The Revolutionary School for Every Free Human: Ayatollah Isa Qassem on Ashura

This is part two of Basira Press‘ exclusive series, “The Islamic Thought of Ayatollah Isa Qassem,” which explores the holistic Islamic worldview of the exiled spiritual leader of Bahrain. For the previous installation of this series, click here.

Ashura has occupied a wide space in the thought and speech of Ayatollah Isa Qassem, as it guides the believers. The terrible calamities that occurred against the master of the martyrs Imam al-Hussein, his family, his progeny, and his companions teaches us unforgettable lessons.

His Eminence confirms his unwavering position – the position of every free human – that “We are with you, O Imam Hussein, not with your enemy,” given that this position is the core of the Ashura revolution. Its goal and its lesson must not be denied.

His Eminence affirms that the path of Abu Abdullah al-Hussein (peace be upon him) is the path of God, the path of his messengers, his prophets, and the path of the rest of Imams (peace be upon them). While the lessons of Ashura are beneficial for all humanity, His Eminence specifically addresses the Muslims, asking, “Who do you support, Yazid or Imam Hussein? Make up your minds, your consciences, your interests, your honour, your Islam. Who is with God? Yazid or Imam Hussein (peace be upon him)?”

He adds, “Far for Islam to wane by accepting the leadership of Yazid. Yes, if Islam accepted Yazid as an Imam, it would have been a decision to abolish itself, as it is all foolish for one who has a lofty goal to take the means that weaken its goal.”

The Faqih denounces that God would be pleased with the Imamate of Yazid, the immoral outlaw against God’s religion, and he shows that the bodily killing of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) was “a grave political mistake that has nullified the fundamental goal of the Umayyads, and of the entire pre-Islamic existence, which failed to put an end to his method, the method of the Messenger of God, to transform Islam’s sublimity, greatness, majesty, beauty, and perfection to deficiency, to mediocrity, to backwardness, to foolishness, even after a while.”

Imam Hussein, in the opinion of Ayatollah Qassem, knew the goal of the Umayyads, and he estimated that the survival of their rule would weaken Islam.

For this reason, the Imam insisted on martyrdom and combating the Umayyad “Islam.”

Ayatollah Qassem clarifies that Yazid’s approach is “the approach of ignorance, of alienation, and of assimilation in eastern or western un-Islamic thoughts. Yazid’s approach is not in any of the Islamic lines, but rather the line of the infidels.” 

He continues, “If the Yazidis knew that the killing of Imam Hussein would stir up the nation and would bring down the legitimacy of their ruling, they would have prioritized killing him ideologically,” explaining that this is the same approach currently in dealing with the jurists, scholars, and loyal mujahideen and revolutionaries as our enemies opt to physical liquidation because they naïvely believe it would “thwart the resolve of the revolutionaries, brings down their method, does not allow people to believe in their slogans, the sincerity and the authenticity of their principles.” He adds, “The Yazidis today are many, and they murder any personality who has competence, has sincerity, and has a degree of patience to change the nation’s situation.”

His Eminence adds, “This Yazidi approach is present in all our Islamic sects, in Sunnis are Yazidis, and in Shias are Yazidis as well. There are those who pray like Imam Ali, who fast like Imam Ali, but they refuse that Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) to be their Imam, reject the rule of Islam, and refuse that Islam restricts their lusts and whims, while opening up to the infidel, calling for secularization, for humiliating relations with the US and with any pole of evil and ignorant arrogance on earth.” He points out that “you may find a Husseini spirit – to some degree – in a Christian human, and in someone who does not know Islam.”

His Eminence stresses that the globe today is divided between two camps: The Yazidi and the Husseini.

He says, “There is no exponent who calls for justice except that he is a Husseini, and there is no exponent who calls for injustice except that he is a Yazidi, there is no exponent who calls for mercy and humanity except that he is Husseini, and there is no exponent who calls for cruelty, oppression, and injustice except that he is a Yazidi.” And he shows that “The Yazidi camp is supported by all the global infidels and their enormous and tyrannical potentials, while the Islamic camp – whose potential are humble – is rich in its sincerity, in its determination, in its sacrifice, in its confidence in its values, in its love for God Almighty, and in its redemption.”

He asserts that truthfulness, rationality, heavenly messages, divine books, and the instincts on which the Husseini camp rely, is the necessary thing that the infidel camp is missing, on one hand. On the other hand, he points to the ferocity of the Western Yazidi foreign media, which infiltrates the minds of our youth – except the most sincere – and instills in them the satanic values employed to seduce and deviate them.

He says, “Ashura emerges – with its modest capabilities – to relocate the compass, to blow up the harmful negative influences, to change the situation.” He asks, “Have you ever appreciated the great impact of this revolution? Ashura every year gives something new. It treats, motivates, raises a new awareness, heightens psychological attachment to Hussein, and inflames feelings of faith and not feelings of ignorance.”

Ayatollah Qassem goes on by emphasizing that the goal of the remembrance of Ashura is to demolish the destructive effects of the pre-Islamic-Yazidi-Western education that invades us with the blessing and the support of the Yazidi governments, parties, and media outlets.

On the other hand, the Islamic activities of Ashura, which are in harmony with the Islamic teachings, achieve the connection of the nation with its true identity. He elaborates on describing our era as the era of Yazidi governments, and he meant “any Shiite or Sunni government that deviates from the Islamic line and does not take its legitimacy from Islam, and whose goal is anti-Islam, weakening the Islamic nation, ignoring the immorality of ignorance, and linking to the politics and culture of the fallen Western thought.”

