I Went To A Majlis In Muharram For The First Time And This Is What Happened

By Arslan Athar | 7 Oct, 2016

Growing up, the most exposure I had to Muharram was the TV broadcast of the Ashura jaloos and the ijtimayee maatum. The very concept of Ashura seemed so far away and something I could never really be a part even as a spectator.

 

So every Muharram the questions in my head would keep growing: How is their version of Islam different than ours? What really happened in Karbala and what does Imam Hussein represent? 

Muharram-Festival
Source: Mohsin Raza/Reuters

Since questioning is such a taboo, no one had any answers and my curiosity only grew. It got to a point, that I just had to attend a majlis just to see what happens. It just seemed ridiculous to me that we all that Ashura is this huge event for large part of our community, yet we have NO idea what its about and what actually happens.

One Muharram I went up to a close Shia friend and said, ‘”yaar mein tumhare ghar majlis pe aa sakta hoon?” To my surprise he smiled and simply said, ‘haan, kal 8 bajay aa jana‘.

 

So the next day, I got there at 8 (yup I’m weird like that, I get to places on time). The place was cramped, karhaiyaan were full of food and everyone was in nirvana.

I walked in to the kitchen to say salaam to my friend’s mom and what I saw amazed me. When I met Aunty she said, “har majlis se pehle sab ke liye khana banta hai, har fard ke liye aur ye khaana pyaar se banta hai kyunke ye karna bhi ibaadat hai“.

Once the majlis started, the tone of the room completely changed. A heavy sadness fell over everyone, and it’s contagious. As the stories of Karbala were being narrated, the Imam’s voice changed, all the emotions, tensions and worries of those actually present that day, all those years ago were brought to the present.

You can’t help but feel mournful, hearing those stories of pain and suffering isn’t easy, they wrap you in sorrow.

ashura-nazri-1
Source: ashuraaa.files.wordpress.com

 

After this everyone got up, started chanting and doing a light maatum. Even at this moment, the beat of the chants just captures you and for a brief second you could totally loose yourself.

 

The funny thing was, after I got back from the majlis, I was so much more curious.

My questions weren’t all answered. That’s when I decided that it’s best to educate myself in the matter. I read up quite a bit on the Shia Sunni divide and what exactly Karbala represents in the Shia narrative (the question of how much of this information I remember word for word is another debate).

muharram-majlis
Source: aimislam.com

All things aside, the experience of going to a majlis, and reading up on the matter has given me an entirely new perspective on Shia Islam and Karbala itself. I think everyone should make a conscious effort to understand the “other’s” perspective, only by making that effort can we bridge the differences between us and become a more inclusive society.

 


Cover image via: askideas.com

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