UNDERTHESHADEOFAHLULBAIT

We prepare to commemorate the martyrdom of the grandson of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and they prepare to kill us. We just want to cry for Imam Hussain (A.S) and they want to prevent us from doing so. How does our crying effect them? If we are commemorating an event which is not recent and does not concern them then why are they angry with us? They say Karbala was merely a poltical battle between two persons and has no religous significane. O.K then why are you afraid? What makes you so uneasy? If few thousand mad people are commemorating an event which took place more than 1400 years ago and insist on crying, hurting themselves beating their chests how is it harming you? Just leave them alone, and they will fizzle out. Yesterday a 20 year old suicide bomber blew himself up in Kohat killing 20 people most of them shia women and children at a bus stop. What did you tell this 20 year old suicide bomber and how did you motivate him to do what he did? What danger did these women and children ...

The recent fatwa of Ayatollah Khamnaei pronouncing " cursing of companions and wives of the Prophet as haram" is something unprecedented. The full impact of this fatwa in the Shia World is yet to be known, however the Sunni world has been quick to react with none other than the Chancellor of Al-Azhar (whose picture is posted above with Ayatollah Khamnei) describing it as a "blessed fatwa" which has come at an appropriate time and will help to "prevent seeds of sedition" being sown between various Islamic sects. What is the background of this Fatwa? The fatwa was issued in reply to a question written to Ayatollah Khamnaei by scholars and intellectuals of Al-Ihsaa in Hejaz (so-called Saudi Arabia). It comes in the backdrop of statements of a till recently little known shia cleric from Kuwait Yasir al-Habib who in a function in London which he organised to "celebrate" the death anniversary of Umul Momineen Aisha bint Abibakr openly accused her and s...

The current situation in Kashmir is causing lot of pain, sadness and distress in me. Being a father myself I can feel the pain of the parents of those young ones who are being killed daily mostly teenagers. No words can be enough to condemn this brutality. India is such a vast country with so much of resources there is no doubt that these killings are entirely preventable if sensible mob control strategies and techniques are used. The problem here is of the mind-set of the para-military forces. They are behaving as typical occupying forces like the zionists. They consider these stone-pelting youths as enemies and seccionists and retaliate. It is possible that sometimes they use firearms in self-defence when they are in real danger but this is no excuse you should be trained to tackle such situation and prevent such situation. The problem is again one of mindset because you don't find any real need of making sure no one is killed. I was making my mind to give my view point on this w...

It is the anniversary of the passing away of Imam Khomeine. It has been 21 years since he left this world. I was 20 years old in 1979 when the Iranian Islamic Revolution broke on the world scene. I still remember those days with nostalgia. The whole atmosphere was electrifying. We were amidst of an event which was unprecedented "A REVOLUTION BASED ON RELIGON". World simply was not able to comprehend this event. How could something which Karl Marx believed to be "Opium of the masses" serve as basis of something which would spurn them into action. How could people revolt againt "development", "freedom", "prosperity", "modernisation" which the Shah of Iran had brought to the people of Iran. How could women who had been recently liberated from the "tyranny of chador" want to go back to hijab. This was in fact the greatness of this man, he was an iconoclast in real sense of word and he defied all prevailing mindsets. And...

20 people have been killed in the attack launched by Israeli navy commandos on the Flotilla carrying aid to besieged Gaza citizens. Mind you that the attack took place in international waters the flotilla had not yet reached the Israeli territorial waters. Among the injured is the Sheikh Of Al-Aqsa mosque. How do I see this? 1) I believe this is a cool, well thought out and a calculated response on part of Israelis. This challenge to their authority by free-lance activists was becoming a constant source of irritation and embarrasment for them. They therefore wanted to send a clear message to the peace activists that from henceforth they mean business. This is to discourage any such future incursions. They want to tell the world that they are not going to tolerate such an activity whatever the consequences. 2) Nobody can conceptualize that Israeli's are so naieve as to not know the reaction to this act but they are acting on the basis of previous experience. They know that as far as...

It has become a tradition in almost all countries of the world to designate a particular day in a year as "Teacher's Day" to respect the teachers of the nation. In India the day coincides with the birthday of Dr. Radhakrishnan the philosopher president of India. In Iran the day is 2nd May which corresponds to the martyrdom anniversary of Ayatollah Murtaza Muthari. I was 20 years old when Murtaza Muthari was martyred and still remember the shock and anguish it caused although it was very early period of the revolution and the contribution of this great thinker and writer was still not fully appreciated. Now thirty years down the road of history we can appreciate the tremendous loss inflicted on us by his martyrdom. Anyone who has read him whether he agrees or disagrees cannot ignore his importance. He was martyred at the peak of his carrier and one can imagine how much more he could have contributed to development of Islamic Thought. Well martyrdom of Murtaza Muthari painf...

This is probably the most heart-rendering chapter of Karbala. When Imam Zainul abideen was asked about the most difficult time he faced in the entire event of Karbala he said Asham! Asham! Asham. Imagine the lonely Imam digging the grave in that dungeon which Imam described as a place which neither protected from heat nor cold while Zainab was holding the body. This grave was meant for his 4 year old sister Sukaina bint a-lHussain about whom Hussain (A.S) had said "that house is not worth living in which there is no Sakina". That darling child of her father and beloved of her uncle Abbas ibn Ali who asked Hussain not to take his body back to the tents as he cannot face Sakina who was sure that her uncle will definitely come back with water and had gathered all children around her in anticipation. We cry for you O! little princess of our's. We promise you that although Abbas was unable to bring water for you on that fateful day we will forever try to quench your thirst by ...