The mourning ceremony for the standard-bearer of Karbala, Qamar Bani Hashim Abulfazl (a.s.) was held on Wednesday night, the 4th of Mordad in the year 1402, corresponding to the 8th of Muharram, in the Cultural Center hall of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Manila. In this gathering, Mr. Esmaeil Zadeh, the honorable ambassador of the Islamic Republic in Manila, a group of embassy staff, a visiting cleric of Hojjat al-Islam and Muslims, Haj Agha Seyed Sadegh Tabatabai, a seminary and university teacher and expert in Quranic sciences, and a group of resident Iranians and lovers of the family of Ahl al-Bayt from the Philippines, India and Pakistan were present and the participants listened to the speeches of the speakers, recited the Ziyarat Ashura, and mourned.

 

The ceremony started at 7:30 in the evening with congregational prayer, and then Mr. Abolghasemi, the Cultural Counselor of the Islamic Republic in Manila, offered greetings and courtesy to the holy shrine of Imam Hussain (a.s.), gave a short speech, He extended greetings to the mourners and attendees, introducing both the ambassador of the Islamic Republic and the dispatched cleric from the center. The Cultural Counselor, while giving information about the prepared programs, expressed hope that the lovers of Ahl al-Bayt will also participate in the mourning programs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

 

After his speech, the Ziyarat Ashura was recited according to the tradition of Muharram days. Following this, Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin began Haji Agha Sadeq Tabatabaei began his speech. The speaker praised the Almighty Allah and expressed condolences for the martyrdom of Agha Abulfazl (a.s.) and welcomed and expressed his gratitude for the presence of the mourners who participated in this gathering from far and near despite the heavy rain. During his speech, he elaborated on the matters of Islamic jurisprudence related to transactions, buying and selling and gave a brief explanation of the Shariah aspects of each.

 

In another part of his speech, Mr. Tabatabaei discussed the attributes and characteristics of the standard-bearer of Karbala, and by citing hadiths from the infallibles (peace be upon them), he emphasized the need to know more about Agha Abulfazl (a.s.) and this martyr of Karbala by relying on the words of the scholars and infallibles. He knew about the jurists of Bani Hashem and also Imam Sadiq (a.s.) quoted who said: Our uncle Abbas had a strong vision, understanding and insight. Mr. Tabatabai, while explaining the story of Shamar's insistence on giving a letter of safety to Qamar Bani Hashem and the firm rejection of this proposal by the standard-bearer of Karbala, considered it a clear example of the imamism of this noble martyr who refused to leave the tent of his imam and join the group of opponents and emphasized One of our biggest problems is the lack of strong insight in Imamology. The speaker divided the insights of Imamology into two parts: passive and volitional, and considered volitional insight to be far superior to passive insight and emphasized that Tasua should be a factor in showing us the way of Imamology. In another part of his speech, based on the sayings of Imam Sadiq (a.s.), Rouhani Ezami considered Islam and faith to be two categories separate from each other and acknowledged that being on the religion of Islam does not necessarily equate to reaching the position of faith and added that Islam should be with the participation of faith.

 

Hojjat al-Islam Tabatabai then explained the greatness of the Holy Quran and explained to the audience examples of the miracles of the Quran that were revealed to the blessed Prophet (pbuh) more than 1400 years ago, including how a baby is formed in the mother's womb and the difference between the fingertips of humans. And while reading the statement of the teachers of Qom Seminary in rejecting and criticizing the recent actions in desecration of the Holy Quran, he emphasized the words of the Great Lord in preserving this holy book and by mentioning the events leading to the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (a.s.) in the last hours.

 

 

Mentioning the plight of the martyrs of Karbala and holding a ceremony including chest-beating was another part of the program on Wednesday night, and at the end of the program, the mourners were served with blessed food from the table of the master and leader of martyrs.