Iranian Immigrants in Central Asia and the Influence of the Culture of Ashura in the Second Half of 19th and Early 20th Century

Iranian Immigrants in Central Asia and the Influence of the Culture of Ashura in the Second Half of 19th and Early 20th Century

Safar 'Ali Sukzyman

In the 19th century and a little before that, there existed between Iran and its neighbors (the Emirates of Bukhara and Khiva) economic, Trade and cultural relations. As a result of wars and the existence of this relationship, some Iranians (Persians, Kurds, Azeris and Turks), voluntarily and due to various factors, emigrated to Central Asia. As a result, in the second half of the 19th century a class of Iranians came into existence in the cities of Bukhara and Khiva. Among the people of Iranian origin settled in Central Asia were the descendants of the soldiers of Nadir Shah, the officers of the Qajar army and immigrants from north eastern cities who had emigrated to Bukhara. Most of them were traders and craftsmen. During the first phase of immigration, the immigrant Iranians were bought and sold like slaves, But through this channel they were able to rise to important positions, for example, one of the viziers (Khishbaigi) of the Emirate of Bukhara was an Iranian immigrant. As a result, till the time of the Russian occupation of Bukhara, Iranians were present in the military government setup of the Emirate of Bukhara. But in other parts of the fiefdoms of Khiva and Khukqand, Iranians were exploited. After the occupation of Central Asia, the Military Government of Russia freed the slaves and prohibited their trade. In cities such as Bukhara, Samarqand and areas near to them there existed localities of Iranians. This process began in the 16th century when Iranians emigrated from Merv. In this manner Iranian tribes came to exist in Bukhara and Samarqand. But with the passage of time, as a result of intermarrying with the local population, some of them lost their anthropologic peculiarities, and only the language of their forefathers remained. Most of them remained adherents of the Shi'ah creed. Their population at the end of the 19th century was 6000. The Iranians of Samarqand and Bukhara also fully adhered to the Shi'ah creed.
They, especially the women, retained their anthropological peculiarities. The population of Iranians of Samarqand exceeds the figure of ten thousand. They are mostly engaged in weaving, spinning and agriculture.
The third group of Iranian immigrants who lived in the jurisdiction of the fiefdom of Khiva till the early years of the 20th century were called Qul (slave). During the end of the 19th century their population was 3500, which was 1% of the total population of the fiefdom. On the shores of the Caspian Sea too there lived a large number of Iranians. In the year 1883, 1436 Iranians lived in the district of Zekaspi. Many of them were in government service. Some of the wealthy traders of Iranian origin were elected to the Consultative Commitee of the Ashkabad Municipality.
Not only their language and their Iranian origin, but also Shi'ism was a factor responsible for their remaining bound together and unified. In the year 1890 the Iranians built a Husayniyah and held their religious rituals there. The localities where the Iranians lived were named Iran Mahallah. Each year, in these localities, the mourning ceremonies were held during Muharram. The ceremonies were held in all parts of Turkistan, Khajand and the district of Samarqand. But in the year 1901, in some of the Russian inhabited localities of Tashkent in which these ceremonies used to take place, the military administrator of Turkistan prohibited these ceremonies and the daily newspaper Rusky Turkistan printed this news. But the brave Iranians of all the big ciries of Turkistan were able to build Husayniyahs which the local people called Mosque of the Shi'ahs.
Most of these Husayniyahs were built by traders and wealthy Iranians. In the year 1905 one of the Iranians of Tashkent filed a petition for a piece of land for constructing a Husayniyah.
In this manner the culture of Ashura spread in Central Asia and played an important role in unifying the Muslims. With the beginning of Ashura Ceremonies, the Muslims openly expressed their grief and sorrow. Only such kind of ceremonies were able to strengthen the unity of the Iranians in Central Asia.
In the article whose abstract has been provided here, issues have been dealt with from a historical point of view by relying on documents of the archives and by providing accurate and scientific referencing based on these archives and the libraries of the erstwhile Soviet Union, specially those of Samarqand, Bukhara and Tashkent.

