Muharram: Ode to a Memory in Pain

Over the years, in this annual ritual of mourning, a rainbow tradition of multiple Hindu writers have written the lament in exquisite verse dedicated to Imam Husain Ali, grandson of the Prophet.

Well-known dialogue-writer in Bollywood, and script-writer of the venerable TV serial, ‘Mahabharat’, Dr Rahi Masoom Raza used to say that Imam Husain ibn Ali, grandson of Prophet Muhammad, becomes an Indian during the month of Muharram. Raza’s proclamation emanated from the widespread marking of the martyrdom of Husain in the ‘Battle of Karbala’ by Indians in almost every corner of the country.

The first month of the ‘Hijri’ calendar, Muharram remains dedicated to the collective mourning for Husain, who had challenged the tyranny of the second Umayyad Caliph, Yazid I. Muslims across the world observe the month in utmost sorrow, and choose to refrain from any celebrations and festivities. 

Husain was martyred on the 10th day of Muharram. This is known as ‘Ashura’. Ashura is marked with day-long mourning, called ‘matam’, which is accompanied with passionate acts of self-flagellation by devotees. Devotees injure themselves with sharp weapons and chains. Sentimental, elegiac poetry, in the memory of the ‘Battle of Karbala’ and Husain’s immolation, is recited in ‘majlis’ (gatherings) throughout the month. 

‘Taziya’ — symbolising Imam Hussain in fasting — is taken out on the 10th day of Muharram. It is made of wood, mica and coloured paper. It can be of any size and artisans make it according to their own imagination. Each ‘taziya has a dome.

Indeed, India has a tradition of remembering its dead since ancient times.

The tradition of mourning in Muharram in India is as old as perhaps the advent of Islam in the subcontinent. Muharram here is marked in different ways — from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. People from all religions take part in it.

Muharram has also been a melting pot of Hindu-Muslim unification. Hindu and Muslim religious sensibilities seamlessly fused with each other, because of the deep connection of sorrow, while weaving the emotion into words, memories, and language. As a result, a large number of Hindu poets figure prominently among the writers of ‘marsiya’ (an elegy, a lament).

Hindu and Sikh, Husain–Lovers

The credit of tracing the Hindu ‘marsiya’ writers goes to Kali Das Gupta Raza. He is considered to be an authority on Mirza Ghalib, but he used to write ‘marsiyas’ as well. Gupta Raza was a great admirer of Imam Raza. He added ‘Raza’ as his ‘takhallus’ (pen name), out of sheer devotion to the Imam.

At a ripe age, he planned to compile a ‘tazkira’ (remembrance, a memoir) of Hindu ‘marsiya’ writers, but could not complete the task due to his demise. He, however, left behind a meticulously researched description of a number of Hindu ‘marsiya’ writers. From his painstakingly documented account, one comes to know about a galaxy of Hindu ‘marsiya’ writers.

According to him, the first such Hindu writer was Ram Rao. His pen name was ‘Saiva’. He belonged to Gulbarga (now Kalaburgi) in Karnataka, but migrated to Bijapur during the reign of Ali Adil Shah. In about 1681, he translated ‘Rozatush Shuhada’ in Deccani, in addition to the original ‘marsiyas’ written by him.

Sri Makkhan Das and Balaji Tasambak, with ‘Tara’ as his pen name, are worth mentioning. They flourished in Deccan after Ram Rao. Another Hindu poet, Swami Prasad, also wrote ‘marsiyas’ in Urdu, under the pen name of ‘Asghar’.

When the centre of Urdu shifted from the South to the North of India, and ‘Azadari’ (practices related to mourning) thrived under the patronage of the Awadh dynasty in Lucknow, Hindu poets and writers did not lag behind in participating in Muharram rituals. They ardently engaged in writing verse in this genre. The best known among them was Munshi Channu Lal Lakhnavi. He wrote ‘Ghazals’ under the pen name of ‘Tarab’ and ‘marsiyas’ under the pseudonym, ‘Dilgir’. In his later period, he wrote ‘marsiyas’ and distinguished himself in the field.

The Hindu ‘marsiyanigars’ (ode-writers of mourning) also included a female named Roop Kanwar Kumari. She belonged to a family of Kashmiri Pandits who lived in Agra. She did not like to appear in public gatherings and had contacts only with those writers whom she regarded competent enough to guide her in her writing.

She wrote during the 1920s and ’30s. In her ‘marsiyas’, a creative inter-mix of, rich two cultural sensibilities is found. She had devised a mode of expression wherein ‘Hindised Bhakti’ terminology and ‘Persianised’ expressions of ‘marsiyas’ blend together in sublime synthesis.

This blending of the two modes of expression imparts a new flavour to this precious genre. For this reason alone she stands so rare and distinguished among her contemporary writers. She relishes in calling Hazrat Ali a ‘rishi’, a devotee, or, simply, ‘maharaj’, saying, ‘Najaf hamaray liyai Harduar-au-Kashi hai (Najaf is like Haridwar and Kashi for us). Here is a couplet in her unique style:

Ali’s feet shelter all

Ali’s loved by the two souls

No one knows Ali’s reality

But the Prophet and

God Almighty…

Raja Balwan Singh, son of Maharaja Chait Singh of Benaras (Varanasi), also excelled in the composition of similar verses and odes. He was ousted from Benaras by the Britishers. He succeeded in winning a ‘jagir’ from the maharaja of Gwalior. His son lived in Agra and became a disciple of Nazir Akbarabadi. He distinguished himself as a ‘marsiya’ writer, though, he also wrote in other verse forms. 

Similarly, a noble of Lucknow, Lala Ram Prasad, composed the verses under the pen name, ‘Bashar’. He was a devotee of ‘Ahle-i-Bait’. In his last days, he migrated to Karbala in Iraq, where he breathed his last.

Other notable Hindu and Sikh poets who made Karbala and the subjects of martyrdom integral to their poignant poetry were Rajender Kumar, Ram Bihari Lal ‘Saba’, Chandra Shekhar Saxena, Gauhar Prasad Nigam ‘Vilayat’ Gorakhpuri, Munshi Lakhman Narayan ‘Sakha’, Mahendra Kumar ‘Ashq’, Kunwar Mohinder Singh Bedi, Baswa Reddy, Chandra Sharma ‘Bhuvan’ Amrohi, Jai Singh, Kishan Lal, Gopi Nath and Prof Jagannath Azad. Certainly, Amrohi’s couplet represents he feelings of all Hindus:

Hind me kaash Hussain ibn Ali aa jaate…

Choomte un ke qadam palke bichhate Hindu…

(Had Husain ibn Ali arrived in India… Hindus would have prostrated to welcome him)

Peaceful Muharram in India

Despite the sentimental and extensive observation of Muharram, no untoward incident has happened in any part of India. Occassionally, a few rare issues of law and order do come to light, and that happens because of some lapse of management, since huge crowds assemble for mourning.

Mourners can be seen lining the streets in the heart of the Indian capital, and they are assisted by Hindu and Sikh social workers. They mourn and then disperse with assistance from the security forces. A similar phenomenon can be seen in cities like Lucknow, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Srinagar. The intense pain experienced by the family of the Prophet creates a strong sense of sharing and peace.

‘Tabarukh’ (consecrated food), distributed in Muharram, is accepted by Hindus and Sikhs with great reverence. This is yet another sign of the common inheritance of a pluralist culture.

Chaos and Bloodshed in Pakistan

Muharram in Pakistan, the ‘land of the pure’, unfortunately, has often turned into a series of deadly attacks in the past. Usually, sectarian groups or terrorists target mourners on the day of ‘Ashura’. Fortunately, such attacks have diminished in recent years, but it has been a sad signature reflecting the sectarian divide prevalent in Pakistan.

Indeed, usually, poor and lop-sided security arrangements have led to innocent people losing their lives. As many as 4,000 Shias have been killed in Pakistan from 1987 to 2007, while such sectarian killings continued till 2021. Four Pakistani Shias were killed in a mosque in Oman two days ago

Around 5,500 Shias have been killed in various bomb blasts and violent attacks till 2019. Anti-Shia terror groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba, Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan, have openly claimed to have orchestrated such bloody attacks. A new, extremely ruthless terror group, the Islamic State of Khorasan (ISK), murdered 61 Shias during an attack on a mosque in Peshawar in 2022.

Undoubtedly, Husain is equally revered by Sunnis, but certain hardliners oppose the public mourning of his martyrdom. Sectarian violence – in particular by Sunni hardliners – against the Shia community, who make up roughly 20 per cent of Pakistan’s 220 million people, has erupted in fits and bursts since decades. The scenario has improved in recent times, and one prays, and hopes, that peace and harmony will continue to prevail during this annual period of mourning.

In contrast, the holy month of Muharram weaves sacred threads of harmony and peace in pluralist India. It is a deeper sign of an inherited secular identity, often woven in a kaleidoscopic rainbow, which has made this ‘unity and diversity’ a shared celebration of togetherness and peace.

Based in Delhi, Dr Shujaat Ali Quadri is Editor, Digital Forensic Research and Analytics Centre (DFRAC), specializing in fact-checking.