RELIGION-POWER AGAINST LIFE AND SPIRIT THE MESSAGE OF KARBALA

The turning of a Life movement into a religion, a vehicle of power and manipulation of people, is a very common phenomenon. It was not possible for Islam not to fall into a religion of power, while the Prophet Muhammad, with the revelation of the Qur’an, offered humanity a message of Life, Freedom and Justice! On July 8 common date, the new Islamic year 1446 AH and the month of Muharram began. For the majority of Muslims, who follow Sunni Islam, it is an anniversary of joy, wishes and gifts. For a sizeable community of Muslims, the Shia as well as the Sufis, the month of Muharram marks a period of Mourning, culminating in the 10th day of the month of Muharram, Ashura. In October of the year 61 AH (681 AD) in the city of Karbala, in present-day Iraq, the forces of the Caliph of Damascus Muawiya I, led by his son Yazid, clashed with the forces of Imam Hussayn, son of Imam Ali, of last of the Righteous Caliphs, assassinated while praying in the mosque and grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. In Karbala under horrible circumstances Imam Hussayn was murdered, almost all the members of his Family and his army was defeated.... Sunni Islam was shaped as a form of Ummah centralizing and domineering religion by Muslim monarchs, following the standards of the rulers of the 7th century of common date, with the first being Muawiya I, who moved the seat of his "throne" from Arabia to Damascus. Shia Muslims, like the Sufi Brotherhoods, who seek the depth of the words of the Qur'an, behind the words, question and refuse to submit to an authority, which under the guise of the religion of Islam, manipulates the Ummah and deprives the people of the Freedom of existence! Unfortunately, in modern times, we have the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which while invoking the Shia tradition brutally denies it, since it is a dictatorship, in the tradition of the rulers who were called caliphs.... Today, Muslims, at least those who respect and love Allah, honor the Prophet Muhammad and his legacy, must overcome the division of the Ummah (Universal Community of Believers). Karbala is a point that should illuminate the choices of the Believers, but their duty is to study and understand, with an open mind, not only the obvious points of the holy Book (zahir), but above all, what needs consideration to understand them man, the so-called "hidden" points of the Koran (batin). Ali Osman Wadud 5 Muharram 1446 AH/ 11 of July 2024 For copying George Doudos