It is another of those coincidences when this year Moharram (Ashura) and Dusserah are falling on the same day. But is it strange coincidence OR Is there is a meaning hidden in this? Let us try and understand this from a spiritual and religious angle. The strange similarities will surely help us to tie the knots between religions and the messages passed on to us by Prophets and Sages.
Ashura emerges from the arabic word Ashra which is 10 in Arabic. If we link this term with hindi “Ashru” it is tears. Ashura is the 10th day of Moharram which is also the first month of Islamic calender. This day is observed by Muslims (shia Muslims) as the day of grief and tears. On this day in 680 AD, Imaam Hussain , the grandson of Prophet Mohammed gave his supreme sacrifice along with his entire family of 72. In his sacrifice lays the supreme win of true Islam and Islamic principles over evil. So it was a win of Goodness over evil. Sunni and Shiite Muslims – the two major branches of Islam – both mark the day in reverance. For Sunnis, Ashura is considered a day of atonement. Some choose to fast for two days, as the Prophet Muhammad did when he observed Jews doing the same for their Day of Atonement. For Shiite Muslims, it is the day of grief due to Shahadat of Imaam Hussain in Karbala.
Now, Dussera is a word which emerges from the word Dus (ten) and Har ( Winning) means winning of Lord Ram over the 10 Headed evil Ravan on the 10th day of Hindu Sanvat. Ramayan and its crux are well known to all of us. How a knowledgable but evil king goes astray and meets his fate due to his bloated pride and ego by the hands of Lord Rama. The victory also signifies the win of Good over evil.
The coincidence does not end here, On the real day in 680-AD on the day of Imaam Hussain’s shahadat in Karbala, India was celebrating Dussera on the same day.
Allah has a special significance for this 10th day in the lives of all prophets. It is the same day Noah left the Ark, the time when the Moses freed Israelites from slavery in Egypt , Jesus was crucified and the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, grandson of Prophet Muhammad and also the day when Ram killed Ravan.
So what do we need to take from all this? There is a grand alliance of religions across the world, God has given us message through different prophets in different times and the message is the same. It is we who have distorted this message over time and taken the same to our personal egos and practices and rituals and then started negating one over the other. What we fight over today with so called OTHER religions is not a fight over principles but fight over our bloated egos. “What I practice is the best!!! Everyone should follow this”
We really need to read these signals by opening the eyes of our knowledge and wisdom rather than be manipulated by others. Come this 10th Moharram and Dussera we resolve to make the bonds stronger and learn the real message of religion and prevent the lives of every human being to go waste in the name of religion.
by Hakimuddin Ali
