What is Ashura?

Ashura comes from the word Ashra, which means 10. Ashura is an event that took place on the 10th day of the Islamic Month called Muharram. This event happened at a place called Karbala in Iraq. This day is one of the saddest days in Islamic history. Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Hussein (as) and his close family and followers, had their rights taken away and were harshly martyred. This happened because Imam Hussein and his followers didn’t obey a corrupt and sinful person called Yazid the son of Muawiyya. So, what actually led to this event? While Prophet Muhammad (saw) was alive, Abu Sufyan who was the father of Muawiyya tried to break the mission of the Prophet and kill him. After the Prophet passed away, Muawiya took over Syria and tried to fool the people.

He wanted to be the leader of the whole Islamic nation and tried to start a war. To protect the Islamic nation, Imam Ali (as) the cousin of the Prophet and the rightfully appointed leader of the Muslims, tried to protect the Islamic nation from Muawiyya. Even though Imam Ali (as) tried to solve this issue without any fighting, Muawiyya never agreed or listened. Sadly, Imam Ali was then killed while praying. After Imam Ali’s death, for justice and peace, Imam Hasan, who was also a rightfully appointed leader, signed a peace agreement with Muawiyah. The main part of the agreement was that Muawiyya; would rule the Muslims according to the Quran, he is not allowed to hurt the family and followers of the Prophet and he would not choose the next ruler after he dies. However, Muawiyah broke his promise. He even poisoned Imam Hasan so that he could make his bad son Yazid the leader Yazid then forced Imam Hussein to obey him or he would be killed. So, who was Imam Hussein? Imam Hussein is the grandson of the Prophet and the son of Imam Ali and Lady Fatima (pbut).

Imam Hussein is one of the members of the Prophet’s pure family chosen by Allah. The same family that the Angels of Allah visited on many occasions. He is blessed in the Holy Quran and in hadiths where the Prophet said “Hussein is from me and I am from Hussein, Hasan and Hussein are the leaders of the youth in paradise, and Whoever hurts Hussein has hurt me” He is a very important person who was chosen by Allah (SWT) to lead the Muslims. Yazid was a man who practiced many bad things at home and even in public. He didn’t obey the laws of Islam; he was a drunkard and a trouble maker. Anyone that obeyed Yazid would have been a big mistake against the whole mission of the Holy Prophet, where he struggled for 23 years to show the true message of Islam. Imam Hussein followed the footsteps of the Prophet and said that “a man like me cannot obey a man like Yazid.

With Imam Hussein’s honesty, knowledge, courage and piety, he stood up against the corrupt and false ruler Yazid. Imam Hussein said that he did not stand up against Yazid because of arrogance or to spread injustice or to hurt anyone. He wanted to bring back the real Islam that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) made for the people. By not following Yazid’s bad actions, and Imam Hussein continuing in the way of Allah, it led to the event of Ashoora Why do we commemorate Ashura? Every year, Muslims remember the Day of Ashura to pay respect to Imam Hussein and his followers, for all their hard work and struggle they did, to save Islam from the hands of bad people. Imam Hussein rose against Yazid to protect Islam, to show us the true meaning of life and to show that everyone will end up with Allah (SWT). His famous words will stay with us forever “I would rather die a death of dignity, than live a life of humiliation”