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The sad first month of the Islamic calendar during which the family of the Holy Prophet were faced with a great ordeal and tragedy.
By Abu Sayyeda
#1514
So We Think We Are SHIAS of Imam ALI (AS)???

Why???
Just because we try to cry over the "tragedy" of Karbala, 10 minutes a day, for maybe 30 days a year???

Why???
Just because we build fancy and expensive structures as "Imambargahs" in the memory of those who lived in huts and slept on the floors???


Why???
Just because we include "The Progeny (AS)" of Prophet Muhammad (SA) in our Durood???

May Allah have mercy on us...... how far from the truth we might be....

Every Thursday night, when we, the "Shias" of Imam Ali (AS) gather in our "grand" Imambargahs and recite the "Ziyarat" of the noble and blessed martyrs of Karbala, we say, "I wish I was there to participate with you and share a grand victory". This love, this feeling, this desire is admirable and deserve salutations.. but do we really mean it when we say these words???

Can we compare ourselves today, with those noble and blessed martyrs, whom we mourn religiously every year???? What is the missing factor, which made them the "Awliyah-Allah" and which keeps us from being like them???

Maybe we have satisfied ourselves with the fact that their stations are unique and we cannot even think of attaining them, so we should not even try??? But Ameerul Momineen, in Nahjul Balagha insists that we should at least try to attain these stations...

"These qualities are incumbent upon you. So you should acquire them and excel each other in them. Even if you cannot acquire them, you should know that acquiring a part is better than giving up the whole." (Nahjul Balagha)

Are we the "Shias" of Imam Ali (AS)???

Or maybe we are satisfied with the knowledge that being the "Shias" of Imam Ali (AS), we will be delivered, in this world or the other???

I have no doubt that the "Shias" of Imam Ali (AS) would be delivered, and would enter the Paradise amidst blessings of Allah and peace.. but --- who are those "Shias"???

Are we the "Shias" of Imam Ali (AS)???



In a tradition reported from Imam Ali, the "Shias" have been described thus:

"Their bellies are thin through hunger, their lips dry through thirst and their eyes bleared through weeping." (Nahjul Balagha)

Are we the "Shias" of Imam Ali (AS)???

In Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 119, Imam Ali sorrowfully misses those supporters, those Shias, those friends... See for yourself, how Ameerul Momineen (AS) feels their absence....

"These are my comrades who have departed. We should be justified if we feel eager for them and bite our hands in their separation."..... (Nahjul Balagha)

Are we the "Shias" of Imam Ali (AS)???

Do you know how these "Comrades", these "Shias", have been described by the Imam-al-Muttaqin (AS)???

"Their eyes have turned white..... with weeping. Their bellies are emaciated..... because of fasting. Their lips are dry.... because of (constant) praying. Their colour is pale.... because of wakefulness. Their faces bear the dust of God-fearing." (Nahjul Balagha)

Are we the "Shias" of Imam Ali (AS)???

It is the greatest desire of every Momin today, to be identified as the one who loves and waits impatiently for the re-appearance of the Awaited Saviour, Hazrat Imam Mahdi (AS).... but what does "love" mean???

If we love someone, aren't we supposed to emulate him, in his words, actions and deeds??? If we love someone, aren't we supposed to try our best to please him, and avoid doing something which annoys him???

Are our deeds today such, that we can be confident that our Imam-al-Asr, our Wali-ul-Amr, is pleased and satisfied with us???

Companions of the Imams

IF we had been fortunate enough to be in the times, and company of the Infallible Imams, would we behave in the same way that we behave today???Would our conduct and activities be the same, as they are today??? When one notices the displeasure of Imam Ali (AS) at the vastness of a person's house, one is forced to think what our Mawla would feel about the grandness and pomp of our places of worship???

But why did I begin the previous paragraph with "IF"???

We are as lucky and as blessed as Salman Farsi (RA), Kumail ibn Ziyad (RA) and Maytham Tammar (RA), because we are also contemporaries of an Imam from the house of Ahle-Bait (AS)! We, the Shias, are as fortunate as Ghazi Abbas ibn Ali (AS), because we are "companions" of the Imam Al-Mahdi (AS)!!

But alas!!! This thought, instead of making us happy, makes us tremble....

Are we those who will be counted as the "Companions" of Imam Mahdi (AS) or will (God Forbid) his noble companions fight against the likes of us???

Are our deeds and actions such that we may count ourselves in the noble company of the "Companions of the Imams" like Abbas ibn Ali (AS), Muslim ibn Aqeel (RA) and Maalik ibn Ashtar (RA)???

Why do we keep forgetting that we are the contemporaries of the Last Imam from the Prophet's household??? AND it is binding on us to maintain the conduct of the companions of the previous Imams....

Let us question ourselves...

"Azadari-e-Hussain" is our sole achievement but are we doing it the way it should be done???

"Intezaar-e-Farj" is the purpose of our life but are we fulfilling its requirements???

Love of Ahle Bait (AS) is all that we have, in this world and the next, but shouldn't we tremble on the hollowness of our claims of being the lovers and followers of Ahle Bait (AS)???

The true lover of Ahle Bait (AS) "Dies a martyr even if he dies in his bed" (according to Nahjul Balagha)??? Can we be one of those???

Mourning the tragedy of Karbala.....

Muharram is here..... Azadari resumes in all corners of the world... we are mourning the tragic martyrdom of Imam Hussain... and we also mourn our distance from the path of Imam-al-Muttaqeen and Ameerul Momineen...

Oh Allah.. make us those "Momineen", guide us to be like those "Muttaqeen", whose Imam and Ameer, is your Beloved Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS).....

Oh Allah! Help us Shias realize that our religion does not start from mourning the tragedy of Karbala, it starts from following the path of the Holy Prophet (SA) and his successor, the Imam of the pious.....

And what is the tragedy of Karbala???

It was the uncompromising stance taken by the noble son of a noble father, against those, who strayed away from the true path of his family....

Oh Allah!! Help us realize the message of Karbala...

Oh Allah!! Help us balance our worldly pursuits with our religious obligations.... Permit us the honour of counting ourselves as the "companions" of the Awaited Imam al-Mahdi (AS)... Glorify our places of worship, not with pomp and grandeur, but with the numbers of sincere believers... Infuse a new life and spirit in the meaningless rituals and rites which we have limited our religion to.... Help us attain the success of both the worlds.....

"By the Declining day... Verily, man is in (a state of) loss..." (Quran, 103:1-2)

What can be worse than if we are in this state of loss, and don't realize it??? Or worse, we remain satisfied and content with it???



Wasalaam,
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By Umm.aly
#1536
An eye opening article with lots of ???? :!: but definately something to think and ponder about!
Ahsant for the article!
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By abuali
#15803
Oh Allah (SWT) grant us the ability to meet the description:
"Their eyes have turned white..... with weeping. Their bellies are emaciated..... because of fasting. Their lips are dry.... because of (constant) praying. Their colour is pale.... because of wakefulness. Their faces bear the dust of God-fearing." (Nahjul Balagha)
This article is worth discussing further so that we can practically and actively become Shia of Ali (as).

https://youtu.be/-3CI0FBr5ss?si=UNYS9HXtS24Gbr-P

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