Press TV has conducted an interview with Reza Kazem, a member of the Islamic Human Rights Commission in London, and Shabbir Hassanally, an activist and Islamic scholar in London, to discuss the mourning rituals on Arba’een, the day which marks 40 days after the martyrdom anniversary of the third Shia Imam, Imam Hussein.
Kazem said Arba’een mourning rituals are aimed at honoring the sacrifice Imam Hussein and his people made against the Yazid of their time and remembering resistance against oppression and tyranny.
He added that Arba’een is a “springboard” which inspires the people to recognize who the Yazid of their time is.
“The Yazid of today is President Barack Obama of the United States, the Ibn Ziyad of today is David Cameron of the UK and we can go on. Perhaps Umar ibn Sa’ad could be the Erdogan of today. We can look at Shimr and Hurmala as the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and in that context we also need to recognize that Daesh are the foot soldiers of Yazid,” he says.
The activist went on to say that the Muslim community needs to make sure the message of Imam Hussein is conveyed and his aims and objectives will be achieved as well.
Kazem said people need to recognize who the players are and until they begin to understand that dynamic, they are not really taking on board the message of Karbala.
Hassanally, for his part, said one of the miracles of the whole event of Arba’een is that it sends a powerful message to the likes of Daesh who follow the line of Yazid that “the moment you come out with hatred, the moment you come out against the way of God which is the way of love, the way of peace, the way of harmony, you are finished.”
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