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iTunes ChannelNothing But Pure Ignorance of Self-Flagellation on Ashoorah (Ashura)
Tiny Url for this post: http://tinyurl.com/kw2wcx
Do not cast yourselves, with your own hands, into destruction [Quran 2-195]
There is such things as differences of opinions, fundamental theological differences, different fiqh, etc. between Muslim sects. But nothing excuses for pure ignorance and despicable behavior of self-flagellation by the Shias that engage in it on Ashoora (Ashura). Now let me preface this by saying that my grand-father lived and died as a Shia, may Allah forgive him, and my father tells me that his father (my grand-father) never engaged in such activities, so I am assuming that not all Shias agree with this.
What is even more shameful is when children are inducted into this practice, to the point of making cuts on babies’ heads! How can these little creatures even understand the purpose of this act, let alone be forced to engage in it by their ignorant parents?
On another note, can we blame the Islamophobes for using these images to further propagandize about Islam?In fact, out of the 4 photos, I found 1 on an Israeli “facts” website and another on “religious freaks” website. The final 2 were from Yahoo News.
So, let me state it clearly to any non-Muslim readers that such practices of self-flagellation are prohibited in our religion (see first line of this post, a verse from the Quran). 
Muslims are prohibited from even wailing over their dead. And certainly Islam forbids harming oneself or worse, harming one’s children. People who do such activities are driven by a false sense of love over Islam’s great martyr, Imam Hussein (RD). If Imam Hussein (RD) were alive today, I am certain he would distance himself from such “followers”. There is nothing in our Islamic history from the times of the golden caliphate that any of the Sahaba or the proceeding first generations engaged in such self-destruction.
P.S. I am still in Pakistan on this 9th and 10th Muharram and it is amazing what happens in this first 10 days of Muharram. Perhaps I’ll write more about this one day (I have so many things to talk about!), but I’ll give one quick example: Even the red-light district in Lahore shuts down in “deference” to Muharram. I am told by the natives that this is also because the prostitutes (or mutah-practitioners??) are Shia’ and they actually take part in the commemorative events!
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Authoobillaah
how can they do this to children
this is child abuse
may Allaah give them what they deseve aameen
In fairness to the Shia, this practice is condemned by many prominent Shia scholars and banned in Iran, the only overwhelmingly Shia country. All of the pictures you see of this bloody practice are from Pakistan, Lebanon, or Iraq.
i was thinking (hoping) that maybe some liquid substance dyed red would be used to “simulate” blood on the children. am i being naive?
stop with the bla bla bla…
“Do not cast yourselves, with your own hands, into destruction” [Quran 2-195]
need he say more?
Good point Sabir. Amad also said in the post:
We just don’t want the non-Muslims to believe the Islamophobes who use these type of images to further promote the association of Islam and mindless violence. Like, “not only do Mozlems inflict violence on others, they also do so on themselves and their own infants.” It happens, and performing a simple search for Ashura will help you find that.
So to any non-Muslim reading this, know that Islam has nothing to do with self-mutilation or beating or cutting ones’ self (or one’s children, I seek God’s help that he rids the world of such a terrible practice). I know the images seem to be very confusing, but know that these acts come from an extreme and unorthodox group that claims its thoughts and practices to be from the beautiful religion of Islam.
These images always have, still do, and always will disgust me, and I’m sure everyone, Muslims and others alike, feel the same way.
May God almighty guide us to the truth and keep us away from extremity in our faith of Him.
I had a feeling Amad would post something like this…
I’ve seen some extremely pious Shias. One uncle who comes to pray on campus when few people are around takes half an hour for Dhuhr and often from his voice you can tell he really feels it, masha Allah la quwatta illah billah.
“I’ve seen some extremely pious Shias.” The same could be said about Christians, Jews, etc… with the end result still being the same.
One uncle who comes to pray on campus when few people are around takes half an hour for Dhuhr and often from his voice you can tell he really feels it
If he curses the sahabaa and feels that the Qur’an is incomplete and that the mehdi is hiding in a cave, then he can pray for days and it will never be accepted.
^There are different types of Shias out there man…don’t generalize.
