It is, of course, precisely relevant. It is said that 'Every day is Ashura and every place Karbala'. That is the unique relevance of life itself. This was a terrible time for Islam - a time when the arrows of the tyrant plunged deep into the body of the offspring of the Last Prophet, Muhammad (peace be with him and his progeny). When the water was denied to the youngest babe-in-hands, Ali Asghar. When the defender of the faith, Abbas, had both arms sliced off for bringing water to the thirsty women and children.

Husayn was required to submit to a dictator who was the son of a dictator and a grandson of one whose heart was filled with greed and jealousy and who would befriend those whom he knew would support, either blindly or knowingly, his enmity to the Household of the Holy Prophet.

Rule by Muslims had become tyrannical and rested in the hands of people who were hostile to Islam and who would instigate a slanderous and wicked propaganda campaign against the family of the Holy Prophet and their followers - a slander that would continue for many centuries.

The remembrance of Hussain is a message to those who wanted to destroy Islam and those who still, blindly or knowingly, follow the path of those that wished to destroy the original Islam as practised by the Holy Prophet , his immediate family and their faithful. Today the spirit of Hussain lives on in every enlightened soul whose motto is: Live like Ali Die like Hussain. Because Ali's life was the Prophet's mirror image and he was closest to the Holy Prophet and Hussain's death is the supreme example of worship and sacrifice.

In this month of Muharram true believers become absorbed in the spirituality of Husayn. In this pure month tears flow forth in anguish for the memory of Husayn. There is just one Husayn. The eternal Husayn. The universal Husayn. Husayn the Redeemer of man and the ultimate example of sacrifice for the truth upon which is mankind's very dependence.