What the Shi’ah do on ‘Ashoora’ is bid’ah (innovation) and misguidance

I am living in dubai and here huge number of shia are pesent arround
us they always say that doing maatum on 9 and 10 muhaaram is right and
this is the proof thatwe love hazrat husain and hazrat yaqoob also
said "Hazrat Yaqoob (a.s.) cried and said a word (Hey Yousuf) he cried
that in result of he became blind and thier rest sons who were wrong
asked him if you cried like this than you will hurt yourself and
nodought you will die one day while crying. THEN Haszar Yaqoob (a.s.)
replied I cried and tell allmy tregedy to ALMIGHTY ALLAH and I know
something from GOD" please tell me the answer as soon as possible that
beating chest is right or wrong???
Praise be to Allaah.
What the Shi'ah do on 'Ashoora' of beating their chests, slapping
their cheeks, striking their shoulders with chains and cutting their
heads with swords to let the blood flow are all innovations that have
nobasis in Islam. These things are evils that were forbidden by the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who did not
prescribe for his ummah to do any of these thingsor anything similar
to them to mark the death of a leader or the loss of a martyr, no
matter what his status. During his lifetime (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) a number of senior Sahaabah were martyred and he
mourned their loss, such as Hamzah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, Zayd ibn
Haarithah, Ja'far ibn Abi Taalib and 'Abd-Allaah ibn Rawaahah, but he
did not do any of the things that these people do. If it was good, he
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would have done it before
us.
Ya'qoob (peace be upon him) did not strike his chest or scratch his
face, or shed blood or take the day of the loss of Yoosuf as a
festival or day of mourning. Rather he remembered his missing loved
one and felt sad and distressed because of that. This is something no
one can be blamed for. What is forbidden is these actions that have
been inherited from the Jaahiliyyah, and which Islam forbids.
Al-Bukhaari (1294) and Muslim (103) narrated that 'Abd-Allaah ibn
Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "He is not one of us who
strikes his cheeks, rends his garment, or cries with the cry of the
Jaahiliyyah."
These reprehensible actions that the Shi'ah do on the day of 'Ashoora'
have no basis in Islam. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) did not do them, nor did anyof his companions. Noneof his
companions did them when he or anyone else died, although the loss of
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was greater than
the death of al-Husayn (may Allaah bepleased with him).
Al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Every
Muslim should mourn the killing of al-Husayn (may Allaah be pleased
with him), for he is one of the leaders of the Muslims, one of the
scholars of the Sahaabah, and the son of the daughter of the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who was the
best of his daughters. He was a devoted worshipper, and a courageous
and generous man. But thereis nothing good in what the Shi'ah do of
expressing distress and grief, most of which maybe done in order to
show off. His father was better than him and he was killed, but they
do not take his death as an anniversary as they do with the death of
al-Husayn. His father waskilled on a Friday as he was leaving the
mosque after Fajr prayer, on the seventeenth of Ramadaan in 40 AH.
'Uthmaan was better than 'Ali according to Ahlal-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah,
and he was killed when he was besieged in his house during the days of
al-Tashreeq in Dhu'l-Hijjah of 36 AH, with his throat cut from one
jugular vein to the other, but the people did not take his death asan
anniversary. 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab was better than 'Ali and 'Uthmaan,
and he was killed as he was standingin the mihraab, praying Fajr and
reciting Qur'aan, but the people did not take his death asan
anniversary. Abu Bakral-Siddeeq was better than him but the people did
not take his death asan anniversary. The Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is the leader of the sons of Adam
in this world and the Hereafter, and Allaahtook him to Him as the
Prophets died before him, but no one took thedates of their deaths as
anniversaries on which they do what these ignorant Raafidis do on the
day that al-Husayn was killed. … The best that can be said when
remembering these and similar calamities is that which 'Ali ibn
al-Husayn narrated from his grandfather the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who said: "There is no Muslim
who is afflicted by a calamity and when he remembers it, even if it
was in the dim and distant past, he says InnaLillaahi wa inna ilayhi
raaji'oon (verily to Allaah we belong and unto Him is our return), but
Allaah will give him a reward like that of the day when it befell
him."
