Reliving Karbala: Martyrdom in South Asian Memory

278 Pages·2008·1.76 MB·English

by  Syed Akbar Hyder

Reliving Karbala
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Reliving Karbala
Martyrdom in South Asian Memory
syed akbar hyder
1
2006
1
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-19-537302-8
1.Shia—India. 2.Karbala,Battleof,Karbala,Iraq,680. 3.Shia—Customs
andpractices. 4.Martyrdom. I.Title.
BP192.7.I4H952006
297.8'2'0954—dc22 2005015099
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
To the memory of Ammi and Pappa
For Puneet, Hussain, and Raza
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Preface
Mer¯ıta(cid:1)m¯ırmen˜ muzfimarhaiiksfiu¯ratkfihara¯b¯ık¯ı
hayu¯la¯ barq-ekfihirmanka¯ haikfihu¯n-egarmdahqa¯n˜ ka¯
Hiddeninmyconstructionisanexpressionofruin—
Thesourceoftheharvest-destroyinglightningisthe
farmer’shotblood
MirzaGhalib
Karbalaisnotonlyapartofmyacademicheritage;itisalsopartof
mypersonalworld.Iamaproductofamilieuinwhichtheremem-
branceofKarbala,theseventh-centurybattlebetweentheyounger
grandsonoftheProphetMuhammad,Husain,andthepoliticalau-
thorityofthattime,Yazid,consoledmournersduringfuneralsand
broughtsobrietytoweddings,buoyedargumentsofsocioreligious
reformduringheateddiscussions,andloomedlargeintheliterary,
visual,andauralaestheticstowhichmyfamilysubscribed.While
holdingthestatusofthemasternarrativeofmartyrdom,itsinvoca-
tionsalsoappearedinapotpourriofformsthatfulfilledmundane
needsanddesiresthathadnoseemingrelationshipwithspirituality
ormetaphysics.Likemanyotherswhogrowupinaworldwhere
Karbalaholdssimilarcurrency,Itoohadmyfavoritecharacters
fromtheKarbalastory.OneofthemwasHurr,ageneralfromYa-
zid’sarmywhodefectedtoHusain’scampjusthoursbeforetheac-
tualbattlebegan.OutofallthestockcharactersfromtheKarbala
story,Hurrseemedtobethemostrealistic:hisfaithwaveredandhe
mademistakes;heponderedhisactionsintermsofgainsand
lossesinthislifeandinthehereafter;hebrokeforthfromthe
powerstructuresofhistime.Inkeepingwiththespiritofhis
name,hewas“free”andliberatedinanexistentialsense.Sofascinated
viii preface
wasIwithHurrthatIdecidedtotakehimupwhenembarkingonmygraduate
studies.IsoughttogaugeHurr’slegacybytracingitthroughvariouscultural
traditionsoftheNearEasternandSouthAsianworlds,concentratingespecially
onthegenreofUrduelegies.However,afterbeginningmydoctoralstudiesat
Harvard, I was convinced by the late Annemarie Schimmel to broaden my
researchprojectfromastudyofHurrtoalargerstudyofKarbala’slegacy,not
justforMuslimsbutalsofornon-Muslims.
WhenIstartedworkingonthisprojectadecadeago,fewWesternersout-
side academic circles knew what Karbala meant. Since then, however, fueled
by the United States’ militaryinvolvementinIraq,themassmediahaveduly
propelled Karbala into headlines that are often marred by reductive assump-
tions, without appreciating its presence not just in Iraq, but in other parts of
Asia and Africa as well. So when thousands of people in South Asia demon-
strated against the United States’ military campaigns in areas surrounding
KarbalaandNajaf,manypeopleintheWestmissedthesymbolicsignificance
ofthesecitiestoregionsbeyondtheMiddleEast.
Thisbook,amongotherobjectives,seekstoengagethestrait-jacketedman-
ner in which Muslim societies are represented in the western world, not just
throughthemassmediaandgovernmentpropagandabutalsowiththeassis-
tanceofmanyinstitutionsofhighereducation.Intheaftermathoftheattacks
of September 11, 2001, in the United States and July 7, 2005, in London, the
reified image of the Islam-martyrdom-violence nexus has gained more cur-
rencythaneverbefore;andsuchimagesdonotaugurwellforanythoughtful
or honest assessment of the cosmopolitan cultures and histories of Muslim
peoples’, nor have these images propelled discussions regarding power rela-
tions, alienation, and disenfranchisement forward. Moreover, a discussion of
Islam in the West is disproportionately shaped by the assumption that the
MiddleEast(withfewerthan40percentofthetotalMuslimpopulation)isan
exclusively representative sample of Islam. I break decisively from the ranks
of those who imagine the location ofMuslimsocietiesalongasingle“perim-
eter,”1 and refute any unified readings of Islam by exploring themultifaceted
developmentsandreadingsofKarbalaanditssymbolicstatusvis-a´-vistheidea
