Part One  - Introduction

This is a new series that we have worked hard to bring to you.  Herein, we have a brief discussion and Tafseer of Ziyarat Ashura, the salutation to Imam al-Husayn(A), the Martyr of Karbala, as taught by the Aimmah al-Athaar(A).

This discussion will be spread over a number of parts:

1. Introduction
2. Ziyarat Ashura in Arabic
3. English Translation of Ziyarat Ashura (with section boundaries marked)
4. The Ziyarah of Imam Husayn(A) and it’s benefits
5. The Etiquette of the Ziyarah of Imam Husayn(A)
6. Commentary - What does “Salaam” mean?
7. Commentary - First Section of the Ziyarah
8. Commentary - Second Section of the Ziyarah
9. Commentary - Third Section of the Ziyarah
10. Commentary - Fourth Section of the Ziyarah
11. Commentary - Fifth Section of the Ziyarah
12. Commentary - Sixth Section of the Ziyarah
13. Commentary - Seventh and Eighth Sections of the Ziyarah
14. Commentary - Ninth Section of the Ziyarah
15. Commentary - Tenth Section of the Ziyarah
16. Commentary - Eleventh Section of the Ziyarah
17. Commentary - Twelfth Section of the Ziyarah
18. Commentary - Thirteenth Section of the Ziyarah
19. Commentary - Fourteenth Section of the Ziyarah
20. Commentary - Fifteenth Section of the Ziyarah
21. Commentary - Sixteenth and Seventeenth Sections of the Ziyarah
22. Commentary - Eighteenth Section of the Ziyarah
23. Commentary - Nineteenth Section of the Ziyarah
24. Commentary - Twentieth Section of the Ziyarah
25. Commentary - Twenty-First and Twenty-Second Sections of the Ziyarah
26. Commentary - Twenty-Third Section of the Ziyarah
27. Commentary - Twenty-Forth Section of the Ziyarah
28. Commentary - Twenty-Fifth and Twenty-Sixth Sections of the Ziyarah
29. Commentary - Twenty-Seventh Section of the Ziyarah
30. Commentary - Twenty-Eighth Section of the Ziyarah
31. Commentary - Twenty-Ninth Section of the Ziyarah and Conclusion

Please don’t forget us in your adiyaat.  It is narrated in many an authentic tradition, that if someone has a pressing task that requires fulfillment, he/she should recite Ziyarat Ashura for three days in a row, and give them all as a gift to the Mother of Imam al-Hujjah(AJ); it is narrated that soon after this they will obtain that which they have been praying for (naturally with the usual caveats and conditions).

This is an Islamic Lamentation (Nohe in Farsi/Urdu or Latmiyyah or Nudbah in Arabic) about the event of Ashura and the stance of Imam Husayn(A).  This was performed by brothers from Lebanon, shortly after the 33 day way with Israel.  The words have been translated, and subtitled, and it is definitely very moving:

The eminent philosopher and jurist, Marhum Ayatullah Shaykh Ja’far Shustari(RA) is the author of the important book of Maqtal: “Khasais al-Husayniyyah”, meaning “The Attributes of Husayn’s Movement”. He relates the following incident about his meeting with our Third Imam, Imam Husayn(A):

“When I completed my studies at the Hawza of Najaf and returned to my home in Shustar, I found that there was a need to make the people more aware of the teachings of the Qur’an and Islam in general.  As a first step, I decided to start giving public lectures every Friday.  When the month of Ramadhan came, I continued with my lecturing.  I would take Tafsir-e Safi (of Mulla Muhsin Fayz Kashani(RA)) with me and teach from it.  I would always end my talk with a few words of masaib of Imam Husayn(A) from the book “Rawdhatu’l Shuhada” (“The Garden of the Martyrs”) because, as the popular saying goes, every food requires salt, and the salt of any religious lecture is the remembrance of the tragedy of Kerbala.

However, no matter how much I tried, I could not recite the masaib of Imam Husayn(A) (the tragedy of Karbala) on the mimbar/pulpit without reading from the book.  As a result, it did not have that much effect on the people.  In any case, I persisted in this manner for a whole year.  The following year, when the month of Muharram arrived, I said to myself, “How long will I have to carry on reciting the masaib from a book?  When will I manage to recite from memory?”  I knew that I had to find a way out of this undesirable situation, but no matter how much I tried, I could not manage to find a solution. I began to constantly worry about it and one day, exhausted after thinking about the same matter, I fell asleep.

That day, I dreamt that I was on the plains of Kerbala, and that too, at the time when Imam Husayn(A)’s caravan was there.  I entered the camp and greeted that holy and radiant personality.  The Imam(A) seated me next to himself and then said to Hazarat Habib bin Mazahir(A), “Habib! Shaykh Ja’far is our guest, and a guest must always be made welcome.  It is true that there is no water in the camp, but there is some flour and oil – so go and prepare some food for our guest.”

At the words of Imam(A), Habib bin Mazahir(A) got up at once and after sometime, returned and placed some food in front of me.  I will never forget that there was a spoon in the dish of food as well.  I had eaten only a few spoonfuls of that heavenly food when I woke up. I found that because of the blessing of that ziyarat of Imam Husayn(A) and his kindness to me, I had been inspired with a special knowledge about the family of the Prophet(S), including many facts and subtle details of their lives, which was not known to anybody else before this.”

His valuable book, “Khasais al-Husayniyyah” (”The Attributes of Husayn’s Movement”), contains many such details and inferences which is probably from the knowledge he received as a result of his meeting with the Imam Husayn(A), and which was not previously known to anyone else.

Taken from: “Khasais al-Husayniyyah” p. 8, as quoted in “Karamat wa Hikayate Ashiqane Khuda” -  “Miracles and Anecdotes of the Close Servants of Allah”. 

Translated by Shaykh Abbas Ja’far, November 14, 2005.

•  The Mausoleum of Imam Husain is the house of love.

• Swami Shankaracharya: It is Husain’s sacrifice that that has kept Islam alive or else in this world there would be no one left to take Islam’s name.

• Dr. Rajendra Prasad: The sacrifice of Imam Husain is not limited to one country, or nation, but it is the hereditary state of the brotherhood of all mankind.

• Dr. Radha Krishnan: Though Imam Husain gave his life almost 1300 years ago,  but his indestructible soul rules the hearts of people even today.

• Mrs. Sarojini Naidu:  I congratulate Muslims that from among them, Husain, a great human being was born, who is reverted and honored totally by all communities.

• Mahatma Gandhi: My faith is that the progress of Islam does not depend on the use of sword by its believers, but the result of the supreme sacrifice of Husain, the great saint.

• Rabindranath Tagore: In order to keep alive justice and truth, instead of an army or weapons, success can be achieved by sacrificing lives, exactly what Imam Husain did.

• Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru: Imam Husain’s sacrifice is for all groups and communities, an example of the path of rightousness.