Every Land Is Karbala and Every Day Is ʿAshura
A Discussion of the Slogan
Source: the book The Days of ʿAshura - Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi - printed 2008 CE
Because the Husayni revolution is a revolution of values that produces values and methods for everyone who is guided by its guidance, our reality abounds with sayings of emulation and inspiration that express their authors’ understandings of the nature of the Husayni revolution. It is natural that these sayings may be subject to correct or mistaken deduction, since they are subject to the understanding and the independent reasoning of their authors.
Among these sayings is the slogan (Every land is Karbala and every day is ʿAshura). Here I would like to take a look at this slogan in terms of its content and in terms of its compatibility with the values of Karbala—not for the sake of intellectual luxury, but for two reasons. The first of them is that we ought to be clearly aware of our sayings and our slogans, because of the effect they leave on the popular and societal conscience; this is a responsibility that falls within the generalities of awareness and its conditions, under the rule (There is no movement but that you need knowledge in it), as Imam ʿAli (a) said.
The second reason: that prompted devoting the discussion to this slogan rather than any other is that I have noticed some opinions in the arena that reject this slogan and consider it a mistake; they even hold that it buries Karbala alive and cancels its distinctiveness.
Before discussing this claim, we must draw attention to the fact that this slogan took up a wide space in the modern and contemporary Islamic arena from the end of the seventies until the late nineties of the past century, especially among the political and demand-driven Islamic movements, and this is what gives it an added significance that calls on us to discuss it.
Among those who used this slogan in their writings were the late religious authority Sayed Muhammad al-Shirazi (q) and the contemporary religious authority Sayed Muhammad Taqi al-Modarresi (may his shadow endure)—and others among the pioneers of the Islamic awakening—.
Imam al-Shirazi said: (The revolution of al-Husayn (a) was not a temporary revolution that would die after a time; rather, it was the revolution of truth against falsehood, the revolution of justice against oppression, the revolution of humanity against savagery, and the revolution of guidance against misguidance. Therefore it was necessary for this revolution to extend as long as the world remains, and as long as the two armies of truth and falsehood, and of guidance and misguidance, face each other. This is the secret behind the Messenger (s) and his noble Family urging the Muslims to commemorate the anniversary of ʿAshura for all time, and from it the Muslims adopted mourning gatherings and memorial ceremonies in their various forms throughout the ages. It is to this that what is reported alludes: (Every day is ʿAshura, and every land is Karbala)[1].
Returning to the claim of those who rejected this slogan, we see that the basis of the rejection (according to what was mentioned) is the narration reported from Imam al-Hasan (a) as he addressed his brother Imam al-Husayn (a), saying: (There is no day like your day, O Abu ʿAbd Allah); and, relying on the numerous narrations that affirm the nobility of the land of Karbala and its soil above all the other spots of the world, this day is an exceptional day and this land is an exceptional land. Then comes the objection of the one who rejects that slogan, who says: So how can it be that (every land is Karbala and every day is ʿAshura), when within its folds lies all that exceptionality and distinction?
There is no doubt or uncertainty that the day of Imam al-Husayn (a) has no equal; history has immortalized it and will immortalize it until the Day of Resurrection. And there is no doubt that no land equals the land of Karbala in its purity and sanctity. However, this slogan does not contradict those truths; rather, it supports and confirms them. In fact, this slogan is among the clearest instances of the exceptionality of the land of Karbala and of the day of Imam al-Husayn (a).
We arrive at this conclusion when we turn to what the slogan intends and what is meant by it. The saying (Every land is Karbala) has become a model for every spot and every place in the world: just as the events of Karbala revolved around the struggle between truth and falsehood, in every place truth must stand in the face of falsehood. And therefore (every day is ʿAshura), because the day of ʿAshura gave values, concepts and methods to be applied in every age up to our present day. Here we are, witnessing how Karbala (its day and its land) has nourished the Islamic movements in various regions and across different ages with the spirit of jihad and the spirit of reform for the sake of truth and freedom.
