{"id":67234,"date":"2020-01-03T21:19:31","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T21:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=67234"},"modified":"2020-01-04T05:09:18","modified_gmt":"2020-01-04T05:09:18","slug":"the-martyr-soleimani-embraced-by-imam-hussein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=67234","title":{"rendered":"The martyr Soleimani embraced by Imam Hussein"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ by Charles Cameron<\/strong> — as so often, religious analysis reveals a passionate motivational driver which can help us understand a national security threat — in this case not just from Iran ]
\n.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yes, that’s Soleiman <\/strong>embraced in death by Imam Husayn ibn Ali<\/strong>, the great martyr of Karbala<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

D’oh!<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

As we process the death of Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force commander, Maj Gen Qassem Soleimani<\/strong> by today’s US drone strike, it’s worth taking a look at religious aspects of the response to the death of an iconic figure, who is viewed in Iran as a “glorious martyr<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

Narges Bajoghli <\/strong>is an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies {SAIS], and author of Iran Reframed<\/a>\u201d based on ten years of field research on the IRGC. She has a very pointed tweet which shows the illustration above, commenting:<\/p>\n

More Art on Soleimani by Iran reg cultural ctrs. Imp to note dead Soleimani embraced by Imam Hussein. W\/in Iran this circulating w text “Iran’s Rostam” (hero from Persian epic). Nat’lism + rel symbols to rally around flag internally, while image alone communicates to non-Iranian Shia.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two points here — Martyrdom<\/strong>, and the tale of Sohrab and Rustum<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Martyrdom:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Martyrdom is a central motif in Shi’ite thinking, which centers on the Battle of Karbala in which a small contingent led by the Prophet’s grandson, Ali’s son Husayn<\/strong> was defeated and martyred by the much greater forces of Yazid, second of the Sunni Umayyad caliphs<\/strong> — conceptually, the founding moment for Shia separation from Sunni Islam.<\/p>\n

The death of Husayn<\/strong> is mourned yearly on Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, with the slogan: <\/p>\n

Every Day Is Ashura and Every Land Is Karbala<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Imam Husayn<\/strong> embracing Soleimani <\/strong>thus pouts him at the very heart of Shia maythology. There could hardly be a more emphatic invocation oa a current of religious thought underlying not just Iranian but all Shi’ite thinking><\/p>\n

Thus Iraq’s usually quietist Grand Ayatollah Sistani<\/strong>, hugely admired outside Iran, may well feel called to request the departure of all US troops from Iraq<\/a> as a result — should this happen, it would be a great victory, in death, for Gen Soleimani<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For a Christian equivalent, think of the devout Catholic observance of the Stations of the Cross<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Rustum:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tale of Sohrab and Rustum<\/strong> is an except from the Iranian national epic, the Shahnameh<\/strong>, “relating<\/a> how the great warrior Rustum unknowingly slew his long-lost son Sohrab in single combat” —a tale which is even known to English readers in the version by poet Matthew Arnold<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

But, with a grave mild voice, Sohrab replied:\u2014
\n“Desire not that, my father! thou must live.
\nFor some are born to do great deeds, and live,
\nAs some are born to be obscured, and die.
\nDo thou the deeds I die too young to do,
\nAnd reap a second glory in thine age;
\nThou art my father, and thy gain is mine.
\nBut come! thou seest this great host of men
\nWhich follow me; I pray thee, slay not these!
\nLet me entreat for them; what have they done?
\nThey follow’d me, my hope, my fame, my star.
\nLet them all cross the Oxus back in peace.
\nBut me thou must bear hence, not send with them,
\nBut carry me with thee to Seistan,
\nAnd place me on a bed, and mourn for me,
\nThou, and the snow-hair’d Zal, and all thy friends.
\nAnd thou must lay me in that lovely earth,
\nAnd heap a stately mound above my bones,
\nAnd plant a far-seen pillar over all.
\nThat so the passing horseman on the waste
\nMay see my tomb a great way off, and cry:
\nSohrab, the mighty Rustum’s son, lies there,
\nWhom his great father did in ignorance kill!
\nAnd I be not forgotten in my grave.”<\/p>\n

And, with a mournful voice, Rustum replied:\u2014
\n“Fear not! as thou hast said, Sohrab, my son,
\nSo shall it be; for I will burn my tents,
\nAnd quit the host, and bear thee hence with me,
\nAnd carry thee away to Seistan,
\nAnd place thee on a bed, and mourn for thee,
\nWith the snow-headed Zal, and all my friends.
\nAnd I will lay thee in the lovely earth,
\nAnd heap a stately mound above thy bones,
\nAnd plant a far-seen pillar over all,
\nAnd men shall not forget thee in thy grave.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Soleimani, then, is drawn into an embrace by Huseyn<\/strong>, viewed as another Rustum<\/strong>, heroic Iranian icon — and on today’s Middle Eastern battlefields from Lebanon to Iraq a brilliant strategist and warrior..<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Reflect, then, on this 2009 quote from Soleimani<\/strong><\/a>, to get a sense of the man as he regards his own role:<\/p>\n

The war-front is mankind’s lost paradise. One type of paradise that is portrayed for mankind is streams, beautiful nymphs and greeneries. But there is another kind of paradise. … The war-front was the lost paradise of the human beings, indeed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Isaac Chotiner<\/strong> describes him thus in the New Yorker<\/a>:<\/p>\n

If he had described himself, it would probably have been as the commander of Iran\u2019s equivalent of CENTCOM, the regional commander of all of Iran\u2019s operations — security, intelligence, military– outside of the Iranian border. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And to return to martyrdom:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The main [Iranian] news channels showed a live gathering at a mosque in Gilan Province, where the preacher reassured worshippers that “the best death is martyrdom for God” and that “great men prefer martyrdom to death by natural causes, cancer, accidents or old age”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

**<\/p>\n

Recommended tweeting:<\/p>\n

  • Vali Nasr<\/strong><\/a>, until recently dean of SAIS<\/a>\n
  • Narges Bajoghli<\/strong><\/a>, SAIS Assistant Professor\n
  • Mohammad Ali Shabani<\/strong><\/a>, PhD Researcher at SOAS<\/li>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    [ by Charles Cameron — as so often, religious analysis reveals a passionate motivational driver which can help us understand a national security threat — in this case not just from Iran ] . Yes, that’s Soleiman embraced in death by Imam Husayn ibn Ali, the great martyr of Karbala D’oh! ** As we process […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,1880,753,1129,2044,447,2045,1,593],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-iran","category-irgc","category-islam","category-martyr","category-quds-force","category-sistani","category-soleimani","category-uncategorized","category-vali-nasr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67234"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67250,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67234\/revisions\/67250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}