 Assalamu alaikum dear viewers, peace be upon you all. Welcome to our show on Imam Hussein TV where we are discussing several aspects of Ashura that we can learn from. The word legend is used several times, sometimes used very very loosely, sometimes used with a purpose. One of the biggest aspects of Ashura is the legacy that Imam left behind for us that still exists today. Today we're going to discuss how this has actually happened. Why is it that over a thousand years have passed and the memory of this event still does not leave the minds of people or the hearts of people, no matter what atrocities they face? Joining us to discuss this topic is Sheikh Ali Mash, Sayed Mohsin Shah, Imran Datu and brother Tahir Adil. Sheikh, there is that famous narration of the messenger of God, peace be upon him and his family, who speaks about this flame in the heart of the believer that will never ever die out. Why is it that the flame of Imam Hussein in particular is something that is never ever going to die out? Because several great people have passed and sometimes their memories aren't as strong but when it comes to Imam Hussein we see the images of people that are flocking to his grave to pay him honor. Why this man, his legacy has survived for so long? This issue goes back to when the Imam, peace be upon him, was given two options and that's why he said, I was given the option of either to be killed, slaughtered or face humiliation and far away from us, humiliation. So the Imam, peace be upon him, taught the next generation the humanity, the forthcoming people on this planet earth that do not accept humiliation at all and be strong and faithful and do not surrender to the tyrants. That's what the Imam, peace be upon him, did and went for when he said that I'm it was Allah's wills that I'll be murdered on the land of Karbala. So clearly the Imam stated the goals and objectives of Ashura that there's no surrender to the tyrants and that's what you see today. Many people would rise and against their governments and that was the foundation of those revolutions and revolts that they would rise against their tyrants. Otherwise this wasn't before the Imam, peace be upon him, in the time of Pharaoh that people submitted and surrendered to Pharaoh and his ruthless and cruel and tyrant leadership and they served him and they built the pyramids as a result. But the Imam, peace be upon him, did not accept the falsehood. He rejected the Baatil but accepted the Haqq and the truth, nothing but the truth and he of course gave everything he had in the cause of Allah, even his infant, even he left his family on the plains of Karbala while the enemies were still you know chasing those women and children of Al Bayt, peace be upon him after his martyrdom. So the Imam, peace be upon him, was clear about this fact that the one should not submit or surrender to those who do not wish to have the path of right and righteousness to be established. So only follow those who are with Surat al-Mustaqeem, the right path. And we say it in every day in the Salah of Wajib, five times the Ehdina At least 10 times, if I'm not wrong, 10 times Ehdina Surat al-Mustaqeem that we ask Allah to guide us towards the right path and that's what the Imam, peace be upon him, sacrificed for to guide the humanity and the human beings towards the right path. Brother Imran, we use the word legend quite loosely, mainly in a sporting context in the current day and age and when I look at the story of Ashura, we clearly know from history that Bodili, Imam Hussein was was was torn into pieces as well as family, yet he's still ever alive today, maybe more than ever. What is it about him that actually has made him alive today, even though Bodili he clearly was gone? Yeah I think it's a good point when you put it into perspective like that, so I mean like you know you can use the term legend for him in a way because what the term actually means is somebody who still leaves the legacy behind, leaves something behind then. It's what he actually stood for, so if you look at what he stood for, he stood for justice, he stood for haqq, for humanity and there's so many you can you can you can list you know different bullet points after one after the other you know saying what he stood up for he could patience, it was loyalty, humanity, sacrifice but all in all all in all it was to save the religion of Islam yeah it was done for the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it was done and it was done purely for that so again if you bring it down to when we were discussing about the intentions in the previous episodes when I also made a point that you know if someone has just bring it back to the exact point what I said about the voice that if somebody has doesn't have the best voice but has the purest of intention they will go further as you know the whole world will know about them rather than somebody with the best voice so in the same way Imam Hussain's intention was so pure so pure that even though on the you know if you look at it on a on a plain level it may look like he was defeated because it was his head that was severed it was his head and the companions head that was put in the spears but till today why is it that his name is in every household why there must be a reason for it right and it was a hundred percent because of that intention and the reason why he did what he did and it was for the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so