I would like to paraphrase Sh. Yasir Qadhi on what he once said, “The Shias are not necessarily incurring sin for their acts. This is because they follow their Ayatollahs and it is those Ayatollahs that are incurring all the sin for giving misguidance.” (correct me if I’m wrong).
Amad: A post regarding the little known story of Karbala and what happened to Imam Husayn (ra) and all the big events that happened to the Anbiya would’ve been more beneficial. At least, our Shia friends would’ve seen our love for Ahlul Bayt.
Red light district in Lahore…unbelievable that it exists!
AA-
I agree with Dawud. A post reminding us of the events at Karbala would indeed have been beneficial. Let us not allow that great Muslim tragedy to become known solely as a Shia’ tradition.
Imam Husayn (ra) and his family belong to every Muslim.
“I would like to paraphrase Sh. Yasir Qadhi on what he once said, “The Shias are not necessarily incurring sin for their acts. This is because they follow their Ayatollahs and it is those Ayatollahs that are incurring all the sin for giving misguidance.” (correct me if I’m wrong). “……………….
Are you sure Yasir said this? Could that argument not be applied to all the kuffar also in that case?
As salamu alaikum
Though I don’t agree 100% with everything in this article, I think it still does a decent overall job of summarizing the events at Karbala.
http://sunninews.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/karbala-%E2%80%93-a-lesson-for-mankind/
For more detailed analysis/historical perspective, please see “The History of Islam” by brother Akbar Shah Najeebabadi:
http://islamicbookstore.com/b6673.html
wassalam
PS Should we call Hussein (radhi Allahu ‘anhu) IMAM Hussein? I am never sure about this.
I hope the intent of the article was very clear, i.e. my condemnation was of the specific practice of self-flagellation, not of the commemoration or other events during this time (though I vehemently disagree with those as well). I did not intend or desire for this post to become a sunni-shia flame-out. That is why I did not even discuss the issues around Imam Husayn’s martyrdom, and delve into who’s right and who’s wrong, primarily because my knowledge of those issues are limited.
Interestingly, did folks know that the third greatest man who ever walked the earth (after the Prophet (S) and Abu Bakr (RD)), Umar (RD)’s shahadat (martyrdom) occured on the first of Muharram (i.e. when he actually passed away)? And if we start commemorating days for births and deaths, everyday will be special for something. wallahualam.
Salaam Alaykum, Brothers and Sisters.
I appreciate that the intent of the post was not to encourage further Sunni-Shia animus, but rather to clarify that these practices are not Islamic, to counter Islamophobic propaganda. However, our enemies will attack us no matter what. Those among the Jews and Christians who are inclined to hate, will do just that. While I do not agree with the practices of some Shia, I see them as my brothers and sisters. I will let Allah judge us in the end. Those that fan the flames for attacks against Muslims cherish the Sunni-Shia divide. That’s part of the reason the US invaded Iraq. If there were more trust between us, we would be able to put up a united front. Instead, many Shia initially supported the invasion and collaborated with the US and Britain. Now with a looming attack on Iran, it’s possible many Sunni desire the same fate for Iran. Unity does not mean we all have to think and act the same.
In high school, I used the above images–naively not understanding what they meant–for a presentation on Palestine. The students questioned me, “why does that lady have a knife near the baby’s head?” I had no answer, but I was sure that there was some good Islamic reason for it. Soon after, I learned that there wasn’t. It was bogus and it isn’t only them, it happens in every sect.
May Allah protect us from such practices.
Asalaamu alaikum.
I wonder really how widespread this is. The photos really are sensationalist and it’s not surprising they come from Islamophobic web sites. I did a google search and guess who wrote the AP story – the famous Scheherazade Faramarzi.
Br. Amad, I have one other comment about the photos – given their source, how certain are you that they’re authentic? It took a while before the Dutch film still was distinguished from an allegedly real execution.
sorry but i find it really silly that so many of you find so much excuses for the shias.
ive lived with/known shias that are from iraq, iran etc. and these are the ones that follow the top ayatullahs. YES, THEY DO PRACTICE HITTING/LATMIYAHS in muharram and other occasions.pls stop this where sunnis always think that this may be from islamophobes and its a minority…when will u ever learn?
