❊ An Idea For Ashura

A humble proposal for a better way to spill blood in Ashura.

It is not my place as a Sunni to tell Shias how to commemorate Ashura. And yet, after looking at the pictures over at Diana’ blog, I couldn’t help but notice how unfair the images are to the majority of the Shiaas who don’t run around cutting themselves and spilling blood on babies.

I get the idea of sacrifice and mourning and all the symbolism involved, but spilling blood publicly is not compatible with today’s world. It’s a public health risk (spreading blood-borne diseases) and a P.R. disaster that can open the door for haters to demonize an entire sect.

So how can Ashura commemorations evolve for today’s world and still maintain its religious relevance?

I found what could be the answer in Diana’s post: Let’s make Ashura a day for national blood donation. I think it’s a great idea in many ways: It allows more people to take part in the commemoration, it replenishes hospitals’ blood banks and it converts negative P.R into positive P.R. And the best part of all, more people will get to sacrifice and spill blood on Ashura.

This is not unprecedented. Many religions have adjusted religious traditions to fit modern sensibilities. But who’s going to lead such an effort in Lebanon? If I were to chose a champion, I’d go for our minister of health Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh, A Shia and a very competent, soft spoken and sensible doctor. He’s our guy.

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Note: Posts with titles starting with an ❊ (asterisk) are my opinion and article posts. I used this system to separate long posts from quick links and comments.