بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Ashura
Ashura - the tenth day of the month of Muharram - is an important event in the history of Islam and in the understanding of the Islamic objectives. Through our examination of the events that have historically occurred on this day, we obtain an understanding of the maqaasid of Islamic Shariah.
Ibn Abbas RAA relates that the Prophet SAW, after his arrival in Madina, found the Jewish community of that city commemorating a day of fasting. He asked them about this fast and they mentioned that this day was associated with Musa AS, in that this day was considered the day on which Allah SWT drowned Firawn and his forces. When he heard this the Prophet SAW said, “We have more right to Musa than you,” and he ordered the Ummah of Islam to observe this fast. (al-Bukhari).
Al-Qurtubi noted that this practice of fasting on Ashura may have been practiced by the Quraish during the period of Jahiliyyah. In that case, it may have been a remnant of the Deen al-Qayim, the Deen al Hanif, that preceded the time of ignorance and paganism ushered in by Luhai and his act of bringing idols into the Kaaba.
At any rate, for our early Muslim community, fasting Ashura was fard. Later, after Allah revealed the obligation of fasting Ramadan, the fast of Ashura became a Sunnah nawfil, but one that is mu’akkad.
We also have some evidence that our Prophet considered the 9th of Muharram as a part of this fast of Ashura. He is reported to have said in the last year of his life, that if he lived to the next year, he would fast on the 9th and 10th. He did not live until the next year, but many scholars consider it nawfil to fast on both days. (It should be noted that nearly 10 years had past since Ashura had become nawfil, and he did not fast on the 9th during that time, and also it should be noted that others also fast on the 11th. I do not consider the evidence for this practice of fasting on the 11th to be strong enough to consider it a sunnah).
One might ask to which Jewish fast does Ashura correspond? Some have thought that Ashura might correspond to Yawm Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. “For on this day He will forgive you, to purify you, that you be cleansed from all your sins before God” (Leviticus 16:30).
Similarly to the fast of Ramadan, observant Jews fast from food, drink and sexual relations. They also abstain from bathing, anointing with perfumes and wearing leather socks. The fast of Yawm Kippur lasts from just before sunset on the 9th of Tishrei until after nightfall on the 10th of Tishrei.
For observant Jews, Yawm Kippur is the most sacred day, and one of High Holy Days. For observant Muslims, this day of Ashura comes at the end of the first ten days of the most sacred month of Muharram. The very name of the first month of the Muslim calendar means “sacred.” Some hold that the phrase, “Wa yalaain Ashur” in Surah al Fajr, refers to the first ten days and nights of Muharram. (Others hold it refers to the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah.).
What we gain from this historical information is that this day is a sacred day of fasting, involving both the 9th and 10th of Muharram. This is understandable in that days in both Islam and Judaism begin at sunset, not at sunrise.
Every Firawn has a Musa
What we do not gain from this information is the association between this day and story of Musa. However, the Prophet SAW was told by the Jews of Madina that it was on this day that Firawn was drowned. As a result, this day was associated with both salvation from oppression and punishment for oppressing others.
Sheikh Mohammad al-Hanooti, RAA, used to often say, when speaking about the oppression facing many in the Muslim world, “Every Firawn has a Musa.” Certainly, this truth is a source of great hope to us all. Mahatma Gandhi reminded us that throughout history, no tyrant has ever lasted. They all die and turn to dust.
As for Firawn, Allah SWT promised him that his body would be a reminder for all of the reward for dhulm.
Yunus 10:90 And We brought the Children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh with his hosts pursued them in rebellion and transgression, till, when the drowning overtook him, he exclaimed: I believe that there is no God save Him in Whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of those who surrender (unto Him).
91 What! Now! When hitherto thou hast rebelled and been of the wrong-doers ?
92 But this day We save thee in thy body that thou mayst be a portent for those after thee. Lo! most of mankind are heedless of Our portents.
Many who have seen the body of Seti I and Ramses II have remarked as to the amazing state of their preservation. Allah Ta’ala Alim who was the Pharoah at the time of Musa, but certainly these preserved corpses remind all of us that no matter how we pickle ourselves, what we consider “us” does not persist. These men are gone. They have no power, no ability. They are just like rocks and stones.
Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote:
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
But what of Musa? What remains of Musa? Everything of him other than his physical body remains. His soul remains in the hands of Allah SWT. His acts still inspire. His character still provides guidance. Even his writings, despite any alterations, still remain. Look upon his works ye Mighty, - this man whom you considered as weak and of no account - look upon his works, and you despair.
Musa stood up against the oppression of a person who denied Allah. In fact, he was so arrogant, he thought he was a god. Istaghfiru Allah. How deluded can a person be?
Musa provides an example for us all of how to respond to dhulm of one who does not believe in Allah, who denies Allah. He did not respond violently. Instead, he spoke to Firawn in ways that Firawn could understand.
He knew that the people of that time were impressed by miraculous acts. We know from archeological study that the people of Firawn believed in numerous gods and that they used all manner of prayers and spells to invoke these gods to aid them in their daily lives. We also know a great deal about their beliefs regarding the afterlife. They believed that you “could take it with you,” by preserving the body and burying the body with all manner of goods. With his deep knowledge of Egyptian culture, Musa understood that signs such as the casting of his staff at the snakes conjured by the sorcerers, and other signs given him by Allah, would impress the people and convince them of the truth of tawhid.
The Arabs at the time of the Prophet SAW were not so inclined to symbolism and miracle working, yet they still demanded signs from our Prophet that would prove to them the truth of his mission. Allah gave them a greater miracle than any trick or symbol; He gave them the Qur’an, a miraculous book that no one has ever duplicated or even come close to producing.
But sadly, despite Musa’s efforts, Firawn would not admit the truth, and he persisted in his dhulm. Notice then what Musa did. He did not pursue a course of violence and rebellion in Egypt; instead he gathered his people and left.
4:97 Lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves, (the angels) will ask: In what were ye engaged ? They will say: We were oppressed in the land. (The angels) will say: Was not Allah's earth spacious that ye could have migrated therein ? As for such, their habitation will be hell, an evil journey's end;
98 Except the feeble among men, and the women, and the children, who are unable to devise a plan and are not shown a way.
99 As for such, it may be that Allah will pardon them. Allah is ever Clement, Forgiving.
Here Allah SWT tells us that the proper response to oppression in the land, is to leave, to migrate. And so Musa leads his people out of bondage, across the water to freedom.
Firawn, however, could not leave well enough alone. He had to pursue Musa and his people. Like the Quraish after him, he was obsessed with preventing the believers from being free to believe in tawheed. So he pursued the fleeing Bani Israel and tried to attack them. In this instance, Allah defended His followers and drowned Firawn and his forces in the sea. In the case of the Quraish, He gave the Prophet and his followers permission to fight back and defend themselves.
In each instance, Allah SWT guides us to understand that when we are oppressed by a tyrant, we must first seek to leave. To cooperate with tyranny, is to encourage and support it. To cooperate with tyranny and dhulm is a sin. Therefore, we must first seek to prevent tyranny, by abandoning it. If the oppressor follows and pursues those fleeing his oppression, then Allah will provide a way for those people. Either He will take care of it, as He did for Musa; or He will give permission to the people to prevent oppression and dhulm though responding in kind.
Every Hussein has a Yazeed
The Prophet SAW also had to deal with the dhulm of the Quraish, and like Musa, his first response was to immigrate. First he sent followers to Ethiopia, in the First Hijrah. Then he sent his followers to the town of Yathrib. After the Prophet SAW emigrated along with his dear friend, Abu Bakr, the Quraish followed the path of Firawn and sent an army to fight the Muslims in Madina. It was then that the Prophet was given the permission to fight.
After the first battle in Islam, the Battle of Badr, many became attracted to the new religion. It was successful. The Muslim army gained great booty at Badr. Wealth attracted hangers-on. As a result, the deen began to attract individuals who were not as sincere. They appeared to practice the deen, but in their hearts, they did not have the depth of commitment.
We call such people who lack the depth of commitment, munaafiq. N-F-Q- means to spend, and such people spend their good deeds frivolously. They perform good deeds like prayer and ibaadah mostly to be seen by others. So any deed they do is wasted, just like those who waste money on foolish pursuits. They “blow” their good deeds by having bad intentions and by committing evil in private.
Rulers and those in power are especially susceptible to infaq. Some modern rulers have photos taken in prayer and videos taken doing acts of charity; but in the next instant, they order the death of innocents, and oppress members of other tribes or ethnic groups. They violate the Shariah, yet claim to be its guardians.
How then should Muslims deal with tyrants in our midst?