the numerous amount of things he stood for they all resonated our houses in our homes you know in our upbringing till today because of that intention he had and that's why we still you know kind of his legacy lives on really absolutely and brother Thahir as someone who remembers his legacy and keeps it going through the through the form of poetry and we know there are several ways to remember the Imam and the tragedy how what's the importance of poetry from your personal perspective of keeping this legacy alive so poetry in its essence is a reminder yes so the power of words triggers a reminder in the minds of people and without poetry sometimes you get you have a straightforward narrative that doesn't really tap into the emotions or or the resilience behind every person so when you go through poetry or whether it's recited in a manner or spoken word you tap into that emotion and correct me if i'm wrong wasn't the first way imam was remembered was through poetry his grandfather didn't say recite a lecture first they said bring me the poets exactly exactly so yeah it works to fold because you've got that reminder which is the narrative but you also also have the emotion which is closely tied to the tragedy and like he said going back and echoing the points made by the sheikh and imran um a legacy is something you leave for others to follow and that's exactly what imam has said that his principle stand was unlike other sacrifices and not to undermine other sacrifices it's because the people carried with them as well so not only was he principal but the people he carried with him were principled whether they were elderly men young children he gave us examples so if a child comes and says imam has said was infallible i can't do what he done but his children done what he done true and if an elderly man come goes i have no energy but you know there's people like have even a mother who had no energy there were elderly men who were willing to sacrifice himself trouble all the way to come back to sacrifice himself people come and say i've had no status and then there's freed slaves that fought with imam i said so you've got these people that come from different demographics and different age groups and different parts of the family and companionships um there are examples for us so that legacy in couples in couples is the whole thing and that's an example for one of us really say muslim on a practical level tell us the importance of say the zaynab in ensuring the legacy of imam continues the reason we have karbala is because of say the zaynab hands down you know i asked a scholar once i remember the zaynab say that imam i'll say that imam and i said why did they forget ghadir and why have they not forgotten karbala and he said say the zaynab is the difference and he said that it was so vital her if it was not say the zaynab we would have forgotten karbala as well it was because of her and her stance to revolt against the oppressors and to revolt against those who killed her brother and her family and her her sons and her brothers and her her nephews because of that we still have karbala today the first of the majalis that were done was in Damascus as soon as they were freed yes for one week they held the majalis and they called the people and and they told them the stories of karbala and what happened and recite eulogies so everything that we have today it all comes down to say the zaynab and i mean my words don't justify her actions and i think you know it's been 1400 years since karbala and in sha Allah it'll be another 1400 years and we'll continue to remember karbala and it's all down to say the zaynab so she played the most pivotal role in in reviving and and making this remembering the story and and continuing this legacy so we'll never be forgotten i think practically when someone does something so great it's very important for the people around to tell people about it um when you look at how ashura is commemorated it's not enough for it to be just a personal sense of mourning you have to tell people about it um ashura is a very very public outward facing expression of religion versus a more internal like fasting maybe um and on on this uh on this topic of the legacy of imam al zayn as per usual with the tradition of this show we would like to ask brother dahi to recite a few verses of poetry regarding the legacy of imam al zayn this poem is titled a story of sacrifice let me tell you a story a story that is repeated every year a story many know well a story that resonates a story passed on by human tongue written painted sketched and sung but if you don't know it let me give you a synopsis this is a story of sacrifice and not just any sacrifice sacrifices have been mentioned all throughout history ancient or modern civilizations some are myths some are stories some are tales others are real life events told a million times over the famous prophet jesus for example till this day we find a figurine of a cross planted on the chest of a passer by in every corner of the world well what makes a great sacrifice is the result that follows and for many this is a tale that resonates like an annual tide with tears and emotions surfacing at the shore a yearly guest a visitor that when the days come he knocks on the door and welcomes the sin but who is this visitor and what kind of sacrifice did he make that the earth and all its days cannot forget him this man once