 Salamu Alaykum dear viewers, peace be upon you all, welcome to our next episode discussing the different aspects of Ashura, the lessons we learn from there and different aspects we can take from. Our topic today is going to be on the topic of Brotherhood. The concept of Brotherhood is a very big aspect of Islam in terms of maintaining unity and being at peace with one another. Obviously, when it comes to Brotherhood in Karebala, there's only really one name that comes to mind and that is us, the brother of Imam Hussein and I'm sure he'll be featured very heavily in our discussion today. Joining us to discuss this topic of Brotherhood are four brothers, Sheikh Ali Mahash we have, we have said Mohsin Shah, Imran Datu and Thaira, welcome to you all. Sheikh, before we even get to Brotherhood in Karebala, we know Brotherhood is mentioned quite a lot in Islam as a concept. Just from my own knowledge, the word Ummah is used everywhere, both by the Prophet and in the Quran. So why does Islam place such a huge emphasis on this concept of Brotherhood, not just with your neighbours but globally? I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad and his family. All praise is due to Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The Holy Quran states clearly that in the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Merciful, only the believers are brothers, believing men and women are brothers to each other. So Islam clearly states that the one should be the brother of the other Mu'min individual. And of course, there are rights in terms of the rights, the mutual rights between a Mu'min and the other Mu'min, unlike us with the sisters, the Mu'mina and her fili Mu'mina as well. Of course, the one who is more favourable and more respected in the eyes of Allah is the one who has more piety and taqwa, the one who has more taqwa than his status is higher than the others. The hadith from Imam Sadiq, peace be upon him, he speaks about the Mu'min brotherhood. He says that the Mu'min is the brother of the other Mu'min, the brother of the other Mu'min. He says that the Mu'min is the eye of the other Mu'min, and his mirror, and his guide. Then he says to Imam Sadiq, peace be upon him, he doesn't betray him, he doesn't cheat him or deceive him, and he doesn't oppress him, and he doesn't basically lie to him and he doesn't backbite him. These are the features of a Mu'min brotherhood that we have to observe in our daily life. Otherwise, we see today in the Muslim world, for example, especially in some markets and businesses that they cheat and lie in order to get a bit more profit, and they don't know that this will be a burden on them when they die on the first day of their Qabur. So brotherhood in Islam is to emphasize that we have this clear verse in the Holy Qur'an and of course with regards to the ummah, with the one nation in Islam again, that this ummah is one ummah, and Amir Lord then worship me. So without brotherhood, we cannot go forward. Without brotherhood, we cannot achieve our goals as a Muslim nation, as a Muslim community. We have to be all in one hand, and as they say, one hand cannot clap, so we have to have two hands to clap, in order to clap. So we have to make sure that we have this brotherhood implemented practically and pragmatically in our daily life, in all aspects, beginning from the Islamic centres and mosques and Hussainia and so forth, and going all the way to the schools and colleges and work place and so forth. So we have to have this issue raised and spoken about. Let's now focus on Karabalai, and I can speak for many people. When it comes to brotherhood, as I said in the intro, only one person does come to mind, and we can look at perhaps when he was born, where there's this idea that some people say that he did not even open his eyes until Imam Hussain held him as a baby, and then it became possibly official when Imam Ali passed away, when Imam Ali informed him that you have to look after Hussain after I die. So it was instilled upon him. But just maybe this is more of your opinion. What are the moments from Abbas's life where you see the definition of brotherhood? I mean, I know you guys as poets and reciters as well. There's several lines of poetry that talk about he's the definition of brotherhood and loyalty, and that's used quite a lot. But how do we see this? This is brotherhood in the simple sense. This is on a different level that even I can't comprehend pondering on my whole life. Say, Mohsen, how would you add to this? I mean, the brotherhood is special, and let's not forget Imam Ali, alaihi salam, had 18 sons. So there's a lot of brothers. But specifically, the brotherhood of Imam Hussain and Imam Hussain and Abu Fadir al-Abbas with Imam Hussain, and we'd say the Zaynab, that sibling bond is very, very unique and very, very special. We see it from a young age with Abu Fadir, and as he's growing up, attached to the side of Imam Hussain. And as you mentioned on the deathbed of Imam Ali, alaihi salam, he puts Imam Hussain's hand in the hands of Abu Fadir that you have to take care of Imam Hussain. And further on, even in the actual story of Karbala, there's so many events, but the one thing that really touches me, one thing that, and it's not mentioned a lot, is when Abu Fadir actually goes on top of the Ka'aba, and he gives a sermon. And you know, we don't hear much of Abu Fadir in his speech. You always think he's a silent warrior. It's an amazing sermon. We do encourage the viewers to really look it up. And there he really like, you know, lays down the foundations of his Akhida. And also he's kind of like exposing the enemy and what's happening. And then he's there to tell them that, okay, you know, if this is how it's going to be, then let's go for it. And for me, it's so inspiring, so motivational. And I think a lot more needs to be put onto that one sermon. There's that one line in that sermon where he just says, if you want to get to my brother, you have to go through me. I mean, that's such a simple line. But when you actually unpack it and think about it, it's one of the most deepest lines. And actually you talked about it explaining your Akhida. Actually, maybe this is a relation we have to have with our current Imam as well, that to keep our Imam safe as well, you have to get through his followers and the brother that was shown there. And what do you guys, how do you view Abbasan brotherhood as reciters and poets, but also as a human being? Yeah, I think the personality of Abbasan Islam, it's like you said, it's on another level. Especially for me, if we look specifically with the bond he had with Imam Hussain al-Islam, we've seen a lot of poetry as well, that he's said to... And it's in fact, it's a fact as well, that throughout his life, he never referred to Imam Hussain as his brother, but his master. So to actually give someone respect of calling them the master actually shows how much love there is involved, as well as how much respect there is. And we see that in Karbala as well, Abbasan has given a task of being the alamdar, of being the flag bearer, and he had that one, he had that, he was itching to go and fight, but he was told, this is your role, we need you to, at the critical moment, when he went to get the water for the children. And the love and respect he had for his brother Imam Hussain was so much that no matter what faced him, what his surroundings were, in the battlefield, he still stayed silent and he still disfollowed his main task. And that in itself shows the personality, how strong the personality of Abbasan is, and why he is regarded as high as he is today, because of that loyalty, because of that respect. I think a lot of credit has to go to his mother as well, who raised him and instilled these virtues in him. And I was gonna say, pardon my informal language, but it was drummed into him since he was born. You only serve this person, and that was drummed into him, and you see him in his childhood and as he grows up. Dari, as someone who writes poetry, and I'm sure you've drawn several inspiration from this figure, how do you elect Abbasan brotherhood and what do you draw from it? The kid says unique selflessness, that makes him perfect for poetry, because you can write and write about Abbasan, not finish, because he's there for the taking, he's a hero in all its definition. So you've got a character who is pretty much a star of the show. So if it was a movie, for instance, this person is the star of the show, Qamar Bani Hashem. So he was not even, he was a star of the clan as well, yet he lowered himself and wanted to be in the shadow of Mahbih Hassan. Mama Mahbih Hassan at the end of the day was an aging man, he was the Imam of the time, but also as an aging man, Abbas was in his peak. At the time, the enemies and the families would look at him, and he would be the star, yet he'd lower himself and that selflessness was quite unique. And that all goes down to your point about the upbringing. And so Mollibani, in the way she raised him, it's a lesson for us. So it's not only a lesson for us in Western environments as well, but also Eastern environments as well. How can you raise a son or a daughter to be selfless to a brother? And even if it's not knowing the brother as an Imam, for instance, that selfless nature was there. So even if Imam Hassan wasn't an Imam, I reckon Abbas would be equally the same. And you know, and be there for his brother. Sheikh, on the day of Ashura, how does this figure of Abbas demonstrate the idea of willyya and obeying your Imam? And how can we take from that? Because I find that I can maybe speak for myself here because others may not struggle. Abbas had Imam Hussein in front of him and he was able to almost obey the Imam. But we have an Imam that we can't see with our eyes. How are we able to obey the Imam and show the same brotherhood and loyalty to our current Imam? Interesting, they mentioned the Muqatil of Imam Hussein, that when the Kurdish Shimmer brought immunity from, I think it's in Ziad, that Al-Abbas is immune and his brother's immune from being killed if they leave the camp of Al-Hussein, because between Shimmer and the mother of Al-Abbas, I mean, there was some kind of relation in terms of the tribes from Bani Kelab, basically. Yeah, so they had some links there. So he brought this immunity to basically to drag Al-Abbas, Al-Hussein, towards the enemy side so they can easily kill Al-Hussein, because they knew how Al-Abbas, Al-Hussein was strong and he could face the whole army easily. But Al-Abbas was sitting and never said anything because Al-Hussein was there, alaihi salam. So Imam said to him, a jeep who wearing kind of asaqa, you know respond to him, although he is corrupt. So Al-Abbas gets up and he goes and he responds back to Shimmer and he rejects his letter of immunity and this is how Al-Abbas obeys his master. He doesn't do any action without the permission from Al-Hussein, alaihi salam. Although he was called personally to talk to Shimmer, but he rejected and subhanallah, this is the loyalty and the sincerity towards his Radaah Al-Hussein, that any act would be done through the obedience of Al-Hussein, alaihi salam. It's quite interesting because we sometimes, and I'm sure you guys would agree that when we look at these special figures of history, we stop looking them as human beings, but sometimes if we humanize them a bit more, we can think that actually Abbas, when Imam gave an order, he clearly would have had the ego versus the order, but he always obeyed the order of the Imam. He never ever obeyed himself and it's quite fascinating. And as per the format of the show, we're going to break with some poetry for our viewers and for us in the studio and no better figure than to recite poetry about. So Brother Thay, please give us some poetry about this amazing figure. I've heard many stories, passed by whispering tongues that cannot stop and I've read many books written in ink that cannot fade. Stories of great men and legends and myths alike, but none have entranced me the way this one man has. This man was a seed sown by Ali to adorn the fragrant garden of his household. This man was born from a womb of an equally heroic woman. This man was a hero. And if heroes were pillars, we'd all be resting in his shadow. This man is an immaculate specimen of his father, but he did not need his father's double edged sword to be great. But his double helix DNA moved him like the shadow of Ali in battle and raised him like a moon in the cascades of darkness. So much so, they called him the Hashemite moon, Qamar-e-Bani Hashem. But what makes heroes eternal is the legacy they leave behind. And this man used death itself to write his very own. Just like how the sun does not fail to rise for us in four seasons, in a year does not surprise us. With autumn leaves falling to the ground gracefully around us with the spring bearing fruits for us. Just like the consistent nature of clockwork, Abbas too will welcome us annually because eternity fell in love with his broken heart. Just as we fell in love with his punctured pride, just as the ground fell in love with his bleeding hands and the skies reddened in awe in the collapsing darkness of his eyes while the angels hovered down in remembrance of his thirsty tongue. And it was as if it was yesterday. It was as if it was yesterday when the water was trapped between the closings of his fingers and his mind was trapped between Zaynab and Sokaimab. He questioned, how can a mountain drink from the clouds when the sun is out of sight? He threw the water away in defiance concluding his life from the lap of his very own brother asking for forgiveness. He said, forgive me that I cannot see you for when the water quenched my eyes and arrow took them away. Forgive me that I cannot hold you for when the water called my palms the swords upon them prayed. Forgive me that I cannot protect you for when I cried, Ya nafs, min ba'ad el-Husayn, houni, my soul surrendered to fate because I would rather die on your lap than see your severed head on mine or though I take the reverse. And that's the poem about. Love the love of Abbas. Imran, if we look at the story of Abbas there are several moments that we can all pick which I say the moment he becomes immortal. And you can go from start to the end and all of us can say something and they're all the right answer in a sense. One that stands out to me is and Dahi referenced it in his poem where Abbas starts reciting poetry with his arm cut off and there's one line where he says, I'm going to protect my religion. And the way I read that line is that he's calling Imam Hussein his religion in a sense because Imam Hussein in the embodiment of what it means to be committed to God. From your opinion, what is the moment that stands out to you the most where this is the moment he becomes the Abbas that he is today? I think with that personality, like you said, there are so many moments that you can pick from but I think the thing that hits me the most is, and we, again, there are several poets that put it really nicely and coming to say Imam Hussein's point about bond with his other siblings too, so I would say the Zaynab especially. So when his arms are cut off, she used to refer to him as the one who would protect her hijab. So he was known to her as the one who protects the hijab. So once his hands were cut off, and there's some poetry, it's not meant to be taken literally, but it's said that she picks up the arms and puts it on her head because it's that protection. Because the hijabs were taken away. But when someone looks at you like that, when someone sees you in that light, that you put your full trust in them to protect you, to protect your hijab, and the hijab is the modesty of a woman. It almost becomes, it defines you as a person. So in essence, the Zaynab is being protected, her definition is being protected by al-Abbas, her brother. So that in itself is quite a strong, strong statement for me. And yeah, that's when I think that, you know what, as al-Abbas had something that a normal person doesn't. You know, there is that like, and it again builds up to his loyalty, his respect for his master and his respect for his sister in that sense. I think that's something that really sticks with me. I thought, what about you? What's that one moment where it just wows you? It's the moment where he held the water. I think that wows most people, but that specific moment touches something in me that, you know, I try to write about it, but then I can only refer to it in a couple of verses because it's so powerful and I can't encapsulate anything more than a couple of verses. But that particular moment strikes me as where al-Abbas manifests his epitome of al-Abbas, really. And it's that moment he converses with himself as well. And I'm sure a little poetry is written about that. Say, most one of the things that Imam calls al-Abbas is his back or his backbone. And when he famously dies or falls to the ground, Imam says, my back has now been broken. And again, I remind myself all the time, when the imams of the Prophet's house speak, they pick their words quite carefully. And when I think about the role of the back to the human body, if the back doesn't work, you're paralyzed in a sense. How was al-Abbas the backbone to Imam? Well, in many ways, I mean, he was the backbone. If you look at backbone, what is it? Support, it's a foundation. It's where everything is linked to. And without it, you cannot actually maneuver. Nothing can progress. So with having al-Abbas with Imam, not just that, he was a protector. He was there to serve the army and also to serve the children and to serve the women there. But in a way, he was also a symbol of hope. Though, you know, if you thought about it, Imam Hussein is going out. And time after time, he's bringing one body back. He's bringing another body back. But the camp still had hope because they had al-Abbas. They could look up to him and say, yes, we still have... It's like when you get in trouble, if you've got that special person around, you're like, it's going to be okay. It's going to be fine. It's going to be okay. So, you know, in a way, he was that backbone of hope, that backbone of that, you know, everything's going to be okay. But when, you know, Imam Hussein lost his father, you know, I correct me if I'm wrong, Shekhar, but they say that even his tent, they went and they took the main foundation of the tent out and the tent collapsed as a symbol that he's not coming back. And then it was from there, you know, you could really encompass that this is a true tragedy and, you know, God knows what's going to happen next. Shraiki touched upon earlier that conversation between Shimmer and Abbas. And I understand that there were some form of cousin relation possibly due to the tribe of Azad Abbas's mother. This also brings in this topic of keeping family relations, which we know is a very big aspect of Islam and Islam hugely encourages to keep ties with your family and blood relatives. Does perhaps Abbas show that there has to be a time where we do have to cut off and what kind of lessons can we learn from that? Because I'm sure all of us might struggle with family members that might not be, you know, maybe as godly as they should be in the sense of their practice. Where do we draw this line? And what does Abbas teach us? Basically, in the Sharia, it is forbidden for the one to cut his ties with his relatives, which is called Qati'at-ur-Rahim. Yeah. It's forbidden. But the problem is it begins from the other side when they take a different route from the right path. That's why Imam Hussain alaihi s-salam, he advised Umar ibn Sa'ad many times to stop shedding the blood of the household, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, but he refused. He wanted some interests, you know, he was given the promise to become the governor of race-ty just on the outskirts of Tehran in Iran. So