Birthday of Hazrat Ali Akbar (AS)

by Abbas Adil

Salaam and heartiest congratulations to you all on a very special day. It is the day that pertains to the youth and inspires in them the feeling of virtue, moral values, and pursuit of lofty goals, such as defending the honour and dignity of faith and the nation, as well as breaking of new grounds in education, science and technology.

The reason is that the 11th of Sha’ban is associated with a morally upright youth, who was the symbol of piety, knowledge, and gallantry. In short he was a perfect example of humanitarian values and a worthy member of the Ahl al-Bayt or blessed household of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). Let us first salute him with the following words:

      “Peace upon you O son of the Messenger of Allah.

      “Peace upon you O son of the Prophet of Allah.

      “Peace upon you O son of the Commander of the Faithful.

      “Peace upon you O son of Fatema, the Chief of women of the universe.

      “Peace upon you O son of Husain, the Martyr,

      “Peace upon you O Martyr and the son of the Martyr.

      “The Curse of Allah on those who killed you.”

Today on the 11th of Sha’ban, the phrases that we recited to you are on the lips of the faithful, who with eyes turned in the direction of Karbala in Iraq, and hearts glued to the holy shrine of the Chief of Martyrs, Imam Husain (AS), are saluting his son Ali al-Akbar (AS) on his birth anniversary.

Born to the noble lady Layla bint Abi Marra on the 11th of Sha’ban, a day celebrated in the Islamic Republic of Iran as “Day of the Youths” in order to inspire moral virtues in youngsters, he was a model par excellence of ethical values, coupled with knowledge and prudence beyond years. At the same time he was valour personified, a trait he inherited from his grand-father the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), and which he displayed on the battlefield of Karbala, despite the thirst and hunger of three days.

In appearance and in gait, this great-grandson of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) bore such a striking resemblance to the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, that some of the elders in the enemy camp thought that the Seal of Prophets had entered the battlefield in the prime of youth.

But so hardened and blackened were the hearts of the Omayyad forces that they did not desist from hurling spears and shooting arrows at what was without the least doubt the carbon copy of the Prophet of Islam. This is proof of the fact that the hordes of Yazid were not Muslims.

The valorous Ali al-Akbar (AS), however, deftly avoided the deadly projectiles coming towards him, and in a brilliant display of swordsmanship, worthy of Imam Ali (AS) dispatched to the bowels of hell scores of accursed aggressors.

The pens of mortals cannot eulogize the virtues of the Chosen Ones of God whose praises the celestial angels sing. Irrespective of whether he was born on 33 AH (654 AD) or some years later, his epithet “al-Akbar” suggests that he was the eldest son of Imam Husain (AS), older in age than Imam Ali Zain al-Abedin (AS).       He is also known as a “Muhaddith” or narrator of hadith from the Prophet, since authentic accounts of the life of the Prophet were household affairs for the Ahl al-Bayt, contrary to the other narrators of hadith, who were converts or sons and grandsons of converts, and had no precise idea of the genuine teachings of Islam. Even enemies admitted the virtues of Hazrat Ali al-Akbar (AS), as is evident by the statement of the Omayyad usurper of the caliphate Mu’awiyyah ibn Abu Sufyan that the most suitable person for rule is this handsome youth of the Bani Hashem Clan.

Hazrat Ali Akbar (AS), along with his uncle, Hazrat Abu’l-Fazl al-Abbas (AS), was always at the side of his father, and spurned the offer of amnesty by the enemies who thought his mother Layla’s maternal connection to the Omayyad clan might tempt him to desert Imam Husain (AS). Consequently, he was the first martyr of the Ahl al-Bayt in Karbala, and his death was a terrible blow for the Prophet’s grandson to the extent that the 57-year old father felt like light of his eyes had vanished.

Decades later, his grandnephew Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS) teaching Abu Hamza Thumali on the manners of performing pilgrimage to the shrine of Ali al-Akbar said: “When you arrive at his grave, put your face on the grave and say, ‘peace be upon you, O Aba’l-Hasan!”

The murderer of Ali Akbar has been cursed by the Lord of the Age, the Prophet’s 12th and Last Infallible Heir, Imam Mahdi (AS) who will rise in the end times to avenge the blood of the martyrs of Karbala and establish the global government of peace, prosperity, and justice on Planet Earth. In the “Ziyarat an-Nahiya al-Muqaddasa” while saluting Ali al-Akbar (AS), the Imam of our age, says: “May God Himself judge about your killer, Marra ibn Munqidh ibn Nu’man al-Abdi. May God curse him and humiliate him; and make anyone who participated in your killing and assisted them, taste hell which is such a very bad place.”     Today, while celebrating the Day of Virtuous Youths, we recall the battle cry of Hazrat Ali al-Akbar (AS) in Karbala:

       “I am Ali, the son of Husain, the son of Ali

      “By the House of God, we are those with the Prophet righteously

      “By God, the son of a spurious son, will not judge us,

    “I will strike with the blow of a Hashemi, a Quraishi”.

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