Distortions of the Events of Ashura of
Abu Abdullah(A)

Muhammad Torabiyan

The paper begins with a brief introduction. Then it begins to define and dichotomize the problem of distortion into two different categories: distortions related to the semantic issues, and distortions related to the content. I will mention two examples of what constitutes a semantic distortion and then I will discuss 24 events in Ashura that have been the subject of distortions. Then I will concentrate on the definition of the distortions of the content and I will provide some' examples. I will move on to discuss two types of distortions of the content in the events that occurred on Ashura and will mention examples of both types.
In the second section, I will mention five factors leading to distortions I will then point out four factors which have contributed to the propagation of lies. Finally, I will deal with the distortion in the poems. In this section, I will mention nine poems that convey ignobility and lack of dignity and point to eight poems that contain lies. The paper ends with an invitation to further meticulous research on the events of Ashura of Imam Husayn (A)

'Ashura' Before Islam and the Episode of Karbala

Reza Ustadi

In this study of the pre-Islamic history of the term, the author first examines the statements of the lexicographers in this regard. In the lexicons, the word "Ashura" is generally used for the tenth day of Muharram and its different readings are mentioned. Similarly, "Taasu'a" is also used as the name for the ninth day of Muharram. In some lexicons, some great and auspicious events are ascribed to this day, such as the creation of Adam, the acceptance of his repentance by God, the flood of Noah, the (future) descent of Jesus from the heaven, the appearance of Dajjal and the like. This however is not confirmed by our authentic traditions.
Some are of the opinion that this word is of Islamic origin and did not exist before Islam. Some believe it is not basically an original Arabic word and, moreover, it does not occur in traditions that predicted the events of Karbala.
In the books of the Ahl al-Sunnah, including those pertaining to tradition, lexicography, etc. there exist no mention of the episode of Karbala and the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali (A) in the studies of this word.
The pre-Islamic Jews fasted on this day and it was considered a day of great importance by them. According to them it was the day on which Moses (A) overcame Pharaoh.
During the pagan era of the Jahiliyyah, the Quraysh fasted on this day and its fast was emphasized upon after the advent of Islam until the fasting through the month of Ramadan was made obligatory. Thereafter the fast of Ashura was abandoned.
But what was the reason behind the great religious significance of this day? That which can be inferred from the corpus of related traditions is that the significance attached to this day since the era of Moses was on account of the episode of Karbala.
After the event of Karbala, the Umayyad tried to make this day appear as a day of blessing and this was considered by them the reason for the fast held on this day. However, after the event of Karbala, the Imams forbade the people from fasting on this day.

Imam Khomeini on the Role of Ashura in the
Islamic Revolution of Iran

Khwsrow Vafa'ie Sa'di

This paper aims to discuss "the role of Ashura in the Islamic Revolution. A review of the Imam Khomeini's strategy in his struggle against the Pahlavi regime shows that the late Imam (R.) focused on the idea of Ashura in his revolt. Therefore, an inquiry into the life and the ideas of the founder of the Islamic Revolution, as they relate to the influence of Ashura on the Islamic Revolution, is of utmost importance. The present paper is dealing with this issue from two different angles and has come up with two distinct analyses which will be presented after a brief introduction.
1.In the first section, the historical process of the effects of Ashura on the revolution, with special consideration given to the strategy and views of the late Imam (R.), has been given due attention and has been presented under the title "Historical Analysis". In this discussion three historical junctures have been discussed:
•The 15th of Khordad of 1342 H. sh. or the point when the sapling of the Islamic Revolution was planted,
•The period between the 15th of Khordad of 1342 H.Sh to the Taasu'a and Ashura of the year 1357 or the blossoming of the tree of the Islamic Revolution.
•The point of Taasu'a and Ashura of the year 1357 or the point in which the tree of the Islamic Revolution bore fruits.
2.In the second section, I will deal with the effects of Ashura on the Islamic Revolution from the perspective of the late Imam. This analysis pays special attention to the social functions and is indeed entitled as "Sociological Analysis". In this section, I will discuss the social functions of Ashura in the Islamic Revolution as manifested in the gatherings of the people, creating unity, bringing about cohesion, nurturing the spirit of martyrdom-seeking, and so on.

