What is Tatbir?
by admin
Tatbir (Arabic) is amongst a set of bloody rituals that are performed by some Shia Muslims in commemoration of the great tragedy of Karbala, when the family of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s) was massacred by a group of Muslims. Tatbir is performed by striking the head with a sword or knife until blood gushes out. In the Persian language Tatbir is called Qama Zani.
Some Shias in the Indian subcontinent also perform an act called Zanjeer Zani (usually called Zanjeer). It involves repeatedly striking the back with a chain of blades with the intention of cutting the skin and causing blood to flow. Tatbir and Zanjeer are the two most widely practiced of the blood shedding rituals. Other rituals include injuring oneself with a stone, padlock or chain.
Although these blood shedding rituals are historically not a part of Shia Islam, for many Shia Muslims they have become a central part of their religious practice. Some Shias hold these rituals in very high regard and reckon them to be amongst the most holy acts of worship.
The zealous advocates of the blood rituals put a huge emphasis on these acts and employ a lot of resources to promote their practice. Some of them can be quite hostile to those Shia who do not hold the these practices in such high esteem or consider the rituals to be detrimental to the image of Shia Muslims.
We cannot say that Islam directly prohibits these rituals (as long as they are done without causing significant harm such as the loss of a limb, a bodily organ or a function of the body) because the rituals did not exist when the teachings of Islam were being revealed. Therefore the Quran and Sunnah do not address the permissibility of Tatbir and Zanjeer directly.
According to the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, everything is considered permissible unless there is direct evidence for its prohibition. Thus the Shia scholars have not prohibited the blood shedding rituals on their own since the Quran and Sunnah do not speak about these actions. However the vast majority of contemporary Shia scholars have ruled that the rituals are forbidden on the condition that their performance would lead to the violation of other established Islamic principles (e.g. the prohibition of defaming the Shia faith).
Unfortunately many supporters of the blood rituals flagrantly misrepresent the opinions of the leading Shia scholars by ignoring the rulings which prohibit these practices (due to them violating established Islamic principles) and they present the unmodified rulings which state their permissibility, without considering the prohibitive factors.
This website aims to highlight the rulings of the great Shia scholars on this issue and to elaborate upon the Islamic reasons for the discouragement and prohibition of these cultural practices. The primary reason for the prohibition is the bad image that is given to Islam and Shi’ism in particular, and there are also many other reasons which will also be discussed.
Tatbeer has to go. this is majorly misrepresenting Shia’sm. Those who do not listen, are rebellous uneducated type. they think they are doing it for Imam Husain, but infact it misrepresents Azadari in a negative way.
I believe Its a major sin. because it tarnishes the mission of Imam Husain (S). Imam Husain does not belong only to you. It belongs to the whole world.. all humanity..even all universe (jinns and angels etc). Those who practice Tatbeer distract ignorant people in regards to his important sacred message of Imam Husain (S) for Allah’s sake STOP. if you love Imam Husain (S) practice the original Azadari.
I personally know so many non Shias who actually consider our faith Barbaric only because of Tatbir, the only reason they do not bother researching or reading up on Jaferia School of Thought is because the minute they type the word Azadari or Shia on Internet the first thing that pops up is a bunch of men without their shirts covered in blood or infants and children with blood pouring from their heads with a grown up standing next to them with a knife or sword in their hand. How can anyone on planet earth associate such practise with Imam Husain? Crying ,lamenting,doing Matam is one thing and carrying out Tatbir is something totally different.If it was such a mustahab act then how come no one from the Holy household practised it? how come we do not get any examples of the companions of the holy Imams practising it every year after the event of Karbala? How come their children and their infants never carried it out in their life times? Why is it only confined to a certain type of people in the world who are not even directly related to Imam Hussain by Lineage??? Imam Ali ibn al Hussain (a.s) should have been the first one to carry Tatbir out and then his son Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s) and so on and so forth….People tend to get emotional and then totally forget the saying of Imam Jafar al Sadiq (a.s) that “Our Shias are our representative” so why would any one represent our faith like this in front of non Muslims?? It does not attract people towards Azadari or Shiaiism it actually makes people turn their backs away from our faith,it really does unfortunately. Majority of people who converted to Islam in History actually became Muslim because of the kindness and justice showed by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) and his household, not because of “Tatbir”.
mashaAllah
Masha’Allah, I agree with you. Only chest beating by hands on covered body should be promoted, spilling self-blood matam should be stopped as it portrays a wrong image of Shia Islam
Sorry to say you don’t know much about Imams a.s..and please change your mood to convert people to shiaism we are not in a mood to convert people to shiaism you also require to read and understand Quran.” Discouraging is easy encouraging is tough”
MAY ALLAH BLESS BINT-E-HUSSAIN.
