Imam Hussein’s Important Speech in the Morning of Ashura
Addressing his companions in the morning of his martyrdom day, Hussein bin Ali delivered a speech in which he said: “You, servants of God! Be afraid of God and keep away from the world.”
As one can infer from the rest of this speech and from the verses of the Qur’an, Imam Hussein does not mean to turn away from the blessings of the world. He is just talking about keeping away from the worldly attachments, not to forget about the aim for which we were born, trying to achieve that goal and not to forget about the life after.
“If the world was supposed to keep some people in it forever, those people would have been the prophets who were the most deserving ones among us,” he continued.
Imam Ali said, “One should have Prophet Muhammad as his role-model. Follow him in your lives, as he is the best role model for those who wish to follow his path and he brings comfort for anyone who seeks comfort in him. The best servants of God are those who follow Prophet Muhammad. He was very content. He was the thinnest of all and he was the hungriest among all the people. The world was offered to him, but he refused to accept it.”
This is the same thing that Imam Hussein said in his speech.
They both talked about the temporariness of the world and that if someone were supposed to live in the world forever, God would have chosen the best of his servants for this. While the lives of the prophets prove that they had a very normal life and they were even poor.
Imam Hussein continued his speech, “God has created the world to test us and it is nothing but temporary. Everything new becomes old in the world, everything gets destroyed and every happiness turns into sadness and sorrow. The world is just to reach and to leave.” This world was created so that people are tested here and are given the chance to move towards perfection.
Imam Baqir said, “The world after is a place to stay, but this world is just a place to pass by it.”
Imam Ali says, “You people! This world is just to pass by and the world after is our eternal residence. Try to gain in this world what you could use in the world after.”
But what is that we should try to gain in this world that we could use in the world after?
Imam Hussein referred to the Qur’an in his speech and said, “But the best of provisions is right conduct.”
Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi
Other links:
What is Ashura?
Muharram the Month of Mourning
History of Holy Karbala
Imam Hussain (A.S) in the Holy Qur’an
Imam Hussein’s Sermon at forenoon of Ashura