He recalls that “the Shah [of Iran] was apparently Shia, but his government was Yazidi, noting that there is still a chance for a Yazidi government to be established in some Shiite countries if the genuine Islamic teachings are neglected, even if its leaders put on a white or black turban.”

The Faqih asserts that a Yazidi government is “the one that has shaken hands with the west and sold the nation and its religion in order to preserve a seat of no value or affair, a seat of slavery, humiliation, disgrace, and betrayal. The price of its survival is that the west approves what angers God Almighty.” He mentions that many revolutions were followed by the Ashura revolution, in which the glory of Karbala, magnanimity of Karbala, and awareness of Karbala have been highly reflected.

Nevertheless, many of its grievances have been linked to that of Abu Abdullah in countries governed by Yazidi governments, where the martyrs are many, gallows are working, swords are raised against the righteous, believers are displacemed, and prisons are filled with innocent women and men. These are all extensions of the injustice against Imam Hussein, adding that “all humiliation, suffering, grievances, backwardness, displacement are from Karbala, on the day the nation betrayed the true Islam, surrendering to Yazid.”

“It is greater humiliation and greater backwardness for the future generations of the nation [to do the same], and it will destroy this nation.”

He adds: “This means that we must change what is within ourselves, we must repel evil and enjoin good, to get out of our helplessness and shortcomings.”

In this context, Ayatollah Qassem asserts that the battle against normalization with the Zionist enemy is one of the battles of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), who refused to normalize with Yazid so that the nation does not get lost, oppressed, and humiliated. He says, “Whoever stood with Imam Hussein – even emotionally – must fight the normalization today.”

Turning to the Bahraini situation, His Eminence says that today, “there is an artificial battle – a fierce, indiscriminate war that is waged annually in our dear Bahrain. It is a battle against the flag of Hussein, against the Husseini pulpit, against mourning processions, against Husseini children, and against every aspect of commemorating Ashura.” He asks, “Does this regime know that hostility to Imam Hussein is hostility to Islam, hostility to God?”

At the very least, Muslims “must know the value of Imam Hussein, and know Karbala’s blessings upon all Muslims — not only Shiites — but upon the entire humanity.”

He addressed the government of Bahrain, “It is a shame that you wage these severe violent campaigns against a flag bearing the slogan ‘Ya Hussein.’”

Moreover, the Faqih addresses the Husseini masses, saying, “Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) has nourished you with the spirit of divine pride. The slogan ‘never to humiliation’ must make us feel proud, confident in God, in order to break all barriers, challenges, bargains, temptations, and threats.”

He continues, “Despite everything that has happened to Imam Hussein, his orphans, his widows, and his companions, he was not broken, but rather the Islamic concern overcame him until he attained the status of martyrdom.”

The Faqih points out that the line of Imam Hussain is the line of victory for Islam, the line of revenge against all pre-Islamic ‘values,’ saying, “Islam is Ashura, and Ashura is Islam. We perceive Islam through Karbala, we perceive jurisprudence, the Qur’an, the Prophet of Islam (pbuh), and the guiding Imams who protected the Qur’an from distortion, through Ashura.”

He says, “Among the slogans of Bahrain during Ashura: ‘By God, we will never forget our Imam Hussein!’ Why? Because we need his piety, his knowledge, and his guidance, because he is the light of God on earth.” The Faqih asks, “Who hates the Husseini rituals? Who fights them? Is this hostile trend outdated?”, affirming that adhering to the permanence of Husseini rituals stems from a deep sense of faith in the greatness of Imam Hussein.

Therefore, what is required is that the values ​​of Imam Hussein’s revolution govern our life, that Imam Hussein’s methodology be established, and the reason for this essential need is the current governments’ deviation, injustice, and hostility to Islam and Imam Hussein (pbuh).”

Ayatollah Qassem believes that Imam Hussein who has assimilated into Islam, attached to it, and wholeheartedly believed in it cannot betray it, because it does not find another system that equals Islam, emphasizing that honor and Imam Hussein are two companions and that Imam Hussein is the mentor of honor.

He says, “Islam and Imam Hussein teach us honor, and do not allow humiliation to penetrate our hearts. A heart that is attached to Islam and Imam Hussein can never be penetrated even if tribulations become intense, if sacrifice is great, and if the injury is great. Karbala also strengthens brotherhood; the common goal becomes clear and entrenched in the soul, and thus unifies us.”

In this context, His Eminence calls for the strengthening of faith and brotherhood so that hearts are united for the sake of each other. The more faith is true, the faith brotherhood that is necessary to build the strong mujahid, who is capable of breaking the enemy.

He says, “Karbala is of very great importance for Islam to survive until the reappearance of the awaited savior, may God hasten his reappearance, for which the Karbala revolution is linked as Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) has paved the way for the reappearance.”

His Eminence regrets the state of division that the nation is witnessing, as there is a front of normalization – led by America and aggressive deviant Zionism – and a front of resistance, which represents “the oppressed of this nation, the wise men of this nation, the saviors of this nation,” adding, “today’s battle is yesterday’s battle, and it is forbidden for the nation to give a chance for victory to the Americans and the hostile Zionists.”