Muharram– Associated With Many Auspicious Events

Muharram is not a particular day, but the name of a month that marks the beginning of the year according to the Islamic calendar. The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, and is 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year. Hence it is a little different from the Gregorian calendar that is used in the western nations

The month of Muharram is of great religious significance to Islamic people the world over. It is held to be the most sacred of all the months, excluding Ramadan. The word "Muharram" is often considered synonymous with "Ashura", the tenth day of the Muharram month.

The month of Muharram is also associated with many auspicious events in Islamic history. Allah is supposed to have created the heavens and the earth on this blessed day. On this day He gives His infinite blessings and bounties to many of His Prophets and delivered them from the clutches of their enemies.

Allah created Prophet Adam in this month and pardoned him of his mistake. Prophet Noah’s Ark landed successfully on Mount Judi during this time centuries ago. God is also said to have saved Prophet Ibrahim from fire and rescued Prophet Musa from the Pharaoh during the month of Muharram.

One must be wondering what there is to mourn about then. The tenth day of Muharram or Ashura is of supreme importance for Muslims, specially the Shia Muslims as they celebrate the death anniversary of Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

Muharram is not a festival in the celebratory sense as it mourns the Karbala tragedy when Imam Husain, grandson of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was martyred in the early days of Islamic history.

Imam Husain's martyrdom at Kerbala represents a conscious confrontation with anti-Islamic forces and a courageous resistance for a sacred cause. The tragedy was that the one who stood up to defend Islam was cut down in so cruel a manner. It is for this reason that the death of Imam Husain is mourned annually in the Muslim world.

Shia Muslims consider "Muharram" to be a sorrowful occasion, but Sunni Muslims observe it as a festival and look at "Ashura" as a happy day. Traditions and rituals have lived on, but the real spirit has taken the backseat. We tend to preach too much without practicing even an iota of it.

We have failed to grasp the actual message and philosophy behind the tragedy of Karbala. We need to look the Ashura in its real essence, Like to quote the inspiring lines of Mahatma Gandhi who once during India's struggle for independence remarked to his countrymen: " I am not proposing any magic formula before you, but its what I have learned from the tragedy of Karbala. If we have to free our country from the clutches of colonials, we must tread on the footsteps of Husain ibn Ali (as)"

Muharram is the month of an epic action. The month in which blood triumphed over sword, the month in which the power of truth forever condemned falsehood and stamped the faces of tyrants with the dark brand of vanity and disgrace. The month that teaches all generations throughout history that right can never be subdued by might. Might vanishes but the right survives.

Imam Hussain taught by example on how to stand up and decry whenever a despot rules over us with force and barbarity, even if our power is inadequate. Whatever it takes, the movement must live on. And we should remember that Hussain (as) is not just Imam of Muslims, he is the Imam of entire humanity.

Ruler is Hussein, Emperor is Hussein, and He gave his head, but refused to give his hand (in allegiance)