Ashura Edition
The Editorial Page · Guest Editorial

# To the Kid in the Back Row

I see you back there, not listening ... hey, is that a candy you just hid in your hoodie? I'll trade you a few squares of chocolate if you give me some of it. We'll keep it to ourselves, don't tell, but I snuck the chocolate from the Imam's private stash. He cannot report the theft without exposing his OWN sin! snicker

Yes, even I cheat a little, me, an old and respected member of the Mosque. The day of fasting is a fine ritual, but more important than the ritual is the reason. Let me tell you a secret about Ashura:

This day is about tyrants, and about the people who would not kneel to them!

You've already heard of how our people were starving and running from the Pharaoh, so God parted the sea, so that all the fish there would flop down on the ground and they could finally eat those floppy dead fish. So why are we fasting when they were feasting? ... I, uh, that doesn't make sense to me! We should be eating loads of fishies today!

Where was I? Oh, yeah, so when they were stuffing their faces with fresh sushi, the Pharaoh catches up and says "Hey! Save some fish for me, I'm hungry, too!" But then, Moses and our people ran to the other shore, and the sea got tired of holding back and crashed together and the Pharaoh drowned because his mouth was full of fish and he couldn't breathe while swimming with a full mouth.

So the lesson is: chew your food, and take small bites, so you don't drown. ... No. Wait. There is something about tyrants in there ...

“This day is about tyrants, and about the people who would not kneel to them.”The secret of Ashura

Oh, yeah, tyrants. Then there's the story about the grandson of The Prophet, when another evil king wanted the grandson to kneel before him. He said, and get this, he said "Someone wizard like me isn't gonna kneel to a goon like that." How's THAT for a zinger! But then the king murdered him and his 72 closest friends, then dragged all their wives and sisters in chains to his castle ... This is a terrible story! Why do we even talk about this every year? There's no happy ending here, NONE!

So, maybe don't get killed by an evil king is one lesson, but don't kneel before them, either. Just do like Moses did and run away. Better for everyone. I think Moses got the better ending here.

And don't worry if you need a snack sometimes on Ashura. A great man once wrote "Come, come, whoever you are — wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving, it doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times. Come, come again."

So, it's good if you fast today, but it's not bad if you cheat a little, so it's definitely a holiday we can all get behind! Now, let's cheat a little - what kind of snacks were those you had?

By Brother Yusuf, who teaches Saturday school at the little mosque on Coriander Street