Noon Of Aashoora

The sun was at midway and it was time for the noon prayer. The arrows were flying everywhere. A few who were left in Imam's side knew that martyrdom was drawing closer and closer. Perhaps the Imam wanted to make an eternal statement; in those difficult moments, the Imam stood to perform the noon prayer. Few rushed to guard the Imam, just like butterflies around the candle. One of them was Sa'eed son of Abdullah. Sa'eed's heart was beating for God and therefore, for the Imam. He stood next to the Imam, the arrows were coming from every direction, he tried to block them with his shield but many of the arrows hit his face. The drops of his blood were being mixed with his teardrops. Finally, he fell on the ground. The Imam, just like the kindest father held him and tried to wipe the blood... . Sa'eed at that last seconds of his life asked a meaningful question which should awaken every asleep heart; Sa'eed asked: O' my lord! Have I been faithful?! Sa'eed was asking this question while he was giving his life in the cause of God! He had seen the light and the cause of God was the most important thing in his mind; he did not want to die with a broken covenant because he knew that he was going back toward God. And, the Imam wanted us to always remember that the obedience of God is more important than any thing else; the Imam -who knew that they were all going to be killed- perhaps wanted to remind humankind that performing the specified daily prayers is the most important way to establish and maintain a relationship with God.

On that day, Sa’eed offered his life as a shield against the enemies of the Imam of his time, against the enemies of Allah; Sa’eed had realized that the most important and beautiful goal in life was to keep Allah’s way alive, so that the true humanity may remain, even if he had to give his earthly life for it; with all this, Sa’eed was still worried if he had been faithful to the Imam of his time!

What about us? Are we offering any thing at all in the way of protecting the Imam of our time and his message of monotheism and being a shield against those who say wrong things about Allah, those who try to keep people away from the way of Allah, those who are worshipping the world and forgetting Allah, those who have distorted the Word of Allah, those who are hiding the true value of Mohammad and his progeny (PBUT) as the most perfect and beloved creations of Allah, those who have concealed the Truth and the messages of Allah, those who doubt and cast the dark shadow of doubt upon others regarding the existence and Appearance of Imam Mahdi (PBUH),the promise of Allah, those who -from the bottom of their hearts- do not believe that they shall return to Allah?! The least we could do is to learn and to help others to learn, to keep the Truth alive.

That day Hossain kindly embraced Sa’eed in his heavenly and fatherly arms and Hossain’s tears washed Saeed’s blood off Saeed’s face, Hossain accepted him as a faithful follower; If we were to ask the same question that Sa’eed asked Imam Hossain, from the Imam of our time -Imam Mahdi(PBUH)- , what would Mahdi’s response be? Would he accept us as faithful followers?