Rules cannot be set for pain meaning you cannot teach or force anybody that he should react in a perticular manner when in pain. Secondly rebellious, uneducated,and ignorant people are those who compare imams a.s. and Ahlulbayt a.s to common people, we people doing tatbir are not masooms we are not able to control our emotions as masoumeens can do. Thirdly love is a feeling, happiness is a feeling, pain is a feeling,likewise Azadari is a feeling nobody no human being can judge a feeling as original or duplicate.
May Allah widen your vision.
wasalaam.
I wish you please include this in your data, in as much in the beginning as possible, because so many are angered by this website that don’t read further. So keep a “heart-catchy” evidence of logic right at the beginning of the page.
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I wish to share this piece of paragraph. If you deem it worth a logic please include it.
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All the various practices and rituals carried out during the months of Muharram and Safar are so that Imam Hussain (as) and his mission be remembered. These practices can range from anything that makes us remember Imam Hussain (as) and the Tragedy of Karbala. Clearly, these practices should be lawful in Islam and more importantly; these practices should not harm Islam. Some people might argue that the enemies use the “Hijab” as a means of defaming and harming Islam. So should we terminate the wearing of Hijab? Certainly Not! Hijab is an obligatory action. The protection of Islam is also an obligatory action. We know that when “Mustahab” (recommended) clashes with “Waajib” (Obligatory) then we have to leave aside the Mustahabaat and hold fast to the Waajibaat. Let us see it this way. Azadari is a means of protecting Islam. Azadari comprises of remembering Imam Hussain, (as) thus, remembering Imam Hussain (as)’s purpose (i.e. saving Islam). Now this is cement and straight, i.e. the protection of Islam is achieved by Azadari, which is remembering Imam Hussain (as) and Azadari has to be performed at any cost! Nevertheless, “how” it has to be carried out is not cement! It varies with place, time, political situations, need of the time, and the people of the time/place. “How” Azadari has to be practiced or, in what manner it has to be practiced should be flexible. The various practices and rituals to preserve Azadari are not obligatory, but recommended, while the protection of Islam is Obligatory. A situation must not arrive which harms Islam while aiming to protect it. Thus, if the Azadari rites do not harm Islam and are lawful in Islam, they should be performed in full effect. We should well understand the basic responsibilities we have today while performing something for the religion. The first is the responsibility of performance, and the second is the responsibility of outcome. When offering the daily salaat, our responsibility is only its performance, no matter what the outcome is, and no matter what the circumstances be, we have to perform it. We will neither be held accountable, nor do we have to worry for the outcome of such an act. However, when we consider the case of performing jihad, our shoulders not only bear the responsibility of its performance but also of its outcome. By doing Jihad, the responsibility upon the Muslims is to protect the nucleus or the true core of the Message of Islam. This is the desired outcome. However, how this outcome has to be achieved, whether through guns, tanks, pens, speech, actions, etc, is not specified. What we need here is the outcome. The procedure to be adopted in order to achieve that outcome is not defined. Thus, it is our responsibility again to use the best possible way to achieve that outcome. The act of performing Azadari puts on our shoulders, the responsibility of outcome. Our motive through the Azadari sessions is to uphold the mission of Imam Hussain (as), and to protect Islam. We should select that method which is the best. Azadari gives a strong and beautiful message to the world that the fighting of the supporters of Truth will continue against Evil in the same way as Truth fought Evil 1400 years ago and the Message of Islam will be protected as Imam Hussain (as) protected it.
To: Well wisher. I read over the paragraph you have written. I believe it is a well-written paragraph. However, there is no mention of tatbir in it. I presume that you are using a style that is indirect to adrees the issue of tatbir and other issues as well. I also found it general and the correlation of this paragraph and tatbir may not be as evident. Nevertheless, it was an excellent effort and I love the style, however, I don’t see its place here on this website.