of martyrdom. Rather than locating my discussion exclusively at the node of
the trite mantraof “Islamhas manyfaces,”Iemphasizemomentsoftension
and fissures, along with instances of collaboration and appropriation. Osten-
sibly about Karbala and martyrdom, this book makes a broad appeal to those
whowishtoexplorehowreligions,likehumanbeings,livetheirlivesthrough
temporalandcontextualchanges,doubtsandcertainties,concordsandaporias.
Itismyhopethatthisstudy,bysettingforthaparadigmforreadinganevent
fromseventh-centuryIraq,willhelpstudentsandscholarsofreligion,culture,
and literature open a window on some of the dynamic interpretive strategies
thatshapethesocialmilieusinwhichmorethanabillionpeoplelive.
The formal research for parts of this book began in May 1993 and drew
toacloseinMarch2005.Duringthistime,Ihadthegoodfortuneofbenefiting
frominnumerableconsultants,critics,friends,familymembers,andteachers
based in India, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the
preface ix
United Kingdom, and the United States. One of the most difficult tasks in
conducting this study was selecting the material that I would include in the
book.ManywhomIconsultedwantedmetowriteabookthatwouldalterthe
state of the Muslim community for the better; they felt that I should not ex-
amine popular and controversial aspects of religion when writing about Kar-
bala. Rather, they envisioned my study as a work that might be considered
authoritativeamongthewell-readpractionersofIslam.Infact,areligiousau-
thoritytoldmethatIshouldnotevenmentionacertainSouthAsianMuslim
neighborhood, lest I embarrass Muslims around the world: “What they do is
nottrueIslam;thatisnotwhattheQuransays;thatisnotwhatKarbalaisall
about. You know, Islam is the best religion with the worst followers, even
GeorgeBernardShawsaidthis.Evenifyoutalkaboutthoseun-Islamicthings,
youshouldcategoricallysaywhatthosepeopledoisnotIslam.”Thereligious
andliteraryauthoritieswhospokewithmehadlittleappreciationfortheman-
nerinwhichKarbalaisperceivedbylaypeople.Theywantedmetoconcentrate
exclusively on written texts of history, philosophy, and aesthetics. While they
didnothesitatetoblameandcriticizeothersfordepictingIslamasaninvari-
ably violent and intolerant force, ironically, they rejected readings of Islam
which were at odds with their own understanding. Many of their discourses
were more exclusivist than pluralistic. Although itis obvious to me thatsuch
attitudes are an expression of concern that Islam has been misunderstoodin
theWestforaverylongtime,andabeliefthatasingularlyneatreadingofthis
religionwouldvindicateitsworth,Icouldnotdojusticetothisprojectwithout
mentioning those “embarrassing” moments of history and cultural practices
thataffordustellinginsightsintohowreligionsmanifestthemselvesinflesh,
beyond their scripted existence. Moreover, I could not assign thousands of
people the role of stray or insignificant devotees, simply because they live re-
ligion that is not rooted in authoritative texts. Regardless of whether or not I
heededadviceandwarnings,Iammostindebtedtoallthosewhoallowedme
entryintotheirworldsofdevotion,mysticism,criticism,andhumor.
Previous incarnations of partsofthisbookhaveappearedinCulturalDy-
namics (“Iqbal and Karbala: Re-Readingthe Epistemeof Martyrdomfora Po-
etics of Appropriation”), Volume 13, no. 3, pp. 339–362, Sage Publications,
2001; Sufi Illuminations (“Revisiting Wine and the Goblet in South Asian
MartyrdomandMysticism”),Volume3,no.1,pp.14–33;TheWomenofKarbala:
Ritual Performance and Symbolic Discourses in Modern Shi’i Islam (“Sayyadeh
Zaynab:TheConquerorofDamascusandBeyond”),ed.KamranScotAghaie,
2005, Austin: University of Texas Press; and A Wilderness of Possibilities (“To
You Your Cremation, To Me My Burial: The Ideals of Inter-Communal Har-
mony in Premchand’s Karbala”), eds. Kathryn Hansen and David Lelyveld,
2005,Delhi:OxfordUniversityPress.Ithankallthesepublishersandeditors
for granting me permission to publishrevised versions ofthesearticleshere.
I am also grateful to M. F. Husain and Arun Vadehra for allowing me to use
Mr.Husain’spaintingKarbala.
Thecouncilofseveralindividualshasbeenessentialtothisproject;these
people, in manyways, areresponsibleforhelpingbringthisbooktofruition.