We need to read between the lines, and carefully ponder over the life story of Hussain ibn-Ali (a.s.). Many have risen up in the world; they have had a leader, and they were also....
Read More »Where and When Did Mourning for Imam Husayn (A.S.) Start First?
When we look at the lives of the Holy Prophet (S) and the Imams (A.S.), not only we do not see anything about mourning and lamentation but there are evidence and sayings prohibiting such acts. For...
Read More »Imam Khomeini (ra) and the Culture of Ashura
Ashura is the inspiration behind the fervent Revolution which is the greatest event of contemporary history, and which took place under the guidance of the great Ashuraic leader of our times, Imam Khomeini (R), for establishing a society based upon the...
Read More »The Importance and Philosophy of Mourning for Imam Hussein (A.S)
One of the methods that the Imams used to keep the memory of the rise of Ashura alive was arranging gatherings for crying and mourning and making others cry for the tragic incidents that took place in Karbala and reminding people of those incidents on appropriate occasions....
Read More »Prophecies Regarding the Tragedy of Karbala from Ancient Books
As much great an event is, as much it is worthy of mention. A great proof of the importance of the tragedy of Karbala’ is also that not only the humans, jinns and angels have kept its remembrance alive, the Lord Creator of the Universe has continuously mentioned it in...
Read More »Is there any Reason for the Permissibility of Chest Beating and Self-Hitting?
Why some Muslims beat their chest and hit themselves during Muharram? Isn't it haram to hit or hurt yourself? Do we have any example for the Prophet doing this? Did any Imams hit....
Read More »Imam Khomeini’s Instructions Regarding Mourning for Imam Husayn (A.S)
Some youth who do not have bad intentions, believe that we now need to speak the language of the day, when the truth is that the words of Imam Hussain (as) are the words of the..
Read More »Answering the Jurisprudential-Theological Doubts of Mourning
Even in the Sunnī sources there are permissible for crying. Where is this order followed in these Sunnī circles? Only a dry Wahhabī tendency has such views and problems, not the majority of Sunnīs whose proofs are....
Read More »Shi’i Narratives of Karbala and Christian Rites of Penance: Michel Foucault and the Culture of the Iranian Revolution, 1978-1979
In 1978-79, in the course of a massive urban revolution with several million participants, the Iranian people toppled the government of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1941-79), who had pursued an...
Read More »Book: The Martyrs of Karbala: Shiʻi Symbols and Rituals in Modern Iran
This innovative study examines patterns of change in Shi'i symbols and rituals over the past two centuries to reveal how modernization has influenced the societal, political, and religious culture of...
Read More »