''Ashura uprising'' in the words and sayings of Imam Khomeini

The Message of Muharram is portrayed in the following selection of texts chosen from the great leader of the revolution’s statements and words regarding the importance of the Ashura uprising of Imam Hussein (as) :
With the appearance of the new moon, Muharram, the month of heroism, bravery, and sacrifice has commenced. It is a month wherein the blood conquered the sword; it is a month in which the power of truth defeated the wrong forever and stamped the forehead of tyrants and the satanic governments and their stigma.‬

ID: 31318 | Date: 2011/12/03

The philosophy of the 'Ashoura uprising' [1]

The Doyen of the Martyrs [2] `a (staged an uprising with some of his companions, family members and the ladies of his household. As it was for God, they destroyed the very foundations of that wicked person's monarchy. On the face of it, he( the Doyen of the Martyrs )was killed, but, in reality, he extirpated the foundations of that monarchy; one that intended to turn Islam into a taghouti form. The danger that Mu`awiyah and Yazid posed for Islam did not lie in their usurpation of the caliphate; this was a danger less than that of their attempting to turn Islam into the form of a monarchy. They wanted to render spiritualities into a taghouti form. By calling themselves the successors of the Messenger of God( s ), they wanted to convert Islam into a taghouti regime. This was the important issue. The two of them wanted to do, and did, so much harm to Islam that their predecessors had not. They tried to misrepresent the basic principles of Islam to the utmost. Theirs was a monarchy. There was drinking and gambling at their parties. The `successor' of the Prophet attending parties where wine was being imbibed? And present at gambling sessions? And the Prophet's `successor' would also attend congregational prayers, such things notwithstanding! All this greatly menaced Islam. The Doyen of the Martyrs averted this danger. The issue did not concern the usurpation of the caliphate only. His uprising was against the taghouti monarchy itself; the one that wanted to show Islam in a way such that; had they succeeded, Islam would have become something else. It would have become like the 2, 500- year old monarchy. When Islam appeared, it wanted to put an end to the monarchies and such regimes, and to establish a divine government in the world. It aimed to destroy" taghout" and replace it with" Allah". They, however, wanted to remove" Allah" and install" taghout" instead- the same issues of paganism, the same problems of the past( pre-Islamic times ). The Doyen of the Martyrs being killed did not constitute a defeat as it was for God; rising for Him never ends in defeat.

God, the Blessed and Exalted, says:" All admonishments aside, I have only one that I wish to make. The Noble Prophet is the intercessor; God the preacher; the people, the ones being preached to. I do not have more than one admonishment to make, and that is rising for the sake of God." Rise for God when you see the divine religion in danger. The Commander of the Faithful[ Imam `Ali ]( `a )rose to defend the faith when he saw it in danger as Mu`awiyah was misrepresenting it. The Doyen of the Martyrs, likewise, rose for the divine school [maktab ]. This is not a one-time matter; God's admonishment is for always. You must rise for God whenever you see them act against Islam, against Islam, against an Islamic-humane regime, against a divine one; whenever you see them misrepresent Islamic principles and crush Islam in the name of Islam. You should not be afraid of, perhaps, failing; of the possibility of defeat. There is no question of defeat about it.

Speech
Date: May 29, 1979[ Khordad 8, 8531 AHS/ Rajab 3, 9931 AH ]
Place: Qum
Subject: Rising for the sake of God; the duty of the Muslims in the present age
Audience: The Qa'imiyyah) devotees of the 21 th Imam (groups of Tehran
Sahifeh vol. 8, page. 10,11

[ 1 ]`Ashoura: the tenth day of Muharram; the day on which Imam Husayn was martyred in Karbala.
[ 2 ]Doyen of the Martyrs[ Sayyid ash-Shuhada' ]: Imam Husayn, grandson of the Prophet. In 06 AH[ 086 CE ], Imam Husayn refused to swear allegiance to Yazid, son of Mu`awiyah and second caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, since Yazid did not possess legitimate authority and had succeeded to the caliphate by hereditary succession. The ensuing death of the Imam in battle at Karbala has always been commemorated by Shi`ah Muslims as the supreme example of martyrdom in the face of tyranny. It served as an important point of both ideological and emotive reference throughout the Islamic Revolution in Iran. `Ashoura, the tenth day of Muharram, is the day on which he was martyred in Karbala. See Shaykh Muhammad Mahdi Shamsuddin, The Revolution of Al-Husayn, http:// www. al-islam. org/ revolution; Ibrahim Ayati, A Probe into the History of Ashoura( Karachi: Islamic Seminary Publications, 1984 ); Zakir, Tears and Tributes( Qum: Ansariyan Publications ); Yasin T. al-Jibouri, Kerbala and Beyond( Qum: Ansariyan Publications ); Sayyid Wahid Akhtar," Karbala: An Enduring Paradigm of Islamic Revivalism," Al-Tawhid Journal, http:// www. al-islam. org/ al-tawhid/ paradigm-akhtar. htm.