Awliyaa Ta’ala have taught us everything— from securing our basic needs, including clothes, food, and housing, to fostering and maintaining good relations with our fellow mumineen and all others in society. Each product, however, involves multiple industries. Clothing, as Maula TUS stated, is a product of various steps, professions, skillsets, and technologies — from the tailor who measures and stitches the fabric to size and the weaver who uses a loom to weave cotton into thread, to the farmer who grows and harvests the raw material. There are approximately 500,000 mumineen worldwide today, experts in professions ranging from IT and engineering to agriculture and health. Reflecting on the immense capabilities of mumineen, Maula TUS quoted Maulana Ali’s AS kalam:
حرفة المرء كنزه
A man’s skillset is his treasure.
It is no coincidence that this kalam contains 13 letters, and as this is Maula’s TUS 13th Ashara Mubaraka, Maula TUS elected to center this year’s waaz mubarak around the numerous, valuable skills with which mumineen have been endowed. The first waaz centered on six traits of two skillsets — clothesmaking and culinary arts — and how each can be applied toward nurturing good relations with one another.
Quality Check and Measurement
Checking the quality of both fabrics and food and ensuring precise measurements of both are important qualities of tailors and chefs. Before selecting a fabric, tailors check to ensure it is durable and will not shrink or shrivel when washed. Similarly, chefs ensure that the ingredients they use are both halal and nutritious, and accommodate their guests’ tastes. Maula TUS expressed that Doat Mutlaqeen RA assess their mumineen through the zikr of Imam Husain AS and how often they continue to come to their hazrat aaliyah. Further, Maula TUS related clothesmaking and cooking to our relationships, emphasizing the need to check the bounds of one’s friendships. For example, if someone is loose-tongued, then your friendship should not include sharing your secrets with them.
Season-appropriate clothing
Each season dictates changes in both our clothes and diet as they shift throughout the year. Clothesmakers ensure they prepare appropriate garments using wool in the winter and cotton in the summer. Similarly, cooks prepare different foods for each season. Sweet potato, carrots, and beetroot make hearty foods for the colder months, while preparing chhaas and yogurt helps cool down the body during the warmer months. In our relationships, Maula TUS emphasized the importance of keeping warmth and desire in our hearts for others, but warned that if met with the cold shoulder, continuing to put effort into that relationship will only cause internal strife and disappointment. Awliyaa Ta’ala AS always express their warmth and desire toward mumineen, even if they have sinned greatly. They aim to make us just like them in every aspect. Maula TUS stated that Imam Husain AS, in his final sajda, even while the knife was on his nape, prayed for mumineen; this was the ultimate expression of desire.
Happy and Sad Occasions
Tailors and chefs alike consider the tone of the occasion and prepare attire and dishes accordingly. On happy occasions, kasbi topis are worn, and women wear adorned and bejeweled dresses; chefs prepare sodunnu and elaborate dishes. Conversely, when observing a more sombre occasion, plain white topis are worn, and the menu remains simple; kheer takes the place of sodannu. The confluence of both occasions demands exemplary conduct. Maula TUS sorrowfully recounted the passing of his maa saheba and Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin’s beloved Busaheba Amatullah Aisaheba QS on Milaad un Nabi in London. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin presided over a khushi ni majlis in honor of Milaad un Nabi, specifically asking for a kasbi dupatta, which is worn on happy occasions, when all the while Busaheba’s blessed casket rested in a corner of the same masjid. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin’s strength, sabr, and conduct in this trying time are heartfelt sources of guidance for us all.
Attentiveness to Time
Good tailors and chefs have the ability to deliver and serve their clients on time. Likewise, in social interactions, timeliness conveys the respect one has for another and is a sign of one’s trustworthiness. Not respecting another’s time can result in severed relations. The most important relationship a mumin has — with Awliyaa Kiraam AS — is at risk if he does not make time to attend Ashara Mubaraka. For then the disquieting question arises: can his relationship with Imam Husain AS and his Dai TUS survive? In Rasulallah’s shariat, punctuality is imperative with respect to namaz. The prescribed timings for namaz are more important than the namaz itself, for while the namaz can be prayed at a later time if missed, the clock cannot be turned back.
Cutting to Remove Excess
A tailor and cook should have the ability to utilize cutting instruments such as scissors and knives on fabric and food to remove excess. They must omit the unnecessary portions while simultaneously making sure there is no wastage. Imam Mohammad al Baqir AS recounted that Imam Ali Zainul Abideen AS would reduce the amount of food cooked, even when an amount of roti so small only an ant could carry it was wasted. Maintaining good relations with people of all paths and faiths is important, but Maula TUS cautioned against relationships that could negatively impact their faith. For example, attending a party with friends where alcohol is being consumed is ill-advised, for merely spending time around alcohol could leave you with the lingering stench of alcohol. Engaging in backbiting, or with those who do so, can also have a similar effect.
Repair
It is the job of a tailor to fix tears in garments adeptly so that no one can tell that it was torn to begin with. Similarly, a chef must be able to salvage a dish when it is not satisfactory. These qualities were exemplified by Maulaya Raj during Jafar Laeen’s fitnat. Donning the clothes of a beggar, he went door to door, guiding those who had gone astray back toward their Maula. Similarly, Maula TUS encourages us to mourn Imam Hussain AS to the fullest extent possible during Ashara Mubaraka, in order to repair and erase our sins.
Maula TUS concluded the wa’az mubarak by connecting all six qualities to Imam Husain AS and his sacrifice in Karbala:
Quality Check and Measurement: Imam Husain AS discerned his Ahl Bayt and Ashaab’s intentions, imploring them to flee, as the army of thousands surrounding them was only thirsty for the blood of Imam Husain AS. His Ashaab expressed their steadfast devotion to Imam Husain AS by not leaving even under the harshest of conditions.
Season-Appropriate Clothing: Imam Husain AS, in turn, expressed his warmth and desire towards his Ahl Bayt and Ashaab, by carrying each martyr upon his blessed shoulder and laying them to rest.
Happy and Sad Occasions: Amid utmost hardship, Imam Husain AS simultaneously ordained the joyous marriage of his shehzadi, Sakina, to Abdullah, Imam Hasan’s AS shehzada. Shortly after, Abdullah asked for Husain Imam’s permission to go to battle and sacrifice himself. Before granting Abdullah permission to go out into the battlefield, Imam Husain AS turned his wedding attire into a shroud. This act represented the confluence of joy and sorrow, both present together on Ashura.
Attentiveness to Time
On the eve of Ashura, Imam Husain’s AS spent this sensitive and critical time engrossed in ibaadat, and on Ashura, during Maulana Ali Akbar’s AS final moments, his presence by his fallen shehzada’s side demonstrated the care and value each Maula places into each mumin.
Cutting to Remove Excess: Imam Husain AS displayed his precision and restraint on the battlefield while fighting the enemy.
Repair: Imam Husain’s AS sole purpose of going to Karbala was to repair what was torn, and to absolve the sins of those who have passed and those who are yet to come.