The Super Day of Ashura

While I won't mark Ashura as Shia Muslims in Iraq and Iran do, I plan to fast and commemmorate.

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There was a time when I looked down at Shia Muslims as Islamic deviants who have strayed far from the path of Islam. I was, at one time in my life, swept up in the Shia-Sunni divide. I was arrogant, narrow-minded, and plain wrong. The overwhelming majority of Shia Muslims share all of the core beliefs of Sunni Islam, and as far as I am concerned, they are as Muslim as I am. While there are some differences of opinion between Sunnis and Shias in regards to who should lead the Muslim community and in matters of Islamic jurisprudence, these differences are minor. They should not serve as the basis for division among the two groups.

Indeed, some Sunni Muslim extremists view Shias as heretics who deserve death. This is abominable. There is too much at stake to get swept up by minor differences of juristic opinion and divide the Muslim community along Shia and Sunni lines. Also, I think the media here in the West often hype the Sunni-Shia thing way too much. We are all Muslims, and that is the most important thing to remember.

On this Ashura, while I will not be commemorating the day as the Shia in Iraq or Iran, I nevertheless plan on fasting on Monday and Tuesday as the Prophet suggested. This is significant, because any fast outside of Ramadan is usually more difficult for me psychologically. Still, I am actually looking forward to fasting Ashura.

As I plan to forgo food and drink early next week, I reflect upon the glorious gift of freedom that God bestowed upon Moses and his people; upon the tragedy of Karbala and the vicious murder of the Prophet's own blood; upon the Shia of Iraq and the continued difficulty of the post-war period.

Just as God delivered Moses and his people from bondage, death, and despair, I pray God delivers the greater Middle East from the bondage of hatred, death, and war. While that may now seem as elusive as ever, so was the prospect of the Hebrews leaving Egypt victorious. With God, however, anything is possible.

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