On Sunday 8th December 2013, Wessex Jamaat held the first Husayn Day at the new Al-Mahdi Centre. The interfaith gathering aimed to commemorate the martyrdom of the Prophet’s grandson and to draw inspiration from the sacrifice made. The event also aimed to share this message with the wider community; the theme for this year’s Husayn Day being Faith and Martyrdom.
The Jamaat welcomed guests from a diverse range of communities, including representatives from the local church, chaplains of Universities and Hospitals, members of the Jewish community and various Muslim congregations in the local area, as well as Mayor Councillor Susan Bayford, the Mayor of Fareham.
The Resident Alim of Wessex Jamaat, Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo, gave an introduction. Using the following quote from Professor Omid Safi, ‘There are events in history where the significance of what takes place far outstrips its mere historicity’; Sheikh Fazle Abbas introduced the sacrifice of Imam Husayn to the guests. During the programme the audience was requested to say Glory be to God as a substitute for applause.
The event consisted of three speeched, the first of which was delivered by Dr Mahmood Datoo. His talk, entitled The Root Causes and Aims of Imam Husayn’s Mission, set the historical context and explained how Yazid had come to power and why Imam Husayn did not obey him. He ended with the following memorable statement ‘in the long term the objective of Husayn in raising the conscience of humanity was achieved and that is why we are here today’.
The following two speakers explored the Husayn Day theme – Faith & Martyrdom. The Dean of Portsmouth Cathedral, the very Reverend David Brindley, presented the concept of martyrdom from a Christian perspective. This highlighted the striking similarities that the role martyrdom has played in establishing both religions.
Sheikh Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour delivered the final talk, entitled ‘Imam Husayn’s connection with God’. He addressed the ideas presented in the previous two speeches and discussed how martyrdom preserved the purity of faith and safeguarded it from corruption. The programme ended with a Question and Answer session, during which three speakers and Sheikh Fazle Abbas provided open and intelligible answers to the audience. The programme closed with a joint prayer by the Resident Alim and Reverend Andy Marshall followed by some closing remarks from the guests:
John Landaw wanted to bring a closer cooperation between all people, whatever their beliefs. John said: ‘I felt that things were said today which I have been waiting for a long time in my life to hear’, he went onto say ‘I have loved every minute of it and have learnt a lot.’
David Harrison, a friend of this community, who wanted to gain a better understanding of Islam, said: ‘I knew nothing about the martyrdom (of Imam Husayn) and especially the comparison between Islam and Christianity so today has been a great one for me.’
Finally Linda Williams who has been supporting Muslims who are being oppressed and killed by tyrannical regimes wanted to learn why some people are so cruel and what sustains the Shia. Linda said: ‘I found it fascinating’, she concluded saying ‘I wanted to learn and I have learnt a lot.’