I would like to thank the author of this website in putting such wonderful effort in highlighting the miserable practise of tatbir. The Imams A.S. would have been ashamed of such method of commemoration and would be saddened by it.
Dear,
I completely agree with Well wisher..you have justified this issue in a very vivid and lucid manner and i presume that you also denounce the practice of using Zangeer. I believe muslims should also desist from beating chest or other body parts while taking procession.
As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Shukran from a convert/revert. You have enjoined for me, what is good Alhamdulillah
Well done, Well Wisher
I agree with you 100% .
That Azadari gives a strong and beautiful message to World ……..
Why you are people looking at the tatbir the same as Enemies of Islam and Shiism???
Go Read Zeirit Al nahia al mokadasa for imam al mahdi peace be upon him what to say, when he visit imam hussain peace be upon him.
Before you make a whole article to fight tatbir, you should ask yourself what is important to me imam hussain a.s. or these people who do not know imam hussain a.s ??
I am from Iraq and I know from where these kind of messages come. In Iraq even Christians who see tatbir, love imam hussain a.s and they also do Azadari and more than that.
Masha Allah
To sister Fatima,
Mashallah keep it in this way only.
I pray to Allah that all the sowrrows (except the sorrow for Imam Hussain a.s.)will remove from your life and also from the life of your dear ones.
AOA. I agree Zanjeer Zani and Tatbir should be prohibited! So much blood wasted and what if we get punished instead of rewarded after we die? Matham on it’s own is significant and is the Sunna of our Bibi Zainab (a.s)….We should donate blood in the name of Imam Hussain (a.s) and show the world we will give our blood and overflow the blood banks in the world! Our blood will be sooo much it will be the biggest record that could not even be recorded in any Guiness book of records! Make
Shia’ism a sect that is recognised for it’s generosity and sacrifice for others and not portray as BARBARIANS! No offence to people who do Zanjeer Zani and Tatbir because brothers you do it in the love of Imam Hussain (a.s) and it takes a lot of courage to perform the rituals! However we have to take into consideration how we portray ourself to the world and like I said before who knows what will reward if any are we going to get in our akhirah? Time to reflect and wake up to answer “Labaik” to our 12th Imam (a.s)…..Insha’Allah
Thousands of people die every year due to lack of blood donations around the world, another problem is that when someone does receive blood donation from a non Muslim source there are so many issues with it cos no Muslim really wants blood of an individual with bad Iklaq etc as we all know the effects of blood on the body and behaviour of an individual, in many Muslim countries there are blood banks run by Muslims for Muslims but nfortunately in the West there is no Hussaini Blood Bank where Shia Muslims can come and donate their blood in the name of Imam Hussain as Saqqa-e-Jariya. Imagine how great this cause would be.In the name of Hussain people saving lives of other people.
As a Shia I practiced zanjir ka matam when I was a young man about thirty five, forty years back. I emotionally used zanjir and felt great.
Today the young people must also be feeling that it is good to do flaggering.
Just calling to stop the practice will only face a reactionary rejection.
If the prominent, popular and famous Zakirs of Majlis-e-Hussain could agree to make their audiance less emotional and more rational about mourning of the tragedy of Kerbala then probably some change will take place.
May Allah reward those who perform any action with good intentions. There is no need for the speakers to tone down the use of emotional speech. The mourners needs to realise that sorrow and love can be felt intensely through the natural means of mourning, there is no need to cut oneself.
I’m a shia muslim and have since childhood detested tatbir and zanjeer matam – even before i understood my religion, or being a shia, this practice never made sense to me from a human/humane perspective. My extended family practices this ritual but i was bold enough to resist it when was offered or mildly pushed .. I’m glad i did that because today when i’m an adult and have researched, and have read what is written on this site – it is easy to judge that this practice has got nothing to do with Islam or Shia-ism.
I’m also not sure if people realize that generally people don’t even know what maraja are, who they are, and what are their rulings .. they will blindly follow the culture and ritual practiced in their family, sect, area or street. I’ve noticed the more literate and educated you get, the more you further yourself away from these rituals that are a source of embarassment to Islam and Shia-ism.
I also have small point to make, people say this is done out of the love of Mimam Hussain (a) but i also believe people do it in anger as well (anger for what yazid did, anger for not being