تويت
Sha‘bān and the Heroes of Karbala
The month of Sha‘bān is a great month in the sight of God Almighty. It is the month of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It has been narrated from Imam al-Kāẓim (peace be upon him), from his forefathers (peace be upon them), from the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), that he said: “Sha‘bān is my month, and the month of Ramaḍān is the month of God.” In the well-known supplication recited every day of the month of Sha‘bān it is said: “This is the month of Your Prophet, the master of Your messengers, Sha‘bān, which You have surrounded from You with mercy and pleasure.” It is also narrated from the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) regarding the reason for naming it Sha‘bān that he said: “It was named Sha‘bān because the provisions of the believers branch out (yatasha‘‘abu) within it.”
In the month of Sha‘bān there are births of the heroes of Karbala. On the third of the month, the Master of Martyrs, Imam al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him), was born. On the fourth, the birth of Abū al-Faḍl al-‘Abbās (peace be upon him). On the fifth, the birth of Imam ‘Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-‘Ābidīn (peace be upon him). On the eleventh of this month, the birth of ‘Alī al-Akbar ibn al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him). And on the fifteenth of this blessed month, Imam al-Ḥujjah al-Muntaẓar (may God hasten his reappearance) was born.
These blessed births of these blessed personalities did not occur by coincidence, nor did these births gather in this blessed month by chance, nor was this month devoid of deaths by chance. There must be wisdoms and indications behind these births in this noble month, which I attempt to uncover and become acquainted with in this brief article.
Among the indications that I have discerned is that these personalities who recorded stances of heroism, dignity, and loftiness in Karbala—the battle of truth against falsehood—are great personalities of lofty rank, and there must be a temporal circumstance that contains them and corresponds to their greatness and stature. Thus, great events require a circumstance that can contain them, and this temporal circumstance is the month of Sha‘bān with its majesty and greatness. To clarify this matter, I give you an example of the revelation of the Noble Qur’an. The revelation of the Qur’an is a great event that requires a temporal circumstance befitting its rank, majesty, and exalted status. Thus, this temporal circumstance was the month of Ramaḍān, which is the best of months, and the Night of Decree, which is better than a thousand months.
The month of Sha‘bān is a circumstance for the heroism and loftiness of these great and noble figures.
Another indication of these blessed births is that Karbala, with its radiant face embodied by its heroes—which overflows with values, dignity, honor, and nobility—and with its other face embodied by the criminals and killers—which overflows with baseness, vileness, and ignobility—has dominated all discourse. Thus, we have heard of its heroes only in terms of heroism and martyrdom in Karbala, and the popular masses did not come to know the other aspects of the lives of the heroes of Karbala. Therefore, these births in Sha‘bān give the speaker and the writer an opening and a field to speak about other areas of the lives of these heroes.
The biological birth of great men is followed by the spiritual and civilizational births of their nations. The biological birth of the Prophet was followed by the birth of a nation which, before the Prophet (peace be upon him), had been disputing tribes to whom no one gave weight. After his birth, a nation was born—a civilizational birth. There is a close connection between the Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) and al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him). The Messenger says: “Ḥusayn is from me, and I am from Ḥusayn.” The “from-ness” has its indications: al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him) is from the Prophet in a biological sense—the from-ness of flesh and blood—and a message-based from-ness—the from-ness of a path and principles.
When Noah (peace be upon him) addressed his Lord: “And Noah called upon his Lord and said: ‘My Lord, indeed my son is of my family, and indeed Your promise is true’,” the divine response came: “He said: ‘O Noah, indeed he is not of your family; indeed he is an unrighteous deed. So do not ask Me of that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, I admonish you lest you be among the ignorant.’” The Qur’an speaks of the fact that those most entitled to Abraham are those who followed him, not those who carry slogans of affiliation to him by lineage. God Almighty says: “Indeed, the people most worthy of Abraham are those who followed him, and this Prophet, and those who believe; and God is the ally of the believers.” (Āl ‘Imrān, verse 68). The heroes of Karbala belong to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) by lineage and by path, and some of them belong to him by path alone, and priority is for belonging to the path.
Imam al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him), al-‘Abbās, ‘Alī al-Akbar, and Zayn al-‘Ābidīn (peace be upon them) defended the message of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and sacrificed for it their souls and their flowing red blood. Had it not been for the Ḥusaynī revolution, the Umayyad coup project would have succeeded in eliminating the values of the message.
As for the relationship of Imam al-Mahdī—whom we also consider among the heroes of Karbala—this is because his project draws nourishment from Karbala and from the values of ‘Āshūrā’, and he will seek vengeance for Abū ‘Abdullāh al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him). This vengeance is not a tribal vengeance as is commonly understood in popular mentality, but rather a value-based vengeance—a vengeance for the values that the Umayyads transgressed and violated in Karbala. The Umayyads are not merely historical individuals who have exited the stage of history; rather, Umayyadism is a state, a project, and a path that is repeated in every time and place.
These are some of the indications that I have discerned in this brief article, and the field remains wide for uncovering further indications.
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