa Marja are not in favor of fazilat of Ahlulbayt/Azadari etc This is the trick of the enemy. Today people are making fun of Namaz so as to prove that u love Ahlulbayt ! where as Ahlulbayt & Namaz are one non seperable. Imam Sajjad (as)was the best Azadar as well as the best Abid at teh SAME time.

14) Imam Ali (as ) sometimes forgives his own enemy, but does not forgive enemy of Allah swt the form of Nusairi.. If a person claims to be a lover of Imam but his actual purpose is to misguide/ take us away from our leaders ...then we have to recognise & be alert /careful.

15)Qiyas : Satan used his own faulty logic over HIS command to disobey HIM . Fire is superior to clay ! .We need to be careful in Islamic laws & do not conclude based on own logic .This is a science best left to Mujtahids .Eg of Qiyas  If women are required to make up fasts missed they should also be required to make up the salat missed since salat comes before fasting & is more important !

However IF we have been informed clearly of the REASONS for the rules THEN it is possible to make deductions / extensions Eg Alcohol is haram as it causes Intoxication .Hence All things which cause intoxication are Haram

16) We are warned, through a dream of Jabir al Ansari , of a piece of cloth being torn in parts. The Prophet explained this dream that ,at the end of time, people will take only parts of Islam to suit themselves, which will benefit no one. This will also give a bad image to Islam like a torn cloth. We need to accept the whole of Islam with all its rules & not only the parts that suit us/ our method of thinking, irrespective of our ability to understand the complete reasons/logic for the rules. 

1 7)Over Confidence . “ Its not us” The danger of losing faith 

Our present status is no guarantee that we will continue to be on the right path & not deviate at times of crucial tests. Even the love, recognition of the Ahlul bayt, piety & worship, may not be sufficient to ensure that we become his followers. There are 2 events given below which are vivid examples: 

a) Azazeel: There was a cry in the skies that one of the pious worshippers would be one of the most cursed ones. All the creatures, at all stations were worried that it could be them & went to the creation, next higher in station, to seek his intercession by prayer. Only Azazeel was confident & prayed for all, except himself & as a result was the cursed Satan.! 

 b) Balam e baoor He had a high status & his duas were accepted instantly .He was asked to pray for victory against Prophet Musa (as), which he finally attempted, due to the riches offered to him.  

We easily condemn the people mentioned in Sura Juma, who left the Prophet in prayer for entertainment & business deals. We need to apply it to ourselves first & check if we too have similar habits of giving priority to these matters over Islam. 

We are required to continually recite “Ihdinis siratal Mustaqim” i.e. keep us on the right path, at least 17 times in a day, because there is a danger of deviating & being misled.

18) Prophet Musa (as) once asked HIM for personal advice & Allah advised the ummat as follows

Take these 4 advices:-

a) Dont be worried about Rizq (Sustenance ) Until, you believe that MY treasures are endless

b) Dont find faults with others ,unless you are sure all your faults are known to you & forgiven

c) Dont be negligent of Shaitan for even one second as he can always decieve you at any time,until you are sure he is dead

d) Forgive others who have oppressed /harmed you if you want ME to forgive you

19The Prophet (saws) said that the BEST of Aamal is the Intizar of Faraj ie Waiting for Imam Mehdi(atfs) .This active waiting, not passive waiting includes ALL the obligations & aamal See Waiting our role here

We know from signs that the end of times is near .In case Imam returns & knocks at our door . ..Are we prepared to allow him to enter immediately ? or will we have to ask him to wait ..until we get rid of all those things from the house which we are not supposed to keep ..?

20.Ghadir was an announcement of 'Wilayat' (leadership / succession) not of 'Friendship or love' of Imam as claimed by some brothers,hence avoiding the need to accept him as a leader to be followed.There are many other occasions where announcement of love / friendship was made by prophet saws . though. Hence it is incumbent upon th e followers of Ahlulbayt to follow & accept the leaders commands & not limit themselves to expressing love fo r Imam.

21 Sports & Internet are assumed to be good activities for our children ,but today these mediums themselves are a potent source of promoting vice .The improper women dress in sports & all kinds of bad material on internet are problems to be aware , hence this too needs supervision & we cannot leave our children exposed to these w/o guidance