In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful.
Peace and Blessings be on our Master Muhammad, his progeny, and his chosen companions and all of Allah’s messengers.
God says in his glorious book:
“Oh members of the family (the prophet’s family), God only seeks to cleanse you of all impurities to make you pure and immaculate.” (S33, vs33).
In this month we have many occasions and anniversaries to celebrate. On the third of this month, Imam Hussein bin Ali (a.s) was born, on the fourth, Abulfadl Al-Abbass was born, on the fifth, the Imam Ali bin Al Husein Zain Al-Abidin (a.s.) and on the fifteenth, the birth of Imam Al-Mahdi (a.s.).
When we remember the Ahl Al-Bait(a.s) we think of their spirituality and their faithfulness to God and His servants as well as their sacrifice for the whole of Islam and for all Muslims.
When we remember Imam Al Husein (a.s.) we remember how happy the Messenger was, as he was when Imam Husain's brother Imam Hasan was born. The Messenger was not just happy because he had two new grandsons but because he knew that they were going to play a great role in serving Islam, sacrificing everything for it and that they would be faithful to Islam as no one was after the Prophet (P) and the Imam Ali (a.s.), who gave himself completely to God leaving nothing for himself.
The Qur’an had this to say about the Imam Ali (a.s.):
“He is one among men who gave himself entirely to please God. God is kind towards his servants”.
The Qur’an had this to say when Ali (a.s.) slept in the messenger’s bed in his place during the night of the emigration to Medina.
Imam Hasan (a.s) and Imam Husein (a.s)
The Messenger used to hug the two Imams and carry them on his back giving them special care and attention. He used to speak about them to the Muslims and say that:
“They are the masters of the youth in heaven”.
And that:
“Hasan and Husein are Imams whether they decide to fight, revolt or make peace”
The two young Imams lived with their mother, Fatima (Al Zahra) (a.s.) the infallible lady who was pure in heart, mind, body and actions. She is also the leader of all women in heaven and all women in the universe. They also lived with their father the Imam Ali (a.s.) with all his spiritual purity and faithfulness towards God before they had to face their toughest challenges on their own.
Imam Hassan (a.s.) had to face a very tough situation that forced him to make peace with his enemy in order to safeguard the interests of the Muslims while Imam Hussein (a.s.) was martyred because he refused to capitulate and abandon the cause of the message.
Imam Hussein (a.s.) became a symbol of the message and of the struggle for the cause of Islam as well as all spiritual and moral values. So much so that after nearly fourteen centuries we still feel that he is living with us with all the values he represents and he still inspires us to revolt against all arrogant and unjust people. He has remained an example to follow enjoining good and denouncing evil at all levels.
Abbas bin Ali(a.s)
When we think of Imam Husein (a.s.) we also think of his brother Abbas bin Ali who considered Husein (a.s.) as his Imam before being his brother and this was what he said after they cut off his right hand before going on to fight with his left hand -that he was fighting for his Imam and not his brother.
Abbas makes us feel that the Islamic religion is our responsibility which we should protect against all those who seek to harm or undermine it. We should also protect the Islamic leaders who call people to God and fight for his cause. It’s also natural that fighting for religion means fighting for Muslims as Islam is represented by the Muslim nation and they both give strength to one another.
This is the lesson Abbas gave us for he isn’t merely a hero that we are proud of and his Islamic heroism is greater than his physical heroism. To be a true hero means to believe in a principle and to have the will to sacrifice for it, while physical heroism is merely putting the spiritual one into practice.