Narrated by Imam Ahmad and Ibn Majaah, end quote from al-Bidaayah
wa'l-Nihaayah (8/221).
And he said (8/220): The Raafidis went to extremes in the state of
Bani Buwayh in the year 400 and thereabouts. The drums were beaten in
Baghdad and other cities on the day of 'Ashoora', and sand and straw
was strewn in the streets and marketplaces, and sackcloth was hung on
the shops, and the people expressed grief and wept. Many of them did
not drink water that night, in sympathy with al-Husayn, because he was
killed when he was thirsty. Then the women went out barefaced, wailing
and slapping their faces and chests, walking barefoot in the
marketplaces, and other reprehensible innovations… What they intended
by these and similar actions is to impugn the state of Banu Umayyah
(the Umayyads), because he was killed during their era.
On the day of 'Ashoora, the Naasibis of Syria do the opposite of what
theRaafidis and Shi'ah do. They used to cook grainson the day of
'Ashoora and do ghusl and perfume themselves, andwear their finest
garments, and they took that day as an Eid for which they made all
kinds of food, and expressed happiness andjoy, intending thereby
toannoy the Raafidis and be different from them.
Celebrating that day is an innovation (bid'ah), and making it an
anniversary for mourning is also an innovation. Hence Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Because of the killing of al-Husayn (may Allaah bepleased with him),
shaytaan caused the people to introduce two innovations: the
innovation of mourning and wailing on the day of 'Ashoora', by
slapping the cheeks, weeping, and reciting eulogies. … and the
innovation of rejoicing and celebrating. … So some introduced mourning
and others introduced celebration, so they regarded the day of
'Ashoora' as a day for wearing kohl, doing ghusl, spending on the
family and making special foods. … And every innovation is a going
astray. None of the four imams of the Muslims or any other (scholars)
regarded either of these things as mustahabb. End quote from Minhaaj
al-Sunnah (4/554).
It should be noted that these reprehensible actions are encouraged by
the enemies of Islam, so that they can achieve their evil aims of
distorting the image of Islam and its followers. Concerning this Moosa
al-Musawi said in his book al-Shi'ah wa'l-Tas-heeh:
But there can be no doubt that striking heads with swords and cutting
the head in mourning for al-Husayn on the tenth day of Muharram
reached Iran and Iraq and India during the British occupation of those
lands. The British are theones who exploited the ignorance and naiveté
of the Shi'ah and their deep love for Imam al-Husayn, and taught them
to strike their heads with swords. Until recently the British
embassies in Tehran andBaghdad sponsored the Husayni parades in which
this ugly spectacleappears in the streets and alleyways. The aim of
the British imperialist policy of developing thisugly spectacle and
exploiting it in the worstmanner was to give an acceptable
justification to the British people andthe free press that opposed
British colonialism in India and other Muslim countries, and to show
the peoplesof these countries as savages who needed someone to save
them from their ignorance and savagery. Images of the parades that
marched in the streets on the day of 'Ashoora', in which thousands of
people were striking their backs with chains and making them bleed,
and striking their heads with daggers and swords, appeared in British
and European newspapers, and the politicians justified their
colonization of these countries on the basis of a humane duty to
colonize the lands of these people whose culture was like that so as
to lead these peoples towards civility and progress. It was said
thatwhen Yaseen al-Haashimi, the Iraqi Prime Minister at the time of
the British occupation of Iraq, visited London to negotiate with the
British for an end to the Mandate, the British saidto him: We are in
Iraq to help the Iraqi people to make progress and attain happiness,
and bring them out of savagery. This angered Yaseen al-Haashimi and he
angrily walked out ofthe room where the negotiations were beingheld,
but the British apologized politely and asked him with all respect to
watch a documentary about Iraq,which turned out to be afilm about the
Husayni marches in the streets of al-Najaf, Karbala' and
al-Kaazimiyyah, showinghorrific and off-putting images of people
striking themselves with daggers and chains. It is as if the British
wanted to tell him: Would an educated people with even a little
civility do such things to themselves?! End quote.
And Allaah knows best.