stood upon the burning sands of time in a distant land sketched upon his eyes this man once stood upon the burning sands of time in a distant land upon his eyes there's a tale for eternity he traveled the distance with a handful of friends and a handful of family brothers sisters sons and mothers and even newborn additions and he laid them out like a pauper with his last remaining currency he stood and stood and they took and took until he had nothing more to give in this life than life itself yet life demanded more until he had more fingers to count the loved ones not spared like Abraham from the fires with a hailstorm of arrows not spared like the throat of ishmael no sheet to replace his young one there was no river to float to baby across like baby moses in the Nile no this time the river was the villain of the story not spared like the people of israel when the sea was split open and the people fled to safety you know this time an army of thousands swallowed them and those who remained were paraded to the point where 40 years in the wilderness would have been sweeter and neither was there an ark to save them like the ark of Noah and neither was there an ark to save them like the ark of Noah two by two no this man was left alone drowning in his sacrifice there was no hero to save this story no david against goliath no king arthur no hercules no miracles to become or to be so no healing words could say no love between teardrops sway the value of this sacrifice how much this sacrifice is worth cannot be quantified for he gave it all not for a throne or wealth or gold or power or anything that can be sold it gave it all for something that most men would not comprehend where philosophers would fail to follow the trail of thoughts to its end and equations cannot simplify nor solve by algorithms he gave it all for something that cannot be measured in this earth nor beyond the layered sky he gave it all for the pleasure of the most high and in return he's become immortalized immortalized and that my friends is the story of hossain beautiful thank you and clear link to the issue of legacy and immortality and last part of the show sheikh looking at this from a historical perspective the journey from caravala to kufa and then to to syria and sometimes in in history like usher itself something tragic has to happen for a legacy to survive could it be argued that without the tragedy of the captives being taken from city to city without this captivity would the message of imam usin have actually got through to us today i think i've mentioned these two statements from imam al-hussain al-hussain al-salam that he said in madina shea allah an irani qatira and shea allah an irahunna sabayah so they're both linked to see himself to be slaughtered and killed in caravala and also his family to be taken as captives they both linked to each other because who broadcasts the the calamities and the masaib of caravala it's the one who survived the battlefield and that is the family and the children because they killed all the men and even the infant although the imam al-sajjad was surviving and that was miraculous to be honest it's a miracle that the imam survived and because he is hujjatullah and he's the imam after imam al-hussain so allah kept him alive otherwise he's been killed definitely and many attempts were made even kufa and afterwards killed the imam but they failed so of course no i mean the family was i mean the role of the family was as the media the aftermath of the ashura to be taken and to deliver this message to the world in that time until today and to the on the day on the last day of of this world and i'm looking at this idea of um knowing god so i'm asking a pretty profound question in a way and we know that every time a quote unquote new religion starts it might start off well but after some time passes it goes in a different direction than what god or the founder of it intended and we know islam had a had a similar path there when it came to what the messenger intended versus what happened um so we know that the islamic tradition was completed um um just before the death of the prophet through the announcing of uh the imam as as the next leader sade morson is it too profound for me to say that without ashura we would not understand the correct version of god himself the krimzani bar and it's definitely 100 the revival of the religion depended upon imam hussein aslam alayhi sallam for him to have um to give his sacrifice in order for us to receive the correct islam we have today and even those who have a different method who rely and should pay a homage and honor imam hussein because it wasn't for imam hussein even their version of islam wouldn't have existed today and you're bringing it back to like you know the tohid and you're bringing it back to akida and then theology and 100% definite that you know this was a stance against theology because we know he wasn't a man of religion but a man of his nafs of his own desires and he would openly mock the sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi he used to get a monkey and dress him up and put him on a member and said look that's the sallallahu and he stood with open mockery of of of the religion open mockery of the he used to have juma prayers on the wednesday on wednesday he'd make him perform juma prayers mocking the religion he had no you know form of you know i was saying alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi wa alayhi no no fear of god or his actions and it was because of imam hussein that everything was revived and everything survived and definitely without a doubt we must always remember even though imam hussein stood up for many things on on that day he stood up for the wilayah of emir remotminin he stood up because there was those who were praying on that side and there was those who were praying on on his side with the wilayah and and the importance of that you know your religion is not complete without the wilayah of emir remotminin and that's one of the most important factors and that's one of the most important stances that imam hussein stood for on that day brother imran i'm in different parts uh places i've spoken to i've i've used the phrase sometimes that people find god in different places could be in a place of worship could be in prayer i found god on ashura what where what did you learn about god from the moment of ashura so i think um with something like that it is very important to um you know also point out the idea of the wassail that we have yes because that comes into play a lot um with a question like this so when you um you know when you go through life um just generally put aside religion for example a sport that you like to play for example you like to play football and um you know you see one of your one of the best players in the world steven jarrod well we'll put it out there officially and that he was and so anyway so you you find him as a role model and you will follow him in his footsteps so you'll be like i want to play like him i want to do this you know you'll watch him play etc etc um and you know you build that respect for him uh through that now bring it to um for example let's bring it to ashura you see the um the the acts that imam hussein did um for example um when it came to hor hor was responsible for blocking the water from his family okay now hor then um you know i had a change of heart and he came to imam you're cutting the long story short came to imam asked for forgiveness etc etc now if someone had come done that to your family stopped food water for days how on earth would you be like you know i forgive you okay let's you know now you're with us so for imam to have the patience to have the the bigger heart to accept hor to say you know what hor you are forgiven you are now on our side to do something like that it's again it's not come we can't comprehend it it's again very much easier said than done but to know that there is someone on the path of Allah swt who does that is there any other path you need to be on if someone does something like that that's so humble that's so uh you know it really brings your ego down is there anyone else you want to be like other than hussein so he would be that role model he would be uh who you find God through but it's you know and and again other people find it through the wasul like i was saying so you know when you ask um Allah for your dua you always ask Allah for dua you know this is the point we have to stress upon when you go to when we go to karbala when we go to you know muslin never we go to hajj etc we pray to the prophet we pray to our imams to fulfill our hajj but it is always through the imam to ask Allah on on on our behalf so that's the you know it's importance of the wasul if you know the viewers who are unaware of the concept it's not that we pray to our imams to ask them to fulfill our needs but it's to ask them to ask Allah on our behalf to fulfill our needs so again you can find through God if you find God through that method also thank you um yes so we'll wrap up uh this discussion now due to time although the legacy of imam ussein can be discussed for another 1400 years as you mentioned uh earlier we would like to thank our viewers at home uh for watching this show today and to help continue the message of imam ussein and continues legacy um i'm of the opinion that we don't need other people to validate imam ussein but it's always nice sometimes when other people talk about imam in a glowing way uh one that comes to my mind is where uh the famous mystic and founder of the seek faith Guru Nanak uh cause imam ussein the conscience uh of the human being and the fact that his legacy can be seen in other walks of life and parts of the world uh is a manifestation of his legacy itself and if we want to learn about God there's no better way to learn than through imam ussein as it was mentioned if you want to learn about the mercy of God look at the way imam was merciful towards his companions and the people who opposed him we're going to end this show as per usual with some eulogy from brother imran please brother imran so um this poem is a very very very popular one everyone knows and i believe um for the discussion it's it's absolutely perfect is the oath of allegiance tell al-mahdi's reappearance to the progeny what do we say hey every night and every day in challenge we're set together every day is the path that hossein provides he teaches us and he with his greatest sacrifice we learn words alone don't suffice words and actions are the key he that's what hossein wants us to be every day is hossein did not come for god's pleasure he did rise when he did not give his to understand for islam we raise our voice and disregard all of the noise every day is car it cannot be described it shook the it kept ever silent it is the school it's the islam should live each day