Lesson From Karbala

Karbala could be termed as the cruelest tragedy civilization has ever seen. But on the other hand this given event has proved to be single incident which sent shock waves in Muslim world. For truthful and sincere Muslims, Karbala turned into a conquest which till Day of Judgment will be beacon of light to always remind Muslims to practice Islam honestly and sincerely, to do what is right irrespective of consequences, and fear no one except Allah.

Negligence towards religion and towards your fellow beings makes man worse than animals. It robs him of his prime reward given by Allah – intellect. The Holy Qur’an regards the heedless people as worse than animals and declares that the hell is the destiny of such people.

Karbala once and for all killed the heedlessness of the masses. Water is required to wake up somebody from unconsciousness, but to awaken a negligent community from sleep ignorance, blood is required. Blood of pure sole. Hence Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) took up the task to wake sleeping ummah and gave such a sacrifice that caused tremors which shook foundations of the Umayyad regime and finally rule of Umayyad came to an end.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) has said: "Surely there
exists in the hearts of the believers, with respect to the martyrdom of Hussain,
a heat that never subsides."

Event of Karbala has been bench mark of many revolutions which took place after given event; both in individual lives and in society as a whole.

"O people! Verily the Messenger of Allah said: ‘Whoever observes a sovereign legalizing what God has made unlawful, violating the covenant of God, opposing the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, and treating the creatures of God sinfully and oppressively, and does not oppose him with his speech and action, God has a right to bring him to the same fate as that of the tyrant.’ Indeed, these people (i.e. Yazid and the Umayyads) have committed themselves to the following of Satan and abandoned obedience to God. They have given currency to corruption, abolished the Islamic laws, plundered the public treasury, and made lawful what God has forbidden and unlawful what God has permitted. And I, of all people, have a greater right to act [in accordance with the Prophet's exhortation]."

"Indeed, I have not risen up to do mischief, neither as an adventurer, nor to cause corruption and tyranny. I have risen up solely to seek the reform of the Ummah of my grandfather. I want to enjoin what is good and stop what is wrong, and (in this) I follow the conduct of my grandfather and my father Ali ibn Abi
Talib."

"Life under tyranny is not worthy of man, unless the people rise in an attempt to restore the higher values. Don’t you see that what is true and right is not acted upon, and what is false and wrong is not forbidden? In such a situation, the man of faith yearns for the meeting with his Lord. Indeed, (in such conditions) to me death is happiness, and life under the yoke of tyrants is disgrace."

But the question still remains; despite observing muharram with all respect many communities still remain caught in negligence? Why do the tears not wash the hardened sins from the hearts of the mourners? 

One reason for this futility of mourning is the lack of purity and sincerity in some of the people to such an extent that even tears shed in Imam Hussain’s memory do not stimulate their souls.  The spirit and uprising of Karbala, like all teachings of Islam, require a pure heart and a honest truth seeking soul to affect. Karbala can bring about revolution in our lives only if we observe it along with all other teachings of Islam.

Source:

Al-Islam.org