Massacres and dates

[Maggie Ronkin]

Dear Celso,

I am sure that today everyone on the Discours list shares the pain and grief
of the people in Spain.

Recently, on February 28th, the 7th day of Muharram, I had the good fortune
to participate in a workshop and mourning assembly, organized by faculty at
Harvard and Columbia Universities and the University of Pennsylvania, on the
Urdu Marsiya in Text and Performance. What this has to do with your question
is that the marsiya is an elegy that commemorates the death of Husain, the
third Shi’a Imam and grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and pays tribute to
the sufferings of his family and followers at the Battle of Karbala. The
narrated events surround the Battle of Karbala near Kufa (in modern-day
Iraq) on the 10th day of Muharram AH 61 (680 CE). At that time, the Muslim
community was divided between those who believed that the successor to the
Prophet should be elected and those who believed that the successor should
be a descendant of the Prophet.

According to program notes, although Shi’as hold majaalis-e ‘azaa (mourning
assemblies) all year, the most important ones are held during *the first ten
days of Muharram*. This is a time when the pious reflect on the moral
implications of the Karbala narrative and segments of the story—which, in
terms of emotion, oscillate between “heroic displays of martial skill and
tender descriptions of affection and bereavement”—are re-told in graphic,
poetic detail. The historical record indicates that the pivotal battle was
between the caravan of Husain, who had refused to pledge allegiance to the
Umayyad Calif Yazid and asked to be allowed to retreat to Arabia, and a
contingent of Umayyad forces.

Following a sequence of events leading up to the battle, on the 10th day of
Muhaarram, as the Umayyad forces moved close to the caravan’s encampment,
Husain made his final appeal. “The plea failed to sway the commanders and
the battle began with the companions and relatives of Husain joining …
singly or in small groups throughout the morning. Gradually, every one of
his 72 companions perished in the field and lastly he was killed in the
afternoon. The encampment was looted, the survivors … were bound and taken
captive to Kufa where they were mocked and humiliated by ‘Ubaidallah. The
captives were imprisoned in Kufa and later sent to Damascus, where they
along with the severed head of Husain were presented to Yazid [the Umayyad
Calif to whom Husain earlier had refused to pledge allegiance]. Yazid
imprisoned and eventually released [the captives] … the repercussions of
this event resonate powerfully in the formation of Shi’a Islam. The
martyrdom of Husain and his companions became the central focus of devotion
for the supporters of the descendants of Muhammad as the legitimate leaders
of the Muslim community.”

I often feel that I know too little about Islam except from my own work in
Pakistan. I hope that others will correct us and add to this discourse.

Best regards,
Maggie

==========
>From: Celso Alvarez Cáccamo <lxalvarz at UDC.ES>
>Reply-To: The Discourse Studies List <DISCOURS at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
>To: DISCOURS at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>Subject: Massacres and dates
>Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 04:39:44 +0100
>
>(Cross-posted)
>
>Dear all,
>
>Today's Madrid massacre (11 March 2004 AD) occured on day 20 Muharram 1425
>H (after Mohammed's hegira) in the Islamic religious calendar. Muharram is
>the sacred month for Islam after Ramadan, and one where fasting is also
>purifying, am I right?  Although the Spanish government still presents ETA
>as the main suspect (why don't they call it "atheist ETA"?), a violent
>"islamic" group (apparently responsible of the recent attacks in Turkey)
>has reivindicated the Madrid attacks in a London Arab-language newspaper.
>Does any one know whether the 20 Muharram date has any special significance
>in the history of Islam, particularly against Christianity?
>
>This made me think about September 11, 2001 AD, which corresponded to 23
>Jumaada al-Thaany 1422 H in the Islamic calendar, and about the state of
>high alert that the world lived one Christian year later, Sept. 11, 2002
>AD. Well, naively enough, this is the first time I thought that, if the
>9/11 massacre was carried out by Islamic fundamentalist suicide killers,
>they would not follow the Gregorian Christian calendar for any actions
>"celebrating" the anniversary, but the Hijri calendar. The aniversary would
>be about 11 days earlier, on Sept. 1 2002 AD, if I'm not mistaken. That is,
>by the time people where on alert, flights were cancelled, police were
>deployed everywhere, etc., the "anniversary" had already taken place.
>Didn't the US' and other western secret services know this very simple fact
>in order to deactivate the paranoid discourse around the "anniversary"? Or
>am I going too far?
>
>The US-UK-Spain-etc. coalition invaded Iraq during a holy Muslim month.
>Going back to the Madrid attacks, a Hijri year ago (20 Muharram 1424 H) it
>was March 23, 2003, Sunday. US troops had already invaded Iraq, and they
>were 60 miles from Bagdad. Ten milion people all around the world were
>demonstrating against the war. Two years ago (20 Muharram 1423 H) the
>Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
>approved the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on International Terrorism, where
>they emphasized their defense of Palestine's rights. Probably these are
>just coincidences, as unfortunately anything noticeable in terms of massive
>violence happens practically every day of the year. But I keep wondering.
>
>Please correct me as much as you can. I know nothing about Islam, but
>unfortunately a lot about the current Spanish government.
>
>-celso
>Celso Alvarez Cáccamo
>lxalvarz at udc.es

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