This is another unusual Ashura for me in the US. Actually, the third one. However, this is different than the first two in Toledo. While I was in Toledo, there were no Shia mosques in there. Yet, there was one Shia mosque within biking distance in Southern Michigan. And there were more further north. And sometimes my friends would give me a ride on occasions, especially for Ashura ceremonies. I enjoyed my Ashura experience last year.
But here in Southern Illinois, there isn't a Shia mosque even within driving distance. The nearest Shia mosques are to the western suburbs of St Louis. And that means about 3 hours of driving. I called 2 of my Iranian friends asking about the possibility of giving me a ride there. Given the importance of Ashura in Iranian culture, I assumed they would be interested in going there themselves as well. I was even willing to share the gas price, not to be a free rider. They told me they would call me back in the afternoon to arrange the time to pick me up. And none called back. And when I called them, they had changed their mind about going.
Well, it's true that God looks at your heart and the personal connection you make with Imam Hussein and you don't have to go to a mosque or Hussainia for that matter. But I really didn't feel like spending my Ashura in a lonely way, especially being cast away in a place like Carbondale. As an engineer, I had contingency plans. And an unusual one that I came upon through an unusual way.
I had got to know about Sufis in Carbondale by looking at my Google Analytics reports. I found that some people had landed on my blog by searching the keywords Sufi and Carbondale. There have been some posts in my blog where I had written about my Sufi friends while I was in Toledo. And oddly, Google had taken my current location (Carbondale) and had added that to the word Sufi scattered around my blog. Hey Google, do you call this intelligent search? When people search Sufi in Carbondale, they are looking exactly for that, not such an unintelligent search result combo.
Thinking about the possibility of Sufis being in a cultural desert like Carbondale sounded surprising to me. I searched the words myself. I had a hard time finding them, partly because of unintelligent Google results and partly because these Sufis didn't seem to be much preoccupied with advertising about themselves. Their web presence was minimal without any address for their office in Carbondale. I persisted in my research and eventually could find their place.
I visited them and talked to their Murshid and found out that their reluctance about advertising for themselves was partly because of usual modesty and humility of Sufis in general who avoid publicity (and hence vanity) and partly as a result of post-911 anti-Islamic mania. He told me that even their Zekr sessions were looked upon with suspicion in the beginning and it took them quite some charity and social work to offset the anti-Islamic stupidity. And they were surprised (and found it funny) when they knew how I discovered about them through my blog and Google. By the end of the meeting I was invited to their Tekke. But as I was overwhelmed with my coursework and TA assignments last semester, I couldn't make it there for any of their Zekr sessions.
And then, I had this Ashura issue this year. I was already aware that Sufis (even non-Shia varieties) have affection for the family of the Prophet. So, I thought about attending their Tekke for Ashura. Just being in a place where people love Imam Hussein would be fine, even if they don't do the commemoration and mourning the way we Shia people do.
I visited their Tekke a few days before Ashura and had the possibility of a contingency plan in mind just in case. Like mainstream Sunnis, they believed in fasting on Ashura. We Shia people abstain from food and drink without the intention of fasting. Actually, the tradition of fasting on Ashura was established by corrupt Umayyad caliphs to celebrate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and what they assumed to be their victory by killing the grandson of the Prophet and his family. Then, they forged some hadith to make it appear as an authentic Islamic tradition.
The Murshid explained to me that their fasting had nothing to do with the Sunni tradition, nor with those forged hadith, nor with such an historical background. To them, this fasting was mostly about purification of self and also remembrance of Imam Hussein and his family and their plight on the day of Ashura amid that barren desert. And in his sermon, he said something interesting: "We Sufis can keep our head up because of Imam Hussein." Hearing that from somebody who doesn't claim to be Shia was interesting to me, as this is primarily an integral part of Shia identity: we define ourselves and our identity by the relationship we have with Imam Hussein.
Although they don't usually have any weekly event on Tuesdays (this year, the night before Ashura), he scheduled one at my suggestion. The person who was reciting the story of Imam Hussein, Karbala and Ashura was an American convert (originally from San Fransisco). He stayed away from graphic details of what happened in Ashura and instead focused on historical highlights of what happened after Ashura. Well, we Shia people do remember those graphic details as it is part of the tragedy and combine the remembrance of those tragic events with historical importance of what happened afterwards. But anyway, just being in a place where people remember Imam Hussein was fine to me.
