Fatema A, bless her persistent young soul, sends me a reminder – please, please write something for Ashara, and I typically push back – why do you want me to write something, don’t auntify Mighzal, I say to her. But, like the essence, long after the perfume vaporizes, her request and the thought of it lingers. Whether or not I put it into words, the thought chases the realms of my consciousness. Wait, I say to myself, it is still another 12 days, there is much work to be done before I can go for Ashara, before I immerse myself in Ashara. But no, this year has been different. In fact, ever since Ashura 1437H, we have been preparing for Ashara 1438H. Because our beloved Maula, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin Saheb TUS has left no stone unturned in ensuring that the consciousness of these days, the privilege of life to live these days, and to maximize every second of every minute of every hour of these 9 days is ever present within us, body and soul.
I have been privileged indeed to have attended waaz mubarak with Dai Zamaan for perhaps 40 years of my half century of existence on this earth. As I type these words, my hair stands on end, and I think, ‘And what do I have to show for it?’ What is done, is done. No point in crying over spilt milk, look forward always, is the mantra we must march by. And so, I am thinking, ‘How will I go for this Ashara Mubaraka? How will I be?’ And the answer comes immediately, in my heart – be the way Maula TUS wants me to be. The way Maula TUS has been telling us to be, throughout this year. ‘Izharun’noha wal aweel’ – to cry and to cry out aloud in grief on the shahadat of Imam Husain AS and Ahle Bayt AS. This seems like stating the obvious – why else would you go for Ashara, if not for this? But it is not. To do noha and aweel with full consciousness and awareness, knowledge and understanding, indeed, Maula TUS will help me overcome my limitations!
With this niyat, I hasten toward Dar es Salaam. Labbaik ya Dai Al Husain!
No Comments