The Torch of Perpetual Guidance, an Exposé on Ziyarat Ashura of al-Imam al-Husayn b. Ali

Section Nine

“O’ Aba ‘Abdillah! I am at peace with those who make peace with you and I am at war with those who make war with you until the Day of Judgment.”

This line of the Ziyarat acts as a continuous and ever lasting pledge that we make to our Imam that no matter what time and day we live in, those who are at peace and submitting to his Wilayat will be considered as our friends. However, if they are against the Imam, then we too will stand against them!

Thus, we are not limiting our enmity and hatred to those who killed the Imam in the year 61 AH – rather, this animosity and distancing from his enemies continues today in the 20th Century!

This line is very close to what we read in Hadith al-Kisa in which the Prophet himself said, “O’ Allah! Surely these (‘Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn) are my family members and those select individuals and my helpers. Their flesh is as my flesh and their blood is as my blood. That which hurts me also hurts them and that which brings grief to me also brings grief to them. I am at war with those who are at war with them and I am at peace with those who are at peace with them and I am an enemy to their enemies and I am a lover to those who love them. Surely they are from me and I am from them...”

This line in the Ziyarat should also act as a wakeup tool for us that in all times, we need to keep ourselves politically aware of what is going on so that we are sure to always be supporting the oppressed and standing up to the oppressors. If this is not the case, then we have surely made a mockery of this Ziyarat and of the sacrifice of our Imam.