✔️Ayatollah Fadlullah:

⭕️“Keeping to emotions, but separated from reason, may lead to repeating the tragedy that Imam al- Hussein (a.s.) experienced!

🔹His tragedy did not stem from a lack of emotions amongst the Muslims towards him, for their hearts were beating with love for him, but it was a blind, superficial love that did not stem from a depth of knowledge, will and suffering; therefore when they found themselves facing the sacrifice of their interests, possessions or desires, love went away and interest and possessions had the upper hand. Al-Farazdaq, the poet, described the situation that the people of Kufa, who went out to fight al-Hussein (a.s.), experienced, by saying to al-Hussein (a.s.): ‘Their hearts are with you (but) their swords are against you’(12). We should love al-Hussein (a.s.) with awareness, reason and suffering, not in a superficial and frenzied way that is short-lived, and ends when it faces reality and challenges.

🔸This requires awareness of all content from which Ashoora proceeded, which are the content of Islam. In light of these points that make the aspect of thought in commemoration a vital and necessary matter, and in light of what we have said regarding the necessity of strongly preserving the aspect of emotions of Ashoora, we emphasize again that the emotions issue has human dimensions, and Islamic spirit, rich in effects and benefits, and gives thought vitality, releases it from its stagnation, leads it to activity and turns it from a static state into a state of belief and consciousness, and strengthens the person’s relationship with all its aspects and issues, something that makes the thought – in the particulars of the principle, the individual and one’s stance – become similar to feelings, related to consciousness so that this gives it some strength and firmness inside the soul and outside in life.

🔹We emphasize that adopting both emotions and thought is what achieves for the message its deep content in a man’s awareness and deeds, so that the thought develops into a belief and the belief develops into love or otherwise through the interaction between the mind and the heart.

🔸This is what we can draw from the concept of love towards God’s chosen individuals and hatred towards God’s enemies in Islamic belief as being a proof of seriousness and faithfulness, as it is to be noted that the goal here – which is expressed in the slogans of Ashoora – has to conform with the means of commemoration and that the content acts within the circle of religious adherence. Once again we say:

we have to educate our hearts as we do our minds, to educate our hearts with the culture of emotion, because if the heart fails to find the correct direction in emotions, this can destroy one’s life.

🔹If we proceed from a superficiality in our love and offer it to whomever is not worthy of it, this person might suffer a deeply concealed corruption that would destroy our lives in the future; similarly if we hate someone not on objective basis, he might be a good person in his depth and so our hatred of him would deprive us of the good he can offer. We have to rationalize our emotions so that they operate on the basis of awareness and proceed from the depth, not from the surface, and not allow our emotions to run out of control or to become childish in nature and deed”.

📚Reference

-[“Ashoora: an Islamic Perspective” by Ayatollah Fadlullah]

Thank you for reading . ( Sayed Abazar Wahedi ) .