Same subject repeated in Waaz
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
What is the
significance of observance when every year the same subject is repeated. Waiz is the only form,
or there is something more to it than ritual?
(There may
be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can
misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We
bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
The truth is brother, that
whatever transpired on that eventful day of the 10th of Muharram in
the fields of Karbala on the beloved grandson of the
Messenger of Allah (saws), Imam Hussain ibn Ali (r.a.) and his family, is
indeed one of the darkest days in the annuls of muslim
history! There is not a believer whose
heart does not fill with grief and pain, whenever he remembers the atrocities
and the oppression and the brutal murder of the noble Imam, whom the Messenger
of Allah (saws) himself had called the ‘leader of the youth in
Many years after the martyrdom
of Imam Hussain (r.a.),
some unscrupulous politically motivated people, gave fiery speeches recalling
the incidents of the fields of Karbala, and in the
name of the noble ‘ahle-bayt’ started their own sects
and creeds, and created a new religion from within the Ummah
of Islam! And with time, they made the
observance of the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain
a part of their deen. They organized rallies and gathered people
each year on the anniversary, recalled and related and even invented some
incidents that happened (or did not happen) on the fields of Karbala, wailed and beat themselves to show their pain and
grief; and basically invented a ritual of mourning the
death of a martyr for which there was absolutely no basis or authority from the
Quran and Practice of the Messenger of Allah
(saws).
Many close companions of the
Messenger of Allah (saws) were martyred during his life-time in the many
battles the believers fought against the dis-believers,
but never did Prophet Mohamed (saws) organize a rally or gathering for mourning
their anniversaries! Even when the
beloved uncle of the Prophet (saws), Hadrat Hamza ibn
Abdul Muttalib (r.a.) was
brutally murdered and his dead body viciously mutilated at the hands of the
enemies of Islam in the fields of Uhud, the Messenger of Allah (saws) never
organized a gathering every year on his death anniversary! But some people used the martyrdom of Imam
Hussain (r.a.) for their
own political advantage,
and invented a ritual in Islam which was never there! And with time, this ritual became the
central part of their deen or way of life.
If there is a rite or a ritual
approved in Islam (like prayer, pilgrimage of Umrah
and Hajj, etc.), then it is a condition
that it must be approved by Allah and His Messenger (saws). If there is no basis or authority from
Allah and His Messenger (saws), then the ritual is not part of the deen of Islam, but is considered an innovation or ‘bidah’…. And every innovation is an error, and a grave sin
the sight of Allah Subhanah.
It has been
reported in an authentic narration that the Prophet of Allah (saws) said: “Whoever introduces a ‘bida’
(innovation) in this deen brought by me (saws), it
will be rejected.”
It has been
reported by Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib
(r.a.) that the Prophet of
Allah (saws) said: “If anyone introduces an innovation (in religion), he will
be responsible for it. If anyone
introduces an innovation or gives shelter to a man who introduces an innovation
(in religion), he is cursed by Allah, by His angels, and by all the people.”
It has been
reported by Jabir ibn
Abdullah (r.a.) in another
authentic narration that the Prophet of Allah (saws) said in a sermon: “The best speech is that which is embodied in
the Book of Allah, the Al Quran; and the best
guidance is the guidance given by me, Mohamed (saws). The most evil affairs are the innovations,
and every innovation is an error.”
There is absolutely no doubt
that the rituals of waaz, mourning, wailing and
beating that some people today practice in the days of Muharram, have
absolutely no basis and authority from the Quran and Sunnah; and thus they must be considered and recognized as
innovations and ‘bidah’. And the believers, who sincerely fear Allah
and the Last Day, must abstain from involving themselves in any and all types
of innovations in the deen of Islam.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Burhan
