Tomorrow, Thursday 20 September 2018 will be celebrated in different parts of the Muslim World as Yawmul Ashoora locally known as Tamharet. It was on this day in early Islam, 61AH to be precise, that the grandson of the Holy Prophet of Islam was martyred in the Battle of Karbala.
All over the Muslim world, people celebrate this day in different fashions. Many, some Shia Muslims in particular, celebrate this by shedding their blood in remembrance of the suffering of Imam Hussain, may Allah be pleased with him.
While the day has some other significance, this is the most celebrated one. It was a day of sorrow, a day of sadness and a day of solemn reflections on the way and manner in which one of the most illustrious sons of Islam was brutally murdered. It calls for subdued reflection and prayers.
Here in The Gambia, like in many other parts of the world, the celebrations take different formats with the young going around singing and dancing asking for charity or donations while the elderly engage in fervent prayers. Food is also prepared – a special dish made out of coos or millet – from which everyone is supposed to eat to his or her fill.
All these forms of celebrations aside, Muslims should reflect genuinely on their state of affairs. The murdering of the grandson of the Prophet by Muslims themselves is a sad incident which still continues to haunt the Muslim world.
Muslims are still as divided as when this heinous act took place. Prayers and supplication are therefor called for in order to beseech Allah to unite the Muslims and enable them rise again to their former glory.