But here in Southern Illinois, there isn't a Shia mosque even within driving distance. The nearest Shia mosques are to the western suburbs of St Louis. And that means about 3 hours of driving. I called 2 of my Iranian friends asking about the possibility of giving me a ride there. Given the importance of Ashura in Iranian culture, I assumed they would be interested in going there themselves as well. I was even willing to share the gas price, not to be a free rider. They told me they would call me back in the afternoon to arrange the time to pick me up. And none called back. And when I called them, they had changed their mind about going.
Well, it's true that God looks at your heart and the personal connection you make with Imam Hussein and you don't have to go to a mosque or Hussainia for that matter. But I really didn't feel like spending my Ashura in a lonely way, especially being cast away in a place like Carbondale. As an engineer, I had contingency plans. And an unusual one that I came upon through an unusual way.
I had got to know about Sufis in Carbondale by looking at my Google Analytics reports. I found that some people had landed on my blog by searching the keywords Sufi and Carbondale. There have been some posts in my blog where I had written about my Sufi friends while I was in Toledo. And oddly, Google had taken my current location (Carbondale) and had added that to the word Sufi scattered around my blog. Hey Google, do you call this intelligent search? When people search Sufi in Carbondale, they are looking exactly for that, not such an unintelligent search result combo.
Thinking about the possibility of Sufis being in a cultural desert like Carbondale sounded surprising to me. I searched the words myself. I had a hard time finding them, partly because of unintelligent Google results and partly because these Sufis didn't seem to be much preoccupied with advertising about themselves. Their web presence was minimal without any address for their office in Carbondale. I persisted in my research and eventually could find their place.
I visited them and talked to their Murshid and found out that their reluctance about advertising for themselves was partly because of usual modesty and humility of Sufis in general who avoid publicity (and hence vanity) and partly as a result of post-911 anti-Islamic mania. He told me that even their Zekr sessions were looked upon with suspicion in the beginning and it took them quite some charity and social work to offset the anti-Islamic stupidity. And they were surprised (and found it funny) when they knew how I discovered about them through my blog and Google. By the end of the meeting I was invited to their Tekke. But as I was overwhelmed with my coursework and TA assignments last semester, I couldn't make it there for any of their Zekr sessions.
And then, I had this Ashura issue this year. I was already aware that Sufis (even non-Shia varieties) have affection for the family of the Prophet. So, I thought about attending their Tekke for Ashura. Just being in a place where people love Imam Hussein would be fine, even if they don't do the commemoration and mourning the way we Shia people do.
I visited their Tekke a few days before Ashura and had the possibility of a contingency plan in mind just in case. Like mainstream Sunnis, they believed in fasting on Ashura. We Shia people abstain from food and drink without the intention of fasting. Actually, the tradition of fasting on Ashura was established by corrupt Umayyad caliphs to celebrate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and what they assumed to be their victory by killing the grandson of the Prophet and his family. Then, they forged some hadith to make it appear as an authentic Islamic tradition.
The Murshid explained to me that their fasting had nothing to do with the Sunni tradition, nor with those forged hadith, nor with such an historical background. To them, this fasting was mostly about purification of self and also remembrance of Imam Hussein and his family and their plight on the day of Ashura amid that barren desert. And in his sermon, he said something interesting: "We Sufis can keep our head up because of Imam Hussein." Hearing that from somebody who doesn't claim to be Shia was interesting to me, as this is primarily an integral part of Shia identity: we define ourselves and our identity by the relationship we have with Imam Hussein.
Although they don't usually have any weekly event on Tuesdays (this year, the night before Ashura), he scheduled one at my suggestion. The person who was reciting the story of Imam Hussein, Karbala and Ashura was an American convert (originally from San Fransisco). He stayed away from graphic details of what happened in Ashura and instead focused on historical highlights of what happened after Ashura. Well, we Shia people do remember those graphic details as it is part of the tragedy and combine the remembrance of those tragic events with historical importance of what happened afterwards. But anyway, just being in a place where people remember Imam Hussein was fine to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment