The lesson of Karbala: Hussain salvaged the New, Revolutionary Social Contract that Islam gave to Arabia in the 7th century, Islamic History

Islamic History

The lesson of Karbala: Hussain salvaged the New, Revolutionary Social Contract that Islam gave to Arabia in the 7th century

By Murtaza Razvi

Friday, 25 Dec, 2009

So what has changed since Hussain’s heroic refusal to endorse Yazid’s tyranny in 680 AD? Very little, indeed, if truth be told uncoated. Yet more than any other event in Muslim history, the spirit inherent in the tragedy of Karbala is one that defies injustice and coercion — unto death if that’s what it must take.

Repression and cruelty could not get Hussain, or indeed his survivors, to endorse the authoritarian order Yazid set out to impose. The assassination of Hussain and his companions at Karbala 61 years after the proclamation of Islam, which set a people enslaved by superstition and tribal tyranny free to bow only before one God, caused repulsion all around. It prompted a revolt in Hejaz led by Abdullah Ibn Zubair.

Yazid’s army responded by sacking Madina and laying siege to Makkah. But the flame of human dignity and independence of action, as guaranteed by the new social contract that Islam had brought to Arabia, was rekindled by the martyrs at Karbala. It consumed Yazid within three years of the atrocity, and confined his reign of terror to oblivion.

What survived in the hearts and minds of the people was Hussain’s refusal to endorse rule by terror. And that indeed is divine justice in action. Hypocrites and tyrants (kufi-o-shami) will come and go, as Iqbal says, but the perpetual reality (haqiqat-i-abadi), the spirit of defiance in the face of coercion that is Hussain, shall remain. The vanquished of yore is the hero of history and the historical victor has become synonymous with tyranny.

http://newageislam.com/the-lesson-of-karbala--hussain-salvaged-the-new,-revolutionary-social-contract-that-islam-gave-to-arabia-in-the-7th-century/islamic-history/d/2276

The Wahhabis and the Sufis: A Sufi Viewpoint, The War within Islam, NewAgeIslam.com

The War within Islam

The Wahhabis and the Sufis: A Sufi Viewpoint

A Commentary by Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir As-Sufi

We would not have mentioned this issue but for a recent evidence that the Zindiq regime arrogantly continues its progress, as if its militant sector just over two years ago had not spent the night with prostitutes drinking vodka-sours in a bar before flying two airliners into the now notorious skyscrapers. Yet in November of last year the Zindiq regime sent a representative to harangue the respected Muslim Judicial Council of Cape Town and film himself for an official Saudi television station. The obese form of Mr. Wajdi al-Ghazzawi berated the Council with that insolence we have foolishly taken for granted among the thuggish exports of the regime. He learned his Islam inside Arabia and studied something he calls ‘Interfaith Dialogue’, itself an open door onto kufr. Apparently he is an imam at the Al-Minshaawi Mosque in Makkah.

While the regime that funds him and which he upholds crashed about his ears, here he was in South Africa chattering on with all the official Wahhabi denunciations of the very Muslim community he was visiting. Among his attacks, inevitably Mr. Al-Ghazzawi made his vulgar swipe at our noble Shaykh, Dr. Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki. Insultingly, he denounced him as a “big-time deviant”. He said he only attracted poor people (surely one of the virtues of the Deen), and that his teachings were refuted by “authentic scholars”. By the time young Wajdi had waddled out of Cape Town and returned to Makkah, he must have seemed a little surprised at what awaited him.

http://newageislam.com/the-wahhabis-and-the-sufis--a-sufi-viewpoint--/the-war-within-islam/d/1458

Changing The Face of Makkah : The Satan is back, Destroying Islam, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Changing The Face of Makkah : The Satan is back, Destroying Islam

Changing The Face of Makkah

Cairo- Saudi Arabia is crafting plans to expand Al-Masjid Al-Haram, Islam's holiest shrine, and redesigning the holy city of Makkah in a major project that aims to change the face of the holy city.

"The main objective of the design studies is to enrich our discourse on how we should address the future architecture of the Haram and its growth," a source close to the project told the British weekly Architects' Journal.

Saudi Arabia has assigned 18 of the world's best architects with making designs to "establish a new architectural vision" for the 356,800m2 Al-Masjid Al-Haram complex.

"These design exercises in addition to other investigations will be subject to an exhibition to his Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz by the end of the month," the source said.

The top-secret plans focus on expanding Al-Masjid Al-Haram and its surrounding area.

Under the plans, the capacity of the holy mosque will be increased in the first phase to cater for 1.5 million worshippers from only 900,000 at present.

The mosque's capacity will later go up to three million worshippers with the completion of several phases over the following five to 10 years.

http://newageislam.com/changing-the-face-of-makkah---the-satan-is-back,-destroying-islam/islamic-world-news/d/1031