Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

What is the significance of observance when every year the same subject is repeated. Waiz is the only form, or there is something more to it than ritual?

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Waaz

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

The truth is brother, that whatever transpired on that eventful day of the 10^th of Muharram in the fields of Karbala on the beloved grandson of the Messenger of Allah (saws), Imam Hussain ibn Ali (r.a.) and his family, is indeed one of the darkest days in the annuls of muslim history! There is not a believer whose heart does not fill with grief and pain, whenever he remembers the atrocities and the oppression and the brutal murder of the noble Imam, whom the Messenger of Allah (saws) himself had called the ‘leader of the youth in Paradise!’.

Many years after the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (r.a.), some unscrupulous politically motivated people, gave fiery speeches recalling the incidents of the fields of Karbala, and in the name of the noble ‘ahle-bayt’ started their own sects and creeds, and created a new religion from within the Ummah of Islam! And with time, they made the observance of the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain a part of their deen. They organized rallies and gathered people each year on the anniversary, recalled and related and even invented some incidents that happened (or did not happen) on the fields of Karbala, wailed and beat themselves to show their pain and grief; and basically invented a ritual of mourning the death of a martyr for which there was absolutely no basis or authority from the Quran and Practice of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Many close companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) were martyred during his life-time in the many battles the believers fought against the dis-believers, but never did Prophet Mohamed (saws) organize a rally or gathering for mourning their anniversaries! Even when the beloved uncle of the Prophet (saws), Hadrat Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib (r.a.) was brutally murdered and his dead body viciously mutilated at the hands of the enemies of Islam in the fields of Uhud, the Messenger of Allah (saws) never organized a gathering every year on his death anniversary! But some people used the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (r.a.) for their own political advantage, and invented a ritual in Islam which was never there! And with time, this ritual became the central part of their deen or way of life.

If there is a rite or a ritual approved in Islam (like prayer, pilgrimage of Umrah and Hajj, etc.), then it is a condition that it must be approved by Allah and His Messenger (saws). If there is no basis or authority from Allah and His Messenger (saws), then the ritual is not part of the deen of Islam, but is considered an innovation or ‘bidah’…. And every innovation is an error, and a grave sin the sight of Allah Subhanah.

It has been reported in an authentic narration that the Prophet of Allah (saws) said: “Whoever introduces a ‘bida’ (innovation) in this deen brought by me (saws), it will be rejected.”

It has been reported by Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (r.a.) that the Prophet of Allah (saws) said: “If anyone introduces an innovation (in religion), he will be responsible for it. If anyone introduces an innovation or gives shelter to a man who introduces an innovation (in religion), he is cursed by Allah, by His angels, and by all the people.”

It has been reported by Jabir ibn Abdullah (r.a.) in another authentic narration that the Prophet of Allah (saws) said in a sermon: “The best speech is that which is embodied in the Book of Allah, the Al Quran; and the best guidance is the guidance given by me, Mohamed (saws). The most evil affairs are the innovations, and every innovation is an error.”

There is absolutely no doubt that the rituals of waaz, mourning, wailing and beating that some people today practice in the days of Muharram, have absolutely no basis and authority from the Quran and Sunnah; and thus they must be considered and recognized as innovations and ‘bidah’. And the believers, who sincerely fear Allah and the Last Day, must abstain from involving themselves in any and all types of innovations in the deen of Islam.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan