72 PURE MARTYRS AND THE ROYALTY OF ISLAM

"Every day is Ashura and every land is Kerbala."

.....which can loosely translate to everyday is sad for Shia muslims because people do not realize the truth and every land is the place of oppression and even sometimes, war crimes because of humanity's failure to not only submit to Islam but to listen to the wisdom of the true holders of Islamic wisdom, the members of the Ahl Bayt and their followers (like Saed Hassan Nasrallah who is literally a family member of this divine tribal lineage).

Today marks the end of Ashoura 2010 in the Islamic calendar. Ashoura is the tenth of Muharram, the anniversary of the mighty battle of Kerbala and the ten day festival of mourning for Shia around the world. It commemorates the slaughter of the last member of the Prophet Mohamed's immediate family - his grandson Hussein at the hands of a most evil and oppositional (to Islam) force headed by the notoriously wicked Mu'awwiya.

A brief description of Ashoura here: http://www.ashura.com/

Back in the day (when I lived in Lebanon), Ashoura was celebrated with tremendous amounts of blood letting in the town squares throughout South Lebanon. Nowdays however the trend is to donate blood to blood banks instead.

The story comes to us through generation upon generation of retelling. Each year throughout the Islamic World (Shia), the tale is retold over the course of ten (ashara) days. Believers attend Husseiniyas (like mosques) and the tale is retold as mourners cry and mourn the long ago deaths of the martyrs (the 72 pure ones) in the field of Kerbala. A list of the 72 martyrs (**who I believe have been mistaken/misundertood for 'virgins' as the ones who will meet other martyrs in paradise) can be found here:

http://www.shiachat.com/forum/index.php?/topic/84850-list-of-72-shuhada-martyrs-of-karbala/

Tribute is paid to Zainab, the sister of Hussein for the historical retention of the story. She was taken hostage by the army of Mu'awwiya and as they traveled to Syria, she told the story of the war crime to everyone along the way and hence, the story is known throughout the world.

May Allah be pleased with his Ahl Bayt and bless their friends and followers throughout the coming years.

**The concept of "virgins" as being rewards is not found in the Quran but in several hadith which are considered mostly weak reports at best.