The Mourning Procession Marking the Day of Ashura

The mourning procession is the pledge of allegiance and homage to the savior of Islam, Imam Husain s/o Imam Ali s/o Abu Talib(A.S) from the venerated lineage of Prophet Muhammad(S.A.W.W).
The demonstration of mourning witnessed here today is in commemoration of the brutal massacre of this godly man and his band of brothers, sisters, children, kinsmen and companions, numbering less then one hundred persons who were denied water for three days on the scorching desert plains of Karbala, Iraq, 1356 years ago. The men folk , except for the ailing son of the Imam, were butchered by a huge army of the self styled, libertine ruler of Muslims, Yezid s/o Muawiyah s/o Abu Sufyan while the women folk and children were imprisoned for a whole year in atrocious conditions.
The bone of contention between the righteous Imam and the usurper was that while the impostor Caliph of the Muslims, Yezid of the accursed progeny wished to wipe off Islam from the face of the earth. The evil man claimed the position of successor of the Prophet, who was denied his rightful succession, stood up against him to save Islam from annihilation.
A careful study of the events convinced all the historians (Muslims & non Muslims) that Imam Husain upheld uncompromisingly an Islamic ideal social and political life which he saw violated in the rule of Muawiyah and even more so by his son Yezid. Imam Husain motive in no way was for love of power, wealth or any such material or political ambitions.
Muawiyah in using coercion, threat and political intrigues to appoint his son Yezid to the Caliphate office violated the terms of peace pact he had made with Imam Hasan (A.S.), the elder brother of Imam Husain or in the event of Imam Hasan's death, to Imam Husain(A.S). Muawiyah in a treacherous breach of agreement designated his son to caliphate which lost its original character and become an infamous monarchy of the blood thirsty Ummayad Dynasty.
Yezid, the ungodly king adopted the evil ways of the monarch and religion-- the teachings of Prophet were at the verge of extinction. Yezid began to extort allegiances from the companions of the Prophet. He sought allegiance from Imam Husain to legitimize his profligate rule that breached Islamic norms and tenets every inch of the way.
Imam Husain refused to give his pledge allegiance and declared: " We are the household of the prophethood frequented by angels the essence of apostleship and the locus of the decent of divine mercy. With us Allah had opened and closed( Prophethood) Yezid, however is a reprobate, and a drinker and one killing the (innocent) souls( unlawfully) and practicing openly all the manners of corruption. A man like me therefore cannot give bay'ah allegiance to one like Yazid".
The Imam's refusal to swear allegiance to Yezid, aroused the wrath of Yezid who decided to kill Imam Hussain (A.S) in the Kaabah during Hajj. The Imam foiled this nefarious plot by leaving Makkah for Iraq on the day when Muslims were preparing to leave Makkah to go to the Plains of Arafat as part of their Hajj.
Imam Husain(A.S) was waylaid by the army of Yezid and led to Karbala where on the 10 th day of the month of Muharram , that has gone down in the annals of time as "Ashura" , the most brutal massacre in human history took place.
The blood of Imam Husain revitalized the dying religion of Islam that today flourishes and grows and will very soon become the second largest creed in North America.
The mission of the Prophet (SAWW) was thus saved for all time and Muslims owe it to Imam Husain ( A.S ) that they are able to abide by the precepts ordained by the Almighty through this Final Prophet Muhammad (SAWW).
Marking the Day of Ashura is paying homage to the Prophet who said " Husain is from me and I am from Husain".