he insisted that he wants that power, he wants that position, even if it costs to kill Imam Hussain alaihi s-salam. So the Imam, he made a dua against him that Qati'at-ur-Rahim is like the Qati'at-ur-Rahim, that may Allah sever your Rahim relation as you did with my, you know, by killing Ali al-Aqbar and so forth. So, yes, of course, when it comes to this point, then that's it. And there is a narration that in one of the sermons in Ashura that if the swords are raised between the two sides, there's no more peace and no more relationships. There's a war, there's a bloodshed. So the Imam alaihi s-salam had to take this step that this individual is not worth of being as a relative. I remember the time of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa alaihi, there was fathers on one side fighting against their sons and also vice versa, brother fighting brother. So, you know, like the Sheikh said, when swords are raised, you know, all family ties are cut. It's hard, isn't it? And obviously, it is. It's a big challenge, I mean, to stand up to you, to go against family members is one of the hardest challenges. We have also the Imam Ali and Talha and Zubayr and his cousins, and there was a moment they actually spoke and they were crying about what was happening, you know. Yeah, absolutely. And I think before we get to the last bit where the eulogy is, one of the things that people look at is, and a common excuse that is used is, I can't be like Imam. He was infallible with a boss. He didn't have that traditional infallibility that is bestowed upon the out of the bed. He maybe had a different form of it. But how, how that lesson we get from, how can we get from a boss that you don't have to be quote unquote infallible to become someone that close to God? How do you relate to this? So, you're taught to have to relate it back to our lives and these lessons are there for us to take, not just as lessons for our intentions, but also for us to verbalize and actually manifest in our day-to-day, whether we've got siblings, I've got three siblings. We argue on a day-to-day basis. So, we should be using the examples of Abu-Fahla al-Abbas and Imam Hussein as brotherhood role models, as how we should approach each other, put that selfless nature between us. So, our argument shouldn't mean much in the grand scheme of things and carry those ties through to us, through the years as well. I always think that one of the ways is to look towards, if the Imams we see them as too high up, their companions, however, they are immortal today because of the devotion they showed. And that's a nice way to wrap up. We would like to thank our viewers for joining us today and watching the show on brotherhood. Clearly, the message is quite apparent that if you want to look at what brotherhood means, you turn to no one but the brother of Imam Hussein, Hazrat Abbas, for he showed brotherhood that no man can ever show in the history of mankind or in the future. We'd like to end this show with our traditional poetry to close for the viewers at home. So, Bismillah, Imran. Hassan, so this poem again is reflecting on a point I made earlier, how Hazrat Abbas was given a set role, a set instruction, especially when going towards the battle field to get the water for the children. And this is after Hazrat Abbas has passed away and it's a conversation from Sikino, say the Rukaians and narrations, speaking to Abbas. There came a time when there was no response. You left me alone and now you've already gone I missed you and now it is too late I need you but now I can't see straight and this is why I bring to you a message that has never been told a message that the world has seen the seventh heaven cry on and this is where I give to you a message from Sikino to Abbas there came a time where you had gone and left me all alone my feelings you raised them and now I saw you we saw you now where do I begin the children are waiting now where do I begin the skies look down upon all atrocities the water looked up waiting for you to reach I saw your face before you left and now I feel so cold my feelings you raised them and now I looked up and stood up praying for your return I looked down and sat down my life for you I'll yawn hoping crying waiting for you to turn my cheeks soon now we'll face the burning pain I saw your arms divide in two and now I can't behold my feelings you and now my love uncle your story is untold you loved me and left me when I was uncontrolled time passed it didn't last forever in our shadows my did not give I saw my father breathe and now my life has sold my feelings you raised them and now there's fear it's clear now his eyes have fallen red no hope then no just like my father said your his eyes are full the love of one I stand alone with the bright and burning sun I sent you their return but I was never told my feelings you raised them and now there came a time where you had gone and left me you raised them and now Salah ala Muhammad wa Ali Muhammad