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Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem

May Allah make our reward and your reward great, for our grief for Imam Husain (a.s), peace be on him. May He place us and you from those who help his cause with His representative, the guided Imam from the family of Muhammad, peace be on them.

Ashura marks a turning point of a revolution. It is the struggle between justice and falsehood, between truth and ignorance. It is struggle common to every culture and society, but is echoed eternally through the actions of Imam Hussain ibn Ali ibn Abu Talib (a.s). The importance of tonight is not just because Imam Hussain fought for justice, that he was thirsty with few followers, or that he was the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It speaks to the larger issue of truth. It is easy to say Imam Hussain was just a martyr for Islam, that he fought for justice and say his name in passing. His struggle and sacrifice created the image of truth we follow today, for had he not sacrificed his family before the Lord of the Heavens, surely mankind would be at a loss of who to worship. Imam Hussain's struggle preserved the message of Tawheed, it was his martyrdom and sheer conviction alone that gives millions today a recognition of Allah (swt).

But the struggle does not start just from the events of Karbala, rather it starts years before. The heart of revolution is within our texts, our history, and our future. It is the aspect of being a follower of the Ahle-Bayt that many forget.

This blog serves a tool to highlight the activism present in the early days of Islam, to remember the struggles and injustices that our beloved leaders had faced, and to truly grieve them by following in their footsteps, inshaAllah. This blog highlights some of the personal agony we feel because of their tragedy through both poetry and supplication.