Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: 10-day mourning periods of Muharram, Mohsiniyyah are Divine symbols according to common practice
The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Wednesday, the 4th of Rabi al-Awwal. In this session, like the previous meetings, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudential issues.
Grand Ayatollah Shirazi discussed the reasons for performing some Divine rituals such as mourning during the first 10 days of Muharram as well as the 10-day period of Mohsiniyyah, and said: “There is no specific narration related to any of these religious occasions, so in such cases one should refer to the generalities of Fiqh — And as Imam Reza (peace be upon him) said: It is up to us to explain the principles to you and it is up to you to extract the branches — in the situation we discuss, it is our duty to establish the relevant examples.”
His Eminence also cited the opinion of Shaykh Tusi and many jurists, and said: In matters of Ahkam, in the event that the ‘Divine Lawmaker’ states a subject and determines a ruling for it, but the Divine Lawmaker himself does not define it, first the opinion of lexicology experts is sought. If the lexicon defines it, and there is no division of opinion amongst lexicology experts, then that definition becomes the reference for action. Otherwise, common practice (Urf) will become the reference.”
The Supreme Religious Authority further noted that: “There is no hadith describing the first ten days of Muharram as Divine symbols. Only one narration from Imam Reza, peace be upon him, says, {My father, Musa bin Jafar, when Muharram arrived, he would be sad from its first day and would not be seen smiling, until the Day of Ashura, which was the day of great calamity for him}.”
“But the hadiths have not mentioned mourning acts or offering food to people during these ten days. So how do we establish that these acts are considered as holding the Divine symbols in honor. The only reference is that according to common practice (Urf), the first ten days of Muharram are commemorated by setting up Majalis and offering food to people. Therefore, since the days leading up to the martyrdom are commemorated and cherished, these rituals are considered as Divine symbols,” Grand Ayatullah Shirazi added.
