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Husainy mourning continues as Iraq husainiyah attacked

By: Ismail Zabeeh

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Majalis Al-Husainy were continued on Friday at the holy shrines, mosques, husainiyaat, cultural halls as well as grand rooms of schools and mawakeb Al-Azaa touched the streets of holy Karbala, Holy Najaf, Kazemiya and other cities to commemorate Al-Imam Al-Husain (p)’s incomparable sacrifice, while a car bomb exploded outside a husainiyah northeast of Baghdad leaving at least 14 people martyred and dozens injured.

The violence came as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made a surprise visit and said Iraqis, not Americans, must defeat the country's insurgency.

Police said 13 people were killed and 40 wounded in Balad Ruz, northeast of Baghdad, when a suicide car bomb exploded outside a mosque. Four of the dead were soldiers and at least three wounded were children.

"I wish to lose my sight so that I won't see another person after you, my dear," cried one mourning woman in hospital.

The bomb outside Al-Imam Al-Husain (p) husainiyah in Balad Ruz, northeast of the capital, exploded when husainy mourners had been leaving a majles al-azaa to pay homage to the martyrdom of Al-Imam Al-Husain (p) in 680 AD.

Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack, but said its target had been a National Guard patrol, an Internet statement said.

“A lion from the martyrs' brigades of al Qaeda Organization for Holy War in Iraq attacked a unit of the pagan guards as it was patrolling the city of Balad Ruz,” the group led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Az-Zarqawi said in a statement.

In Baghdad, gunmen burst into a bakery, opening fire on workers and leaving at least nine mo’mineen. The white walls, plastered with posters of Ayaat, were left smeared with blood.

At Majalis Al-Husainy, the speakers highlight the objective of Qayam of Al-Imam Al-Husain (p), the narrative of holy Prophet (p)’s migration from the holy city of Mecca to Medina and his grandson Al-Imam Al-Husain (p)’s migration from the holy city of Medina to Mecca and then to Iraq as well as the circumstances in which backdrop the two migrations occurred.

Banners were hanged at streets and public places inscribed with husaini slogans and sayings of Al-Imam Al-Husain (p) and pledges of Iraqi people in Arabic language as “O Zahraa! By God we haven’t forgotten Husain”.

People from all layers of society attend these majalis and mawakeb (mourning sittings and processions), shed their tears, pound their chests and chant those principles for which sake Al-Imam Al-Husain (p) along with his 72 companions laid greatest sacrifice. Majalis are also held at homes.

Meanwhile, the scene of the arrival of Al-Imam Al-Husain (p) as well as his martyrdom were re-enacted in holy Najaf.

Walking on the streets of Karbala, one can hear the mournful voices coming out of loudspeakers which announce the martyrdom of the grandson of holy Prophet Muhammad (p) and his 72 near and dear ones.

Al-Imam Al-Husain (p) lives in the hearts of every conscious man and they feel pain on his sufferings as if the tragedy of Karbala occurred today and not 1,400 years ago.

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