Please see here http://tatbir.org/?page_id=98 for watch the Fatwa of Shia leaders (in English)
Someone who was familiar with the internal issues of the former Soviet Union and its Shia district- Azerbaijan Republic- said: “When the communists took control of Azerbaijan in former Soviet Union, they eliminated the last remnants of Islam; for example they turned mosques into storehouses, halls for religious ceremonies into something else and they didn’t let any sign of Islam and religion and Shia remain, but one thing and it was: “Tatbir”! The guidelines set by communist bosses for their subordinates was that Muslims mustn’t say their prayers, they can’t have public prayers, they can’t recite Quran, they can’t mourn, they can’t practice any religious rituals. But they are allowed to practice Tatbir! Why? Because Tatbir was a kind of propaganda against Islam and Shia! So the enemy sometimes uses such things against the religion. Whenever superstations appear, the religion will be tarnished. ]1]
Someone who was familiar with the internal issues of the former Soviet Union and its Shia district- Azerbaijan Republic- said: “When the communists took control of Azerbaijan in former Soviet Union, they eliminated the last remnants of Islam; for example they turned mosques into storehouses, halls for religious ceremonies into something else and they didn’t let any sign of Islam and religion and Shia remain, but one thing and it was: “Tatbir”! The guidelines set by communist bosses for their subordinates was that Muslims mustn’t say their prayers, they can’t have public prayers, they can’t recite Quran, they can’t mourn, they can’t practice any religious rituals. But they are allowed to practice Tatbir! Why? Because Tatbir was a kind of propaganda against Islam and Shia! So the enemy sometimes uses such things against the religion. Whenever superstations appear, the religion will be tarnished. ]1]
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| Ashura |
I’m deeply worried that in this era which is the era of rise of Islam, manifestation of Islam and thoughts of the household of Prophet (PBUH), we don’t manage to fulfill our duty. Some works make people closer to God and religion. Setting up traditional mourning ceremonies is one of them. This is why the Imam said: “Practice traditional mourning.” Participating in mourning ceremonies, listening to roza, crying, heating on head and chest and parade of mourning groups are fine and they stimulate people’s emotion to the household of the Prophet. On the other hand, there are some actions that doing them drives people away from the religion.
I’m so sorry to say that in the past 3 or 4 years, some actions have been wrongly promoted in the mourning ceremonies of Muharram month in our society. They promote actions that wonder anyone watching them. For example, so many years ago, it was common among ordinary people to put locks on their body during mourning days! Of course after a while, the scholars forbade it and this false ritual was forgotten. But again some people have started to promote it and I’ve heard that in some parts of the country, people put locks on their body! Why do they do this wrong deed?
Practicing Tatbir is the same. It’s one of the wrongdoings. I know that some people would say: “It was better for him not to mention Tatbir.” They would say: “Why do you bother with Tatbir? Some people do it, let them be!”. No, it’s not right to keep silent in front of this misdeed. If they had promoted Tatbir in the era of the Imam [Imam Khomeini], the way they did it since 4 or 5 years after the war; and they do it even now; the Imam would have stood against them firmly. It’s wrong that some people practice Tatbir and hit themselves and bleed. For what purpose do they do this?! In which way is it considered mourning?! Of course hitting with hand on the head is a sign of mourning. You have seen people hit their head and chest when facing a calamity. This is a normal sign of mourning. But have you ever seen people striking themselves with a sword and bleed because of the death of their beloved ones? Tatbir is a fabricated tradition. This is not related to the religion and undoubtedly God is not pleased with such a practice. Today is the day of Islam. We shouldn’t let the top Islamic society, which are the advocates of household of the Prophet and are honored with the name of Imam-i Asr (a.t.f.s) and Hussein ibn-Ali (a.s.) and Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s), look like a group of superstitious and irrational people. No matter how much I thought, I couldn’t stop myself from telling our dear people about the issue of Tatbir- which is a misdeed. Don’t do this. I’m not pleased about it. [2]
We shouldn’t act in a way that when a truth is said by an intellectual and aware scholar, it stirs emotions in the society as if he has questioned the basis of mourning for Imam Hussein (a.s.), this is what happened in the issue of Tatbir. In our idea practicing Tatbir is definitely unlawful and against Sharia. We announced this and some great scholars supported us. But we saw that some people acted against this. Even if practicing Tatbir wasn’t haram and doing so had no problem, it wasn’t necessary though. Why are some people so insistent on doing such superstitious things? Even some actions which are not superstitious, in today’s world of technology, they would cause inappropriate reactions among our youth. They aren’t the basis of our religion so that we say whether people approve this or not. We should announce this. [3]
[1] Ayatollah Khamenei’s public speech in Mashhad 21/3/1997
[2] Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech in meeting with clerics of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 7/6/1994
[3] Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech in meeting with members of the
In the end, I introduced two useful site on Ashura, First: Ashura blog on wordpress and second WhoIsHussain in blog.ir. enjoy
I’m so sorry to say that in the past 3 or 4 years, some actions have been wrongly promoted in the mourning ceremonies of Muharram month in our society. They promote actions that wonder anyone watching them. For example, so many years ago, it was common among ordinary people to put locks on their body during mourning days! Of course after a while, the scholars forbade it and this false ritual was forgotten. But again some people have started to promote it and I’ve heard that in some parts of the country, people put locks on their body! Why do they do this wrong deed?
Practicing Tatbir is the same. It’s one of the wrongdoings. I know that some people would say: “It was better for him not to mention Tatbir.” They would say: “Why do you bother with Tatbir? Some people do it, let them be!”. No, it’s not right to keep silent in front of this misdeed. If they had promoted Tatbir in the era of the Imam [Imam Khomeini], the way they did it since 4 or 5 years after the war; and they do it even now; the Imam would have stood against them firmly. It’s wrong that some people practice Tatbir and hit themselves and bleed. For what purpose do they do this?! In which way is it considered mourning?! Of course hitting with hand on the head is a sign of mourning. You have seen people hit their head and chest when facing a calamity. This is a normal sign of mourning. But have you ever seen people striking themselves with a sword and bleed because of the death of their beloved ones? Tatbir is a fabricated tradition. This is not related to the religion and undoubtedly God is not pleased with such a practice. Today is the day of Islam. We shouldn’t let the top Islamic society, which are the advocates of household of the Prophet and are honored with the name of Imam-i Asr (a.t.f.s) and Hussein ibn-Ali (a.s.) and Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s), look like a group of superstitious and irrational people. No matter how much I thought, I couldn’t stop myself from telling our dear people about the issue of Tatbir- which is a misdeed. Don’t do this. I’m not pleased about it. [2]
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| Ashura Day |
We shouldn’t act in a way that when a truth is said by an intellectual and aware scholar, it stirs emotions in the society as if he has questioned the basis of mourning for Imam Hussein (a.s.), this is what happened in the issue of Tatbir. In our idea practicing Tatbir is definitely unlawful and against Sharia. We announced this and some great scholars supported us. But we saw that some people acted against this. Even if practicing Tatbir wasn’t haram and doing so had no problem, it wasn’t necessary though. Why are some people so insistent on doing such superstitious things? Even some actions which are not superstitious, in today’s world of technology, they would cause inappropriate reactions among our youth. They aren’t the basis of our religion so that we say whether people approve this or not. We should announce this. [3]
[1] Ayatollah Khamenei’s public speech in Mashhad 21/3/1997
[2] Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech in meeting with clerics of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 7/6/1994
[3] Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech in meeting with members of the
In the end, I introduced two useful site on Ashura, First: Ashura blog on wordpress and second WhoIsHussain in blog.ir. enjoy