I asked shaykh yasir and he did not say that perhaps he made another statement which was misunderstood
jk ibnabeeomar, because ive heard his lecture which the bro is referring to and that is not what he said, walhamdulilah.
Funny…I remember Sh. YQ saying that during LightuponLight Toronto in regards to their Aqeedah…apologies for the mistake and may Allah forgive me. Ameen.
I don’t really know much about Shias and I need to ask, “Do I really need to know about Shias? Is this the most important issue for me? Is this truly worth my time?”
Much of the discussion about how one group is not Muslim or not, no matter how true it is, makes young Muslims focus on THAT rather than activism and improving things. So the brother who could’ve been following the examples of the Sahabas (ra) by helping the elderly and disadvantaged in their community becomes the super-Salafi who wants to be Ibn Taymiya (rahimullah)…and fails (or succeeds depending on your view) by being concerned with a tiny “bid’ah” which isn’t a bid’ah at all, he simply hasn’t learned enough.
In my community, Sunnis have worked with Qadianis on Islamic television programmes, simply because the Sunnis were too busy with their bid’aah-bash and not interested. It’s as if too much education has defeated the goals of educations. OK Enough outta me…
For anyone interested in doing some reading on what Shi’ism is from a Sunni standpoint, here’s a nice website:
http://ahlelbayt.com/
Sr. Ruth, 2 of the pics were from unfavorable sites, the other 2 were right off yahoo pics. I have zero doubt that this occurs because my own family has seen it done here in Pakistan.
This is AP photo from Iraq
This is an AP photo from Lebanon
Use this search to see more photos on Yahoo news
w/s
Yes Shia do flogging and doing that is a part of there religion.
Shias come in different sects. The closest to the sunnis are the Zaidi Shias and still the scholars have categorized them with Ahlul Bidah.
Dawud when you are talking about cooperation then it is based on a diferent concept. We can cooperate with anybody even Qadianis on something that is right and haqq. Same with any other sect or group.
But when we cooperate we also acknowledge there mistakes and point that out. Even if we work with Qadianis and Shias on different projects that are for Haqq and righteousness we dont stop refuting there wrong beliefs.
Most of the Shia are Ithna Asharriya and they curse sahaba, ummehatul Momineen. They have filthy tongues when it comes to sahaba and you cant even stand it.
I guess most of you have not met some staunch shia to taste there venom against shia otherwise you wont be here defending shias. Just ask any shia what he thinks about Muawiya (RA) and then the truth will come out of his mouth.
I meant venom against sahaba.
Sabir wrote:
In fairness to the Shia, this practice is condemned by many prominent Shia scholars and banned in Iran, the only overwhelmingly Shia country. All of the pictures you see of this bloody practice are from Pakistan, Lebanon, or Iraq.
And also, Queens, NY.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/galleries/festival_of_ashura/festival_of_ashura.html?c=0
the pictures were the best part of this post! OUSTANDING work as always! Amad gets an “A” for effort.
Theological issues aside, the Shia remind me of Orcs…only slightly less attractive though.
Shia need to brighten up their days with some Sunni days instead of their Shia days.
mr – that line is classic!!
why are these muslims so ignorant? what do they gain from these activities using children? can we call them muslims? why can’t sheyks and speakers like Dr. Naik educate these ignorant muslims . In a world where Islam is the fast- spreading religion it is possible. I pray that in years to come this act would be minimized and forgotten.
May Allah guide them in the right path and may Allah enhance them with true knowledge. Aameen.
first of all i would like to say that alhamdollilah i am a shia muslim, according to a HAdees from all shia and sunni hadees books ” Hussain o minni wa ana minal Hussain ” , matam is not the practice of this era, i think most of my brothers and sisters forgot HAzrat OWais Qirni (r.a), for the harmony among shais and sunni muslims these type of contoversal material will not be pubilished, there is a good saying of Ayatullah Khomaini ” one how discriminate b/w shias and sunnis is not a shia or a sunni he is an agent of Jew” may allah give us knowledge to understand this conspiracy. Ameen