A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is an article by Shaykh Muhammad Harun Riedinger ( q.s. ), also known as Shaykh Abu Faydan Faridi.   It is not my aim, nor does my reading in Muslim history qualify me, to present here a historical portrait, or a socio-political analysis of the forces that were prevalent within the ummah after the fourth and last of the Rightly-Guided caliphs, Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib ( k.w. ), had been assassinated, which brought about the situation and developments that led to the confrontation at Karbala in the early second half of the first hijri century.   There is also hardly any need for it either, since there is ample material of that sort available, compiled by more learned persons than myself, and, moreover, those aspects of the event, which are relevant for us and ought to have a bearing on our lives today, in the 21 st , respectively the 1 st hijri century are not a concern of history, but a matter of spiritual groomi...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following are the events at Karbala as adapted from an article by Sayyid Nurjan Mirahmadi.   The massacre of the family of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) occurred on the 10 th Muharram.   The murderers were the soldiers of Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah, each of them Cursed for this heinous act.   Yazid sent ‘Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, his cousin, with an army to kill Sayyidina Husayn ibn ‘Ali ( r.a. ) because he feared that Sayyidina Husayn ( r.a. ) would take the caliphate from him.   But he did not have the courage to admit it after the fact, particularly because he feared the people would revolt.   And they did.   So he sent his army to besiege and sack Makkah and Madina, killing hundreds of the swahabah , and raping thousands of their women.   The Ka’bah itself was damaged with fire.   And the Mosque of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), in Madina, was desecrated with camel droppings.   The following is an account of the even...