Reflections on Ashura

Article 1

“Say: are those who are blind equal to those who see? Will you not then reflect?”
(The Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-An‘am, 50)

There is no doubt that the eye is among the most precious blessings granted to human beings by God. There is no need to elaborate further on this matter. The eye enables us to perceive all living and non-living things in the external world. However, by itself, it is only capable of perceiving what lies on the surface and is accessible to sight, and this is insufficient for the attainment of truth. For this reason, what is seen must be processed through the uniquely human faculty of thought, and only then can it be comprehended. Truth is attained not merely through vision, but through thought.

At times, even a person deprived of physical sight is able to reach the truth by analyzing information received through hearing or other senses, using the faculty of thought. Clearly, in the pursuit of truth, it makes no essential difference whether a person sees with their physical eyes or not. Through thought, a human being can open the eyes of the heart and perceive reality, and this is precisely the essential condition for attaining spiritual perfection for which man was created.

The uprising of Imam Husayn on the day of Ashura demonstrated the necessity of thought and that only through this path can one arrive at truth. Despite all its grandeur, even knowledge itself is of no benefit in the cognition of truth if it is not guided by reflective thought. Scholars whose vision of truth became veiled, and who caused harm to humanity through their knowledge, became victims of a science that was not revived by thoughtful reflection.

The event of Karbala opens the way to solving the most fundamental problem of all communities and, ultimately, of the Islamic Ummah — the problem of perceiving truth.

To give a concrete example, one of the reasons for the neglect of the event of Ghadir Khumm, and for the fact that the divine command announced there was not fully implemented in its time, lies precisely in this issue — the abandonment of thought and the failure to comprehend an evident truth of which one was a witness.

Had more than one hundred thousand believers who witnessed that event reflected even slightly and exerted their intellect through thoughtful contemplation, they would have understood the significance of the Prophet’s words, which originated from divine revelation, and would have stood on the side of truth.

The failure to properly understand the event of Ghadir Khumm, and the inability to perceive the truth contained within it, led to the Umayyads establishing their rule over the Muslims. With the rise of Yazid to power, Islam entered a profoundly dangerous stage. At that point, the Muslims’ lack of reflection and their distance from thoughtful reasoning threatened the very essence of Islam and its spiritual existence as a religion.

Imam Husayn, by sacrificing himself, his family, and his closest companions, influenced human consciousness, awakened conscience, and set reason into motion. Eventually, the Muslims awakened and at least came to realize this truth: if the caliphate is truly Islamic, why does Yazid stand at its head? And if it is not an Islamic caliphate, why should allegiance be given to Yazid at all?

Indeed, through the recognition of this truth, the authentic path of Islam became clear. The sacrifice was immense, yet it remains a reality that when a person does not engage in thought, truth becomes veiled. To remove this veil, to reveal truth, and to preserve the right path, the followers of this way sacrifice themselves so that others may not deviate from it.

In essence, this is precisely the divine mission of the Imam — to preserve religion, truth, and the correct path, so that people may benefit from them and move toward perfection. The Imam is the guardian of all this, even if it requires the ultimate sacrifice of his own life.

“Say: are those who are blind equal to those who see? Will you not then reflect?”
(The Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-An‘am, 50)

This verse explains in a very simple way the importance of thought: if one does not make use of thought, there is ultimately little difference between the one who sees and the one who is blind. To attain truth, thinking alone is sufficient.

Namig Babakhanov