The Ideological Foundation & Socio-Political Roots of the Movement of Ashura

Ahmad al- Waseti

The movement of Ashura, because of its special characteristics, resmebles a torch that lights the path of our eternal mission. This movement has three dimensions that are connected to one another: ideological, social, and political. Each one of these dimensions need to be analyzed from a historical point of view. In the ideological dimension, what we need to know here, is that despite what some might think, the event of Ashura is not the continuation of a historical hosility between the House of Hashim and the House of Umayyads, hut has ideological-religious roots.
The Muslims are of two types, with regard to their faith in Imam Husayn(A):
The first group are the ones that do not believe in the absolute sovereignty (wilayah) of Ma 'summin (the infallible descendants of the Prophet). They agree that Prophet Muhammad (S) loved Imam Husayn (A). They also agree that Imam Husayn (A) was the most pious and devout man. They also believe that there are authentic Hadiths from the Prophet (S) that foretell the events of Taff.
The second group believes in the absolute Wilayah of the Prophet's infallible descendants. This group believes that conduct of all Imams (A), including Imam Husayn (A), was motivated Only by duty. They believe that every detail of this event is significant and possesses meaning. Had there been any other Imam in place of Imam Husayn (A), he would have acted in the same manner that Imam Husayn (A) did. The movement and uprising of Imam Husayn (A) was for enjoining the good and prohibiting the evil. He did not want the seat of government except for correcting what was wrong and for invitiation to truth and blocking falsehood.
In the social and human dimensions, the movement of Ashura is considered in today's world as a model and a lesson for all struggles for justice. Ashura has been turned into a permanent and immortal event because of the sacredness and purity of its aims, highly emotional nature of its details, and the fact that its call strikes the right cord within every individual who hears it.
Finally, from a political point of view, Imam Husayn (A) rose up in order to put an end to a very dangerous deviation in the Islamic government and to prevent the establishment of dynastic rule over the Islamic lands. He refused to sign a covenant with Yazid because he wanted to make sure that the people would begin to question the legitimacy of the rule of the House of Umayyads.

The Islamic Revolution & The Movement of Imam Husayn (A)

Muhammad Wa'iz Zadeh Khurasani

The incident of Karbala is an exceptional event, and in view of the fact that its greatness is unparalleled and unique, its consequences too have been great. Honoring this martyrdom for the sake of rejuvenating its divine ideals and objectives is doubtlessly obligatory.
The motive of Imam Husayn's uprising was to stop a great deviation and an innovation (bid'at) from taking place in the area of Islamic politics. This deviation was such that it threatened the very existence of the Islamic system by placing the reigns of the public affairs of the Muslims in the hands of unqualified persons. The flow of events after the demise of the Noble Prophet (s) was such that eventually it led to the Khilafat becoming a hereditary office and Imam Husay's uprising was a stuggle against this deviation.
The suffering of Karbala, due to its peculiar characteristics, is the greatest and the most painful suffering witnessed in Islamic history. Ashura was one of the Days of God (ayyamullah) and it is necessary that its memory be kept alive. The continuation of the mourning ceremonies of the Leader of the martyrs (salar-e-shahidan) by way of reciting elegies, mourning and causing others to mourn by demonstrating before them the events of Karbala as described in authentic accounts, has a very fundamental objective, which is, mobilizing the people to traverse the path of the Ahl al-Bayt(A), to uphold the Shari'ah, to establish justice and good in the society, and in short, to command good and forbid evil.
One of the peculiar features of the Islamic Revolution of Iran from its very beginning to this date is its direct link with the month of Muharram and the mourning ceremonies of Imam Husayn (A). Accordingly, the manner of conducting these mourning ceremonies, both in from and content, should be in consonance with the objectives of the Islamic Revolution.
One of the duties of Ulama is to stop the intrusion of innovations and deviations in the domain of religion. Among the obvious deviations is the practice of qameh-zani (striking one's head with a dagger) in mourning ceremonies for Imam Husayn (A) and qufl-zani (placing a padlock on their own bodies) both historic and as forthright way of confronting of an Imam with the intention of fulfillment of a prayer and removing it on its fulfillment) witnessed during the commemoration of Imam Husayn's (A) martyrdom. The Shi'ah Ulama, well meaning people and reformers have been distressed about this obvious innovation, (bid'at).

The Writing of Maqtals (Accounts of Martyrdom) in the Mirror of History

Mahmud Yazdi Mutlaq (Fazel)

In the area of writing Maqtals, there are over one thousand sources written in Persian or Arabic, by both Shi'ahs and Sunnis.
Maqtal-writing means registering the reports and stories about martyrdom of Imam Husayn (A) and his companions in order to clarify the aims of school of Shi'ism and to ensure the continuation of this school from generation to generation.
Why are Maqtals written?
Clarifying the aims of Ashura, articulating, and pursuing after those goals which can lead to creating social and political consciousness and a strong desire to fight falsehood.