HUSAYN DAY
WITH A DIFFERENCE 

For the fifth year in succession, Mombasa Jamaat witnessed a successful Husayn Day being held at Alhaj Mulla Asghar Memorial Hall in the format of a Seminar on Saturday 5^th April 2003/2^nd Safar 1424 A.H. jointly organised by the Ithna Asheri Young Men’s Union, Bilal Muslim Mission of Kenya and the Jaffery Academy.  

The theme of the Seminar was: “ The Tragedy of Karbala -   Its Relevance Today.” Ustadh Muhammad Dumila presented a comprehensive paper on the Status of Imam Husayn a.s., the historical perspective leading to the Tragedy of  Karbala, aftermath of the Tragedy, importance of recalling the incident and its relevance today.  Mr. Aliraza Jafferali Karim chaired the Seminar and expounded further on the supreme sacrifice given by Imam Husayn a.s. requesting the participants to ponder over the circumstances leading to the sacrifice, compare the times prevalent at that time with the present day and age and the times to come.  He also appealed to the participants to emulate the example set by the Imam a.s. in awakening the Ummah, reform one’s own self and advocate the removal of  the ills of society. In order to achieve this objective, he stressed upon the importance of  education in order to effectively create an ethos in all walks of life in keeping with guidelines given by the Holy Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.w.

 Many questions were asked by the participants related to the historical event, the need of recalling the event every year, the modes of Azadari, the importance of recalling the Tragedy and the effects of the same on the society at large,  variances between differenst schools of thought, and ways and means of obtaining further information and literature, etc., which were answered to the satisfaction of the questioners by Ustadh Muhammad Dumila and Mr. Aliraza Jafferali Karim. Whilst most of the extempore questions were answered on the spot, many questions received in writing remained unanswered due to the constraint in time. 

A booklet published in English by the Ithna Asheri Young men’s Union containing articles on:
·         Martyrdom
·         Imam Husayn ibn Ali – The Martyr of Karbala
·         The Martyrdom of Karbala, and
·         Speech by Sayed Abu A’ala Maududi on the subject of:
“ The Role of Muslim Student in the Re-Construction of the Islamic World.”
were distributed to all the participants together with a booklet published in Kiswahili by the Bilal Muslim Mission of Kenya on the subject of: “ Ashura: Shahada ya Imam Husayn a.s. = Mtazamo wa Kihistoria.” 

Towards the end of the programme, Schools from the rural areas were each presented with a consignment of (slightly used) Text Books collected in the Book Drive 2003 project organised by Br. Muntazir Dhala , Ohio., U.S.A., which was sponsored by the Islamic Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat of Toronto, Canada.

 In all 643 participants consisting mostly of male and female students and teachers of 41 Secondary Schools from all over the Coast Province of Kenya (including Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Taita/Taveta Districts) and elders and social workers were duly registered for the Seminar, many of whom filled in the Evaluation Forms issued to them to record their comments and suggestions.  This year, the students from Physically Handicapped School could not turn up as they had already left for their respective homes since the invitations were extended to all the schools were extended rather late – towards the end of the school terms.

As an exercise of promoting literacy and inculcating the qualities of leadership, students of Jaffery Academy were involved in extending invitations, receiving, registering, ushering and mingling with the guests, conducting the program and bidding farewell to the guests towards the end of the program.  Master Abbas Riyaz Virjee officiated as the Master of Ceremonies and Master Mohamedmehdi Bandali presented the Welcome Address. Miss Kulsum Muslim Jina proposed vote of thanks.  The program concluded just before the time of Zohar prayers with the recitation of Dua by Miss Halima Said and Miss Azhra Khimji.