Ibtida-e-aza hai vavaila
Mah-e-gum runuma hai vavaila
Alas! Mourning has begun
Alas! The moon of grief has shown her face.
The sighting of the crescent moon after the last days of the end of the Islamic calendar marks the beginning of Muharrum, the month in which Imam Hussain (a.s.), was martyred, although regarding Imam Ali (a.s.), Imam Hasan (a.s.), Imam Hussain (a.s.) and Bibi Fatima Zahra (s.a.), Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) had said "I am in war with those who will fight you, and in peace with those who are peaceful to you." (Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p699)
Saddened by the events that were taking place, Imam Hussain (a.s.) had declared his opposition to the rule of Yazid and announced his first communique in the city of his grandfather, Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.). Munshi Premchand, in his sahitya Karbala, depicts Imam Hussain (a.s.), taking ‘rukhsat’(leave) at the grave of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.), with the help of following verses:
Sab log chorke pahle hee sidhaare,
Milta nahi aaraam Nawase ko Tumhare.
Khadim ko koi aman ki ab ja nahin milti;
Rahat koi sahat mere Maula, nahi milti.
Dukh kaunsa aur kaunsi iza nahi milti,
Hain Aap jahan, raah woh mujko nahin, milti.
Duniya main mujhe koi aur nahi thikana,
Aaj aakhri rukhsat ko Gulam aaya hai Nana.
Bach jaaon jo, paas apne bula lijiye Nana,
Turbat mein Nawase ko chipa lijiye Nana.
(After going to the grave of his brother)
Sun lijiye Shabbir ki rukhsat hai Biraadar,
Hazrat ko toh pahlu hua Amma ka mayassar.
Kabr bhi juda hongi ab toh Hamaari,
Dekhein Humein le jaye kahan khaak Hamaari.
It was when Imam Hussain (a.s.) was in Makkah, he realized the inability of Makkah to protect him from the Umamayyad authorities which were intent on getting rid of him. Then, on 8th Zilhajj Imam Hussain (a.s.) converted his Pilgrimage (Hajj) into off-seasonal Pilgrimage (Umra) and started his journey from Makkah towards Iraq so that no drop of blood of the family of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) might be shed in the sacred town. In this way the heinous conspiracy of Umamayyad to trample the sanctity and honour of Kaaba by shedding blood of Imam Hussain (a.s.) there, had been failed.
Evidently, among Muslims, spirit of sacrifice is observed with great zeal. In Zilhajj, the last month of the Islamic calendar, the spirit of sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) and Hazrat Ismail (a.s.) is celebrated and in Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (a.s.), the grandson of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s) is mourned. The former were the ones who build Kaaba whereas the latter saved the sanctity of Kaaba. Aptly said by Allama Iqbal,
Gharib-o-sada- o-rangi'n hay dastan-e-Haram
Nihayat iski Hussain ibtida hai Ismail
Allama Iqbal says that the event of the construction of Kaaba is very simple and interesting, at the beginning is Hazrat Ismail (a.s.), but the culmination of the spirit of love for Allah (s.w.t.) was manifest when Imam Hussain (a.s.) sacrificed his life and preserved the dignity of the Holy Kaaba. Such was the progress of the jewel of faith, which Mirza Ghalib described profoundly:
Farog-e-Jauhar-e-Imaan, Hussain Ibne Ali
Ke Shamma-e-Anjuman-e-Kibriya kahein usko
The glory and jewel of faith, Hussain Ibne Ali,
Who shall be called the candle of the gathering of grandeur.