The actions of Imam Hussein on the day of Ashura provide a model.
Yazeed, the son of Mu’awiyyah, was just such an internal tyrant. He held that he was the Khalif or successor to the Prophet in every respect. Istaghfiru Allah. He held that he had the power to enforce the law, interpret the law, and even make the law. Given the Qur’anic verse, Atiu Allah wa Atiu Rasul, we understand that Allah alone has the power to legislate through the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Yes, humans have the power to enforce the law and interpret it, but these two powers should be independent, otherwise the temptation to corruption will be too great.
Tyranny is grounded in usurption and corruption of power. Tyranny destroys independence and freedom. Dhulm is the shadow of arrogance, the shadow of the original sin of Shaytan.
When tyrants abuse the truth to justify their evil, and when they twist guidance so that it become error, those who stand firm on the deen that encourages good and discourages evil, must respond.
Yazeed became corrupt. Power went to his head, and he strayed off the right path. He twisted the religion and claimed he had the power to make Shariah law. Someone had to respond, and that was Imam Hussein.
Hussein spoke out for truth, and for the correct understanding that only Allah can legislate. He spoke out for the Qur’an and Sunnah.
He began by trying to remind those who were astray. But, that was not sufficient. Like the people of Firawn, the Umayyads and their ideologues would not be swayed. They compelled people to obey them and cracked down violently on any dissent. They left no other alternative response.
Imam Hussein was compelled to respond to the cries of the people of Kufa for assistance. He left Madina, and prepared to defend the oppressed. In the end, he faced martyrdom for the purpose of doing so. For to defend those oppressed by those within our own ranks, or at least those who profess to be of Islam, we must pursue means permissible in Islam. Just as Musa and Muhammad pursued permissible means to deal with non-believing tyrants, so too must we utilize permissible means to repel internal tyrants.
As Muslims, we are absolutely forbidden to kill one another. The Prophet SAW said that when two Muslims fight one another, both will be in nar. This is because no matter what the outcome, both were willing to kill the other. Knowing this, Imam Hussein did not seek to kill, but he did accept to die. And in dying, he understood that his death was most effective last resort for dealing with an internal tyrant.
Just like qital, shuhadaa is a last resort. We should try all means of Sulh and Tahkim and other non-violent means, but if the tyrant cannot be dissuaded in any other way, then we must resort to the final option. In the case of an internal tyrant, that is martyrdom. Like Hussein, we must be willing to stand at Karbalaa and lay down our lives for the truth.
Amru Min Kum
Many hold that rebellion against governments, be they secular or “Muslim,” is haram. They base this on the ayah that states, Atiu Allah wa Atiu Rasul, wa amaru min kum. They interpret the “amaru minkum” as meaning those who have the power to enforce the law. But that is not the meaning of this phrase. The key to understanding this ayah is in the beginning part. Obey Allah and Obey His Messenger…” What does it mean to “Obey Allah and Obey His Messenger?”
The Shariah is divine. Allah sends it down through the means of wahy or revelation by the agency of the Angel Jibreel to the Prophet Muhammad SAW. The Shariah includes not just the ahkam or commands of the law, but all of what we in the West call The Law - its ahkam, its maqaasid, its qawaaid, its illa, sabab and hikmah. This Law is contained in the repositories of this wahy, the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The Sunnah is the actual actions, words, tacit approvals and behaviors of our Prophet SAW. Both are the as the result of wahy revelation. We assume that the Sunnah has divine origin unless we have express evidence that the particular matter mentioned was the result of the Prophet’s personal ijtehad, and not the result of wahy.
Sultaniyya or Authority has three furu’ or branches; Legislative, Executive and Interpretive or Judicial. In Islam, we, early on, decided that Legislative power lies only with Allah. The executive power or enforcement power lies with the government. Where we have sometimes differed is as to interpretive power. Some, especially government leaders, favor that governments have the power of interpretation. While others favor Imamate - the idea that interpretive power must be independent of governments, and must lie with the scholars - qualified individuals.
As a result of this debate, many have held that “amru min kum” refers to the enforcement authorities, and so we are prohibited from rebellion against the State. However, this is not the case. “Amru min kum” refers to those who have the interpretive power, the scholars. For it is they who engage in fiqh.