Here I refer to a saying of the great Islamic thinker Ayatollah Sayed Hadi al-Modarresi, one of the pioneers of the contemporary Islamic awakening. He says in his book (Imam al-Husayn: A Revolution That Does Not End): (Every stand that al-Husayn took in the arena of Karbala turned into a complete plan for a complete uprising.. Every sword-stroke on the day of ʿAshura turned into a whirlwind of swords that flashed from there in the face of the authorities.. Every drop of blood turned into a fuse in an uprising.. Every word that al-Husayn uttered turned into a (password) in more than one uprising and more than one revolution). And before that he says: (The matter is that Karbala extended from beneath the bodies that had risen in revolt, and with it extended the revolution of al-Husayn, its aims, its standards and its events.. and it extended until it became (Every land is Karbala and every day is ʿAshura).
I say: because the day of Imam al-Husayn (a) has become a beacon and a ray of light for all the days of people, it is an exception; and because the land of Karbala has become a model for every land in the world, it is an exception—in addition to the other exceptions and special features.
The slogan, then, is an exaltation of the standing of Imam al-Husayn, his day and the land of Karbala, because it expresses a state of emulation in every place and time; it is not a theft of Karbala’s special characteristics, as some may believe.
We may discuss the evidence of those who rejected the slogan from another angle, which I will content myself with merely alluding to: the hadith reported from Imam al-Hasan (a) concerning the day of Imam al-Husayn (a) looks at the magnitude of the calamity and the tragedy that would befall the Imam on the tenth day of Muharram in the year in which the Imam (a) would be killed, as is the case with the context of the narration, whose text reads: (His brother Imam al-Husayn (a) came to him—Imam al-Hasan—and when he saw his condition he wept. Al-Hasan (a) said to him: What makes you weep, O Abu ʿAbd Allah? He said: I weep for the state I see you in. Al-Hasan (a) said to him: That which comes to me comes by a poison that is plotted, and I will be killed by it; but there is no day like your day, O Abu ʿAbd Allah: thirty thousand men will close in on you, claiming that they are of the community of our grandfather and professing the religion of Islam, and they will gather together for killing you, shedding your blood, violation, and taking captive your offspring and your women and seizing your belongings. At that, the curse will descend upon the Banu Umayya, the sky will rain ashes and blood, and everything will weep for you, even the wild beasts in the deserts and the fish in the seas).[2]
The slogan mentioned looks only at the aspect of the revolution whose peak was the event of Karbala, which represents the struggle between truth and falsehood. So here there is a difference in subject matter, and it is not valid to argue from what differs in subject matter.
In conclusion, we affirm that the slogan (Every land is Karbala and every day is ʿAshura) is indeed a slogan that immortalizes Karbala and has entrenched the culture of ʿAshura, and that extends their influence to the whole world and across all ages.
It has nothing to do with the distinctiveness of the land of Karbala in its sanctity and merit, nor with the greatness of the day of ʿAshura, about which no two devotees differ. Otherwise, by that same method, someone could come along who rejects the commemoration of ʿAshura in all other lands, on the grounds that it is a (day) that has no equal. From here it becomes clear that that slogan does not diminish the distinctiveness of Karbala; rather, it is an application of emulating Imam al-Husayn (a), who said: (And in me you have an example).
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* There are many aspects from which this slogan can be discussed—a slogan that was an old expression in the poems of some poets in past centuries. Among those aspects is examining the intent behind it for the one who said it, so that the intended meaning becomes clear. As for the one who rejected it on the grounds that it is a human text, this is a generalization that ought not to be made, because the one who rejects it is only rejecting it with a human text as well. So the discussion is about the concept, and as long as the concept has a sound intent, it is permissible to use it, setting aside sensitivities about the one who said it and the one who rejects it.
[1] - al-Husayn (a) Is an Exemplar, Imam al-Shirazi..
[2] - Amali al-Saduq, p. 101
