“O! My dear son! Be aware that it is your life and nothing else, that\nfades away as the hours pass by; and also do know that you will not achieve a\nblessing, unless you are separated from another blessing. Thus, avoid prolonged\nwishes, for there were many who made wishes, but failed to achieve them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(A part of Imam\nSajjad’s (PBUH) will to his son)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the tragedy of Karbala and upon\nthe arrival of the family of Prophethood as captives into the city of Shaam,\nYazid, the Umayyad ruler of that period, called for a grand ceremony in the\nmosque of Damascus to celebrate his victory. He ordered to bring the captives\ninto the ceremony. Continuing his father’s tradition, Yazid had ordered the\nspeaker to slander Amir al-Mu’minin and Imam Hussain (PBUT). After the speaker\nwas through with his speech, Imam Sajjad (PBUH) said: “Let me climb up\nthese woods and say some words that satisfy Allah and benefit the listeners\nwith rewards and blessings.” Yazid’s disapproval to the Imam’s request\ntriggered people into wanting to hear what the Imam had to say. Yazid was left\nno choice but to allow the Imam to talk, lest the people come to realize\nYazid’s true devious character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once ascended upon the pulpit, the\nImam began his speech by praising Allah (SWT); he then introduced himself to\nthe audience. Due to the misleading propagandas of Yazid and Mu’awiyah, the\npeople of Damascus had completely forgotten the firm and continuous\nrecommendations of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) about Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT).\nThey were therefore unaware of the true position and responsibility the Ahl\nal-Bayt (PBUT) held in the structure of religion. Imam Sajjad (PBUH) said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Whosoever\nknows me, then be so; and whosoever does not, then know that I am the son of\nMecca and Mina, I am the son of Zamzam(2) and Safa(3)\u2026”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sentence though short is offering\na world of truth. It is one that recalls that even though Imam Sajjad (PBUH)\nand the rest of family did not attend Mina this year in Hajj, and even though\nthey did not sacrifice a sheep like they would in the pilgrimage ritual(4), yet\nMina is their property. For Mina was nothing more than a dead land as was\nMedina, Mecca, and even the Ka’ba. They were dead lands free of life and\nspirituality. And it was them whom by their journey to Karbala revived the land\nof Mina. Certainly, he who revives a dead land becomes thereafter its owner\n(5). The owner of Mina is not one who\nsacrifices a sheep, camel, or the like in that area; rather its rejuvenator is\nhim who sacrifices father, brother, uncle, and friends, and who offers captives\nand injured in the way of Allah (SWT). Indeed they are the owners and\ninheritors of Mina, just as they are the inheritors of Safa, Marwah, Zamzam and\nthe Ka’ba. Their rising revived the Ka’ba, and gave Hajj its value and honor.\nSacrificing a sheep, circumambulating the Ka’ba, and running between the\nmountains of Safa and Marwah are easy challenges everyone can accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imam Sajjad (PBUH) then continued:\n“I am son of him who was taken to heavens \u2026; I am the son of the Messenger\nof Allah, and I am the son of Ali”. He paused and said: “I am the son\nof Fatimah al-Zahra, master of all women of the world.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With this speech, the battle that\nbegan with the forced demand of allegiance from Imam Hussain (PBUH) for Yazid,\nended with Imam Hussain’s (PBUH) victory in Damascus. As a consequence of Imam\nSajjad’s (PBUH) speech, people who had been celebrating thinking they had\ngained victory over non-believers, awakened from their ignorance and\ntransformed the celebration to a mourning ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Selection taken\nfrom Hamasah and Irfan, by Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli, with additional explanations)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Please accept our condolences on the\n25th of Muharram, upon the martyrdom of Imam Ali Ibn Hussain (PBUH), the master\nof prostrators and the ornament of worshipers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1- Mina is a\nland near Mecca that sacrificing (a Hajj ritual) is done there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2- Zamzam is a\nwell in Makkah around Masjid al-Haraam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
3- Safa is a\nremnant of a mountain in Mecca from which the Hajj pilgrims must walk or run to\nMarwah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4- Imam Hussain\n(PBUH) did not perform Hajj in the 60th year A.H. and as a result did not go to\nMina. The reason was that Yazid had intended to assassinate Imam in Mecca, as\nhe knew the Imam would be a threat to his government. Thus Imam was urged to\nonly perform Umrah and move to Karbala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5- Prophet\nMuhammad (PBUH&HP) said: “Anyone who revives a dead land, that land\nwould be his\/her property.” (Tahdhib, vol. 7, p.152)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“O! My dear son! Be aware that it is your life and nothing else, that fades away as the hours pass by; and also do know that you will not achieve a blessing, unless you are separated from another blessing. Thus, avoid prolonged wishes, for there were many who made wishes, but failed to achieve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28248],"tags":[20908,20909,17991,20431,20244,17890,18418,20907,20185],"class_list":["post-4324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-occasional-letters","tag-2006-02-24","tag-climb","tag-family","tag-imam-sajjad","tag-karbala","tag-life","tag-occasion-letters","tag-the-son-of-mina","tag-yazid"],"yoast_head":"\n