Remember The Cause (Understanding Karbala)

Muharram Procession in Karachi, Pakistan

 

 

The following table is the key to understand linguistics used below.

Cause of Protest

We have chosen the Muharram procession as our cause of protest. Muharram is the first month of the Muslim calendar, but not one to celebrate — rather it is a month of grief. Despite being the first Islamic month, it is usually not celebrated, but rather, treated as a month of mourning, mainly by the Muslims belonging to Shiite sect worldwide. It commemorates the Battle of Karbala fought in 680 AD, where amongst many the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him)), Imam Hussain, was martyred with his 72 other faithful companions. The unfortunate incident took place in Karbala, few miles away from Iraq, whereby Imam Hussain, the grandson of the last prophet, Muhammad(pbuh), along with his family, were subject to humiliation and atrocities. Later, Imam Hussain was martyred for fighting for the just cause. Worldwide and in South Asia, Shia Muslims mourn these deaths even today through elaborate processions worldwide.

Battle between the Umayyad and Hussain (a.s) ensued on 10th of Muharram between 4000 Umayyad’s strong armed men and 72 Hussayn’s companions. In the battle one-by-one Hussain’s companions went to the battlefield and gave their lives for Islam. By noon, no men were left except for Imam Hussayn and his 18 year old son Zain ul Abideen, who was bedridden because of his illness and was too sick to fight. Hussayn came to his tent for farewell, and then went to the battlefield. Despite his three days of thirst and hunger he fought miraculously great and got shahadat/ martyrdom  in the name of justice, while his surviving family members, mostly women and children along with his ill son were taken prisoner. 1

Why this Protest?

For the Muslims, Husayn's suffering and death became a symbol of sacrifice in the struggle for saving their religion, ‘Islam’. And for all Humanity his death became a symbol of sacrifice in the struggle for right against wrong, justice against injustice and truth against falsehood. Karbala may have happened 1400 years ago but it still lives in the memories of people. The message of Karbala still thrives and makes oneself take a lesson from it. In the remembrance of Imam Hussayn all oppressed in the world unite and can somewhat relate their suffering to what Hussayn endured in Karbala.

I learned from Hussain how to achieve victory while being oppressed 

Mahatma Gandhi

“The best lesson which we get from the tragedy of Karbala is that Hussain and his companions were the rigid believers of God. They illustrated that numerical superiority does not count when it comes to truth and falsehood. The victory of Hussain despite his minority marvels me!”Dr. K. Sheldrake

The remembrance of Karbala gives all Humanity hope, tolerance, courage and ambition to rise against injustice. That we shall never bow down before evil, it gives people a ray of hope to fight for the just cause and live with honor and dignity and it teaches to always stand firm with the oppressed because, 2

“Those who are silent when others are oppressed are guilty of oppression themselves”.

Imam Hussain (a.s)

Ideology of  People

As our idea of design for protest we looked more into how people around the world commemorate Imam Hussain's death in their own way. And what ideology do people take from ‘understanding Hussain’s sacrifices’? We wanted to explore every person’s acts of grievances during muharram and find a unique connection or sensitivity that we can reframe using design and architecture.

When muharram arrives, Shia Muslims around the world commemorate the death of Imam Hussain (a.s) in their own peculiar way that has been going on for centuries ( image 1.1). They march on 9th and 10th of Muharram performing ‘azadari’ and ‘majalis’ on roads. In which they foretell stories of  the battle of Karbala, recite sorrowful poetries and beat their chests in agony and carry Ziyarats (pilgrims). They raise ‘alam’ and carry them in every nook and street during the procession. ‘Sabeel’ stalls start to spring up everywhere from the first day of muharram to distribute water and food to every passerbyers The interesting fact is, that not only Shia Muslims but also Sunni Muslims and others were also seen installing sabeels for donating water, food and goods at this time of year (image 1.2) . This whole act of spreading goodness and kindness and an attempt to understand the sacrifices of Hussain fades the boundaries between people and creates a sense of oneness amongst them.

Site Selection

Any site that affects the whole city in terms of circulation when it is compromised by any means, is of great value. And when it is surrounded with heritage and traditional routes, the site gains importance to seek public attention quickly to target large communities, it politically becomes an asset or important source for raising voice against unjust and chanting slogans. Located in the center of the city Karachi, Pakistan, an underutilized space ‘Nishtar park’ holds a great significance from centuries. It is a neighborhood of people of all ethnic backgrounds and sects, who utilize this space for protests and muharram procession is one of them. It is also used for evening walks. From 1940, on 9th and 10th muharram, the procession concludes at this site every year amid tight security. 3

As we needed a site with a strong historical background, we picked Nishtar park to place our modulars and build a monument to spread awareness of our cause. The site, apart from serving its purpose in the month of muharram once a year, remains neglected. The whole public square is selected to design in such a way that it could be shaped to put into consideration the entire year. Creating a whole new identity that could blend in a city’s canvas without compromising the neighborhood areas and other belief systems.

Design Strategy

Our design category is Remember. Our design strategy revolves around narrating the story of Karbala, architecturally. We ought to build free standing walls that will be comprehended as our monument on our selected site. This monumental setting is divided into three parts,

1. ‘Alam’ — ‘Free-standing walls’ (to represent the victory against injustice and to evoke awareness)

Free standing walls will exemplify the most important symbolic representation of Karbala, i.e ‘Alam’. The centerpiece of attention of our design is the monument, which is 30 ft high, three free standing abstract brick walls that peripherally do not sit within the context when perceived by the cars and pedestrians passing by. It will provoke by not fitting. Its height and color are selected to seek attention in dense urban fabric so passerbyers find themselves approaching it to reveal further notions. 

2. ‘Azadari’ — ‘An oppressed Passage’ ( designed to provoke vulnerability that was experienced by Imam Hussain and his companions in the plains of Karbala)

To narrate the terror and vulnerability endured by Imam Hussain and his companions, a compressed entrance just beside our monument (free standing walls) is placed to recall the main event. An underground dark passage imitates deep agony and hopelessness into irregular, defaced ramps and walls. Carved on walls are the famous slogans in prodigiousness of great sacrifices of Hussain. Small sharp opening will let the sunlight in, acting as a ray of hope it will lighten some areas in the dark passage so people don't get lost.

3. ‘Sabeel’ — ‘Reattachable stalls, assembling all in one place’

After experiencing the great agony, the audience will enter into a large opening, in which modules of Sabeel are placed in an outward dispersed follicle manner. Our light weight modular Sabeel stalls will have eatery spaces, kitchenette and ‘open pathways’ for mass circulation. The modules can be subtracted or added as per occasion. Stalls are a wooden framework with a reattachable canopy that can be controlled according to sun height. It will also have a PVC framework attached onto wooden legs with an integrated lightning system that will glow at night.

References

Karbala the chain of events, Ramzan Sabir https://www.al-islam.org/articles/karbala-chain-events

Full story of Hussain ibne Ali, Who is Hussain https://whoishussain.org/who-is-hussain/the-full-story/

Muharram 2019: Muslims around the World Participate in Muharram Procession, World associated press https://www.news18.com/photogallery/world/muharram-2019-muslims-around-the-world-participate-in-muharram-procession-2303085.html

 9th and 10th Moharram procession, Karachi, Dawn https://www.dawn.com/news/1641416/9th-muharram-procession-concludes-amid-tight-security-in-karachi

Ashura processions conclude peacefully across country, Tribune https://tribune.com.pk/story/2261840/ashura-processions-conclude-peacefully-across-cntry

Holding on to the tradition of setting up sabeels, Shazia Hasan, Dawn https://www.dawn.com/news/1577099