Weeping on Imam Husain(AS): 2012

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Crying is a natural act and an act of a believer

Crying is a natural act

Islam is a religion based on nature. Wailing or weeping is the innate instinct of a human being. A newborn child starts his life crying. Weeping is not prohibited in any religion or creed of the world. Tears are automatically shed when a man is confronted by any physical, mental or spiritual mishap, and tears are not only the sign of grief but also a kind of reimbursement for that grief. Now in whose grief does a newborn child weep? That’s the question, which can be answered by the one who

Sunni Scholars and weeping on Imam Husain(AS).

Imam of Ahl’ul Sunnah Shaykh Ahmed Majd Shaybani used to participate in mourning for Imam Husayn (as) every Muharrum and would cry profusely on the Day of Ashura.

Al Muhadith Shah Abdul Haq Dehalwi in his authority work Akhbar al-Akhyar, page 184 whilst discussing the biography of the above mentioned Shaykh who was a descendant of one of the prominent Hanafi Imams Shaykh Shaybani wrote as follows:

Crying is the Sunnah of Prophets

Crying is the Sunnah of the Prophets (peace be upon all of them)

The real requirement is that on suitable circumstances, mourning should be performed as practiced by the Prophets, as we read in Tafseer Kabeer, volume 1 page 285

“All the Prophets, Adam (as), Nuh (as) and Daud (as) mourned and cried over their hardships, and their acts weren’t invalid”

The constant weeping of Angles for Imam Husayn (as)

Imam of Ahl’ul Sunnah, Shaikh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani, in his famous book, “Ghanyatul Talibeen”, page 430; comments:

“70,000 angels came to the grave of Husayn bin Ali after his martyrdom and they wept for him and will keep weeping unto the Day of Judgment.”

Ref : Ghanyatul Talibeen, page 430 published in Dehli

The weeping of the skies and Jinn for Imam Husayn (as)

The grief of Imam Husayn (as) is the grief on which not only Humans, but even Jinn, angels, animals, birds, the sky and trees, all lament. We read in Yanabi ul Mawwaddah by Allamah Shaykh Sulaiman al-Hanafi al-Qanduzi, page 392:

“The sky wept for forty days on (the martyrdom of) Imam Husayn (as)”.

We read in Tahdib al-Kamal by Jamaluddin al-Mizi, Volume 6 page 433:

وقال أبو الأسود النضر بن عبد الجبار عن بن لهيعة عن أبي قبيل لما قتل الحسين بن علي كسفت الشمس كسفة بدت الكواكب نصف النهار

Abu Qabeel said: ‘When Husayn bin Ali was killed, the sun was eclipsed (so long) so that the stars appeared in the middle of day’

Lamentation from the Qur’an

Therefore they shall laugh little and weep much (as) a recompense for what they used to earn. ( Surah Bara’at verse 82)

The Verse clearly sanctifies weeping and crying else it would have prohibited it. History stands as a clear proof how Prophets, Messengers and Messiahs from Allah (swt) have wept and cried, singing the glory and greatness of Allah (swt) and expressing their own humbleness and fragility before Him (swt). Also each and every one of these men have wept and cried for Imam Husayn (as) long before the Tragedy of Karbala took place! We ordinary men should follow these great men of Allah (swt) and adopt their ideals and practices.

Weeping of Sahaba

Sahaba along with Holy Prophet(s) wept over the martyrdom of Hamza (ra)

Shiekh Abdul Haq Dehalvi writes that companions including Abu Bakar wept over the miserable death of Hamza (ra) along with Holy Prophet(s):

“It is narrated that when the tragedy stricken people were standing in the way to welcome the Holy Prophet (s) back, Fatima, the daughter of Hamza(ra) was standing by the roadside and watching the army of Prophet (s) coming in numbers, Fatima was trying to find her father amongst them but she didn’t see him. Then she went to Abu Bakr and inquired: “Where is my father, I don’t see him in the army.” Abu Bakr’s eyes filled with tears and with a heavy heart he replied: “The Prophet of Allah must be coming soon.” When Holy Prophet (s) arrived, and she

Crying of AbuBakr and Umar

The order of Abu Bakr to make a sorrowful face

We read in Ahl’ul Sunnah’s esteemed work Tareekh Baghdad, Volume 5 page 325:

قال أبو بكر الصديق من استطاع منكم أن يبكي فليبك ومن لم يستطع فليتباك

“Abu Bakar said ‘Whoever can, should cry and whoever cannot cry should make a face as if they are crying”

crying and wailing of Ayesha

Ayesha’s excessive tears

We read in Ahl’ul Sunnah’s esteemed work Adaab al Mufraad page 201:

Ayesha separated from her nephew. When peace was made she freed some slaves as Kaffara. When Ayesha recollected this time of separation she would cry in such a manner that her scarf would be wet with tears.

Holy Prophet(sawa) wept whenever he was foretold the tragedy that would befall on Husasin (as) and his companions.

We read in Fadhail Sahaba by Imam Ahmed, volume 2 page 965 Hadith 1357:

The Holy Prophet (s) said: ‘An angel that has never visited me before, entered my house today and said to me: ‘This son of yours will be killed. If you wish, I can give you some soil from the earth wherein he shall die’. The Prophet (s) then said: ‘The angel brought to me soil that was red’’.

weeping from shia point of view

1) Imām Ja'far Sādiq (A.S.) said:

"One who weeps for Imām Husain (a.s.) when he is mentioned before him will be rewarded by Allāh Himself, even if their tears are as small as the wing of a fly. And Allāh will not be pleased with any reward for them lesser than Paradise."

[Reference: Kamiluz Ziyaraat, Chapter 32, Tradition 3, page 102]

Weeping on Imam Husain(AS) from sunni point of view

If a Muslim cries over the passing away of their own relatives, then how can they not cry over the grandson of the Messenger of Allah (S)? As one of the greatest British historians, Edward Gibbon, once said: “In a distant age and climate, the tragic scene of the death of Hussain will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader.”

Ref : The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon (1911), v. 5, pp. 391-2.

Weeping on Imam Husain(AS)