(WASHINGTON DC - January 7, 2009) The Islamic Information Center would like to offer condolences to the hundreds of millions of Muslims commemorating the day of Ashura today.
Nearly 1,400 years ago, Imam Husain ibn Ali, grandson of Prophet Muhammad (May God Bless Them), was tragically martyred on the sands of Karbala, Iraq. Imam Husain sought to promote justice, and help restore Islam to its peaceful and benevolent nature - a movement opposed by oppressors.
On his journey to spread the true message of Islam: that it is a religion that focuses on the Oneness of God, on prayer and fasting, on helping the needy, and speaking out against evil - he and his family members were surrounded by the armies of Yazid, a corrupt oppressor focused on building power and brutally crushing dispute.
The tomb in which Imam Husain (May God Bless Him and his family) buried, in modern day Karbala, Iraq.
On the tenth day of Muharram, also referred to as "Ashura", Yazid's forces, numbering in the thousands cornered and killed Husain and the majority of his male family members, including Husain's infant child, leaving only women and some children. The surviving women and children were then shackled and imprisoned.
This event is considered especially tragic, because Husain and his family members, were mercilessly slaughtered and the survivors imprisoned in the name of "Islam", despite the fact that they were espousing the true and peaceful belief system as taught by their grandfather, the Prophet of Islam himself. Conversely, Yazid sought to promote widespread violence and destruction in an effort to distort and destroy Islam
Since then, Ashura has been a day of solitude and remembrance for Muslims throughout the world.
To learn more about Imam Husain, please take a moment to download and read the Imam Husain Information Packet, developed by the Islamic Information Center to teach and educate the American public about this important individual in Islamic history.
