INTRODUCTION: The Muslim New Year begins with the month of Muharram. In most of the countries, the celebrations are not marked by a public holiday. However, the coming of the New Year is observed by offering of special prayers at night and reflection on the life and times of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.S.). His emigration (Hijrah) from Mecca to Medina in the year 622 AC was a significant event and later adopted to mark the beginning of the Muslim Era.

Amongst the Shi’a Muslims, the first part of the month of Muharram is also an occasion which is marked with a sense of sorrow and solemnity. The 10th of Muharram was the day when Hazrat Imam Hussain (A.S.) together with most of the members of his family and close companions were martyred on the fields of Karbala.

For 2021, the month of Muharram commenced on Monday or Tuesday August 2 or 3. We provide below links to two articles posted in this website.

I

“I want to know how, after God says the Prophet is a beautiful role-model (33:21), that so many of the earliest Muslims turned against his family. To kill the family of the Prophet became a sport from within the community. I wish I had been there to understand that, because no historian will be able to answer the question.” — Hussein Rashid

Please click: Muslim and non-Muslim Expressions on Imam Hussain

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II

Ibn-e-Sa’d: If you pay homage to Yazid, everything will go well for you and whatever worldly comforts and priviliges you desire will be at your disposal

Imam Hussain: Tell Yazid to tempt with the worldly comforts those who are after this world. I am the Imam, the representative of the Apostle of God. Hussain will cheerfully meet any catastrophe but never surrender Truth to falsehood.

Please click: Karbala Tragedy

Last updated: August 12, 2021.

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Featured image at top of post: This image of an oil on canvas painting by Abbas Al-Musavi commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein at the Battle of Karbala. Its focus is his half-brother Abbas ibn Ali on a white horse. This image was uploaded into Wikipedia Commons as a donation by the Brooklyn Museum and is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The painting is a gift of K. Thomas Elghanayan in honor of Nourollah Elghanayan.

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