Metro Detroit Shias Mark Ashura
Imam Hussein (AS) lost the battle and was killed, but his struggle for freedom, justice and truth is remembered every year on Ashura, which fell on Tuesday this year for Shias in metro Detroit. Across Michigan, thousands of Shias gathered in mosques on Tuesday to hear stories about the battle and the meaning of justice. Metro Detroit has one of the highest concentrations of Shia services in the U.S., with speakers from around the world visiting during Ashura to deliver lectures.
This year, Ashura took on a special significance because Shias see their struggles against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or alternatively ISIS) as analagous to the 7th-Century struggle that Imam Hussein (AS) fought against a tyrant named Yazid. Shias say that just as followers of Imam Hussein (AS) were beheaded and enslaved in battle, victims of ISIS now are being similarly beheaded, enslaved, and killed. ISIS views Shias as heretics and has targeted them and others for killings.
"Ashura is repeating itself," said Imam Husham Al-Husainy, an Iraqi-American who leads the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center in Dearborn. "It's a historical event that has reality today."
Al-Husainy's center is named after a city in Iraq, Karbala, where the 7th Century battle took place. In the past, Iraqi Shias saw Saddam Hussein as the Yazid of their time, commemorating Ashura in the hope that Saddam Hussein would one day be overthrown. Now, they see ISIS leaders as the new Yazids (not to be confused with Yazidis, the minority religious group also being oppressed by ISIS.)
"Imam Hussain said, 'I'd rather die than live under oppression,' " explained Al-Husainy. "Today, they're implimenting Ashura. They'd rather fight ISIS than live under oppression, just like in Karbala."
For many Shias in metro Detroit, Ashura is also a time to reconnect with friends and family. The Ashura services take place over 10 days and nights that ended Tuesday inside Islamic centers, where meals and tea are served. On Sunday, many walked from Fordson High School in Dearborn to Ford Woods park in an Ashura procession. At the Imam Ali (AS) Islamic Center in Detroit, lamb, beans and rice are cooked in deep vats for worshippers.
Source: Detroit Free Press