Shariah is the Divine Law. Fiqh is the human understanding of the Divine Law. Fiqh is human, and so susceptible to error. It is also understanding. It is not the law itself, but the understanding of the ahkam of the law. There are two branches of fiqh - fiqh al ahkam - the understanding of the rulings, and fiqh al manaaT - the understanding of the totality of the circumstances. The later includes the understanding of Usul, maqaasid, qawaaid, ijtehad and applied law.
Today, we often talk about how the only legitimate legal system is that of Shariah. However, when we have tried to institute such a system using Arbitration and religious courts in the West, many Muslims have not taken advantage of these services. We pay lip service to Shariah, but when presented with real efforts to provide an Islamic legal system, we want nothing to do with it. Until we make Allah and His Rasul the sole judge between us, we will not be successful. We know this. The Qur’an tells us so. But we refuse to abide by this, even when some Western countries, such as the United States, allow us to do so under contract law and the Arbitration Act. It is true that we cannot institute Hadd, but we can live by Shariah and Fiqh in every aspect of law except the Hadd. But we refuse to do so.
Not only have we neglected Applied law in this way, but we have not trained ourselves to be judges. We love to give fatawa, but we refuse to study applied law, Qadaa, and the Adab al Qadi. As a result, we often give rulings that are devoid of mercy and equity; that are oppressive and unjust. Islam demands justice. Umar suspended the Hadd for theft during a time of famine, in the interest of true justice and equity. To have instituted Hadd at that time would have led to oppressive results.
The point of this is to understand that “amru min kum” refers to those with the authority to interpret the law, not governments. Abu Bakr, in his acceptance speech, reminds us that the Ummah is only obligated to obey a government if it commands to what is halal. If it commands to haram, we are not obligated to obey. Period.
So, how should we deal with governments that command to haram? We are so free with the term Kafir today. This takfiri approach is harmful and is against the principles of Islam. Remember the hadith regarding Hudhaifi, when he met an old enemy in battle. The man cried out the Shahada, yet Hudhaifi killed him. Later, he reported this to the Prophet SAW, who corrected him. How did he know what was in the man’s heart. Even if we suspect the person is lying, we must act as if he is sincere. We must treat such leaders as if they are Muslim, as so to kill them is haram. But we are not obliged to obey them either. To do so would be to encourage their sin. If we love them as brothers, we cannot participate in any dhulm they commit. We must act in such as way as to discourage their behavior and advise them sincerely as to the good.
The Hope of Ashura
Ashura - the tenth of Muharram. A day for all Muslims. A day that inspires us today. For today we face external and internal tyrants. And we face all of these types of tyrants in Syria. Bashir al-Assad, the Baathist, is an atheist. Although he tries to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing by having Ayatollah Khomeini declare his Alawi ethnic group to be Shia, he is nothing but an atheist. Added to his external tyranny, we now have Russian forces bombing Muslims. And then there are tyrannical groups who espouse Harikat al Salafiyya doctrine in extreme ways that defy Islamic teachings. They are internal tyrants. And then we the Dawlat as-Shaytan whose teachings are beyond understanding. We can only wonder at who came up with these teachings, whose effect is to deface Islam and cause grave harm to Muslims.
Truly we are deeply in need of unity in this effort against the forces of evil in Syria and Iraq. And perhaps it is through a joint commemoration of Ashura that we can come together to respond to this dhulm. Whether we remember Musa or Hussein, we must act to counter this evil and restore peace and tawheed. What ever it takes to counter this shulm, we must chose means that are Islamic, and which stem from a deep commitment to Allah in Islam.
We cannot respond without thought and without due diligence and care. We must respond without undue emotion. We must think before ever we act. We must act rationally and carefully to ensure our every action is instilled with Islamic principles. Only then, will we be successful. We must pray heartfully, that Allah will guide us to the correct understanding, and not just arrogantly assume we are already guided.
It is an irony that the more ignorant the person, the more arrogant. Ignorance breeds arrogance. Knowledge brings us to understanding, and the greatest thing we come to understand is how little we know. Those who know nothing, think they know everything; and those who know much, understand they know little.
So let us come together, no matter our minhaj, sect, madhdhaab etc, and be Muslims. Let us use this day of Ashura to remember that one of the objectives of this Deen is Justice and Peace, and Freedom from Dhulm. Let us fast together, learn about current cases of dhulm, and plan actions to counter the dhulm of the time. Let us follow the model of Musa and Hussein. Let us be the Musa of today’s Firawn and the Hussein of today’s Yazeed.
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