Issue No: 143
30th November 2012
15th Muharram 1434 A.H.
Salamun alaykum,
Church built in the year of Karbala (61 A.H. / 680 C.E.)
On Monday 26th November, we paid a visit to the St Peter’s Church in the Parish of Titchfield, where our new home- the Al Mahdi Centre- is located. This was the first visit undertaken by Wessex Jamaat since settling into our new centre on Fontley Road. The purpose of the visit was to act upon the etiquettes of Islam to meet and greet our new neighbors in this Parish.
Whilst narrating the history of the Church, the Priest-in-charge Reverend Susan Allman informed us that this church in Titchfield village was constructed in the year 680 C.E.
On the Islamic calendar this was the year 61 A.H. when the tragedy of Karbala had taken place.
Subhaanallah, how fortunate that a day after observing Ashura, we visit this historical building to be acquainted with the house of worship in our neighbourhood and introduce ourselves as the Shias of twelfth Imam Sahibal Asr Waz Zaman - the master of our age and time- whose grandfather, the third Imam Husayn a.s., had been martyred in Karbala in the days of the building of this place of worship.
Will you help me?
At that moment the thought that came to my mind was the final cry by the beloved grandson of the Noble Prophet Imam Husayn on the day of Ashura, when he raised a call, "Is there anyone who will come to assist us? Is there anyone who will respond to our call for help?"
Surely Imam Husayn was not expecting anyone there in Karbala on that day to come to his aid since all his family members and close companions had already laid their lives in martyrdom.
Did the call end there?
The call by Imam Husayn on the day of Ashura did not end there. The life span of this call is neither restricted to the day of Ashura in 61 A.H. nor to the land of Karbala. The call for help by the Imam on the day of Ashura still reverberates to this day. For the world today is still in need of upholding the value of justice and freedom. Man is still striving to achieve leading a life in submission to Allah. The struggle to uphold the values for which the tragedy of Karbala occurred is still continuing. Indeed everyday is Ashura, every land is Karbala.
In what way can one respond to the final call for help by Imam Husayn on the day of Ashura?
How does one free the message of Imam Husayn from the confines of our Imambadas and Centres?
May Allah make great our reward and your reward, for our grief on Husayn a.s. May He place us and you from those who help the cause of Imam Husayn with His representative, the guided Imam from the family of Muhammad, peace be on them.
Wa ma tawfiqi illa billah
Fazle Abbas Datoo
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Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat