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Rules of the Ḥusayniyyah

This post is under development and is not in its final state

Some rules

Part of the purpose of this Ḥusayniyyah, especially the Meditations section, is to provide a forum for objective pursuit of some of the deeper and more multidimensional aspects of walāyah. Members should feel comfortable sharing ideas and insights with the comfort of knowing that nothing said here will be repeated elsewhere without permission. Some of the most important rules pertain to this point. Acceptance of an invitation to be a member of this forum means that you have accepted to abide by these rules:

  1. All members will respect the privacy of this forum.
  2. Under no circumstances can any post in the Ḥusayniyyah be copied or posted anywhere else without permission of the author.
  3. Under no circumstances can any comment to a post in the Ḥusayniyyah be copied or posted anywhere else without the express permission of its author.

In summary: The views of members of the Ḥusayniyyah can be shared among members only. To share a view expressed by any member of the Ḥusayniyyah, whether it is the author of a post or the author of a comment to a post, with anyone outside of the Ḥusayniyyah is a form of ġĩbaḧ and a violation of trust. The only exception is when a member gives explicit permission for one’s view expressed on the Ḥusayniyyah to be quoted elsewhere.

Other rules and ethics of the Ḥusayniyyah can be derived from the 49th chapter of the Qurʾān entitled Sūraḧ Ḥujurāt. We will develop these rules more explicitly as we move forward.

In WALĀYAH

Introducing Ḥusayniyyaḧu ãl-Bayān

Introducing Ḥusayniyyaḧu ãl-Bayān

Bismi Rabbi ãl-Ḥusayn (Ṣ)

The dialectic of walāyah involves Creation’s multiple movements of receptivity and response to the single flow of Unconditional Loving of Allah captured in the divine proper name ‘Al-Raḥmān’. It is through this Walāyah from Allah to Creation that we receive life, energy and each of our opportunities to grow and develop. When perfected, that receptivity and response (or ʿubūdiyyaḧ) becomes a complete or perfect mirror of the Flow of Divine Love (or rubūbiyyaḧ) of Allah.1 The most perfect and beautiful mirror of this rubūbiyyaḧ can be found in the life of Imām Ḥusayn ibn ʿAli (Ṣ), as amazingly manifested on the day of ʿĀshūrā (October 9, 680 CE).

The name ‘Ḥusayn’ itself literally means “microcosm of beauty”. This alludes to the point that Ḥusayn (Ṣ) himself was the most sublime encapsulation of the dialectic, process and reality of walāyah as brought by his noble grandfather the Prophet of Islam (Ṣ). He is the beautiful microcosmic demonstration of ʿubūdiyyaḧ in response to rubūbiyyaḧ. He brilliantly provided the supreme microcosm of the cosmological, spiritual, and praxial processes of life, knowledge, and cosmic reality; one so unique and beautiful that the Prophet of Islam (Ṣ) ecstatically said of him, "Ḥusayn is from me and I am from Ḥusayn!"

Traditionally the ḥusayniyyah has served as a physical location and institution for discussing and meditating themes of walāyah, usually in the spectrum of the balāʾ (trial and tribulation2) of Ḥusayn (Ṣ), his Children (Ṣ), and his Companions (Ṣ). Every ḥusayniyyah has its own approach, a mission and purpose in the spectrum of walāyah. In this vein, Walayah.org is happy to finally present Ḥusayniyyaḧu ãl-Bayān to the community of mobile lovers of walāyah (viz., those who are continuously online or on the move via smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, and the like). It is the mission of this mobile ḥusayniyyah to provide an avenue for researching and bringing clarity (bayān) to some of the multidimensional aspects of Islam and Walāyah, aspects that are often ignored or marginalized in many of the more traditional, conventional, or one-dimensional approaches to Islam. Unfortunately, the process of Islam and Walāyah as a dynamic path or movement to cosmological knowledge and science (yaqīn) is all too often effectively (if not deliberately) reduced to an ossified system of mere beliefs, rules, and rituals.

The word clarity (bayān) has another meaning relevant to the mission of Ḥusayniyyaḧu ãl-Bayān. In the path of walāyah the word ‘bayān’ is used to mention the highest level plane or field of maʿrifaḧ or cognizance of Allah. By cognizance we mean direct objectual or phenomenological knowledge (in contrast to mere conceptual or propositional knowledge or even just simple faith).

In the life and balāʾ of Ḥusayn (Ṣ) the multidimensional aspects of Islam and Walāyah may be situated and benchmarked. In this spirit we are developing and presenting this mobile ḥusayniyyah for the purpose of exploring these deeper dimensions of walāyah. The topics are somewhat advanced and difficult. Hence, at this moment of its development membership in Ḥusayniyyaḧu ãl-Bayān will be kept small and is based upon invitation only.3 For members, the articles filed under Meditations section is now available for perusal and comments.

  1. For an introduction to rubūbiyyaḧ and ʿubūdiyyaḧ as the two poles of Walāyah, see Chapter 3 of Islām, Sign and Creation, Principles 3.3-3.5.  ↩

  2. The word ‘balāʾ’ has a sense very similar, though not identical, to that of ‘passion’ in the Christian sense. ↩

  3. In contrast, general subscription to Walayah.org is open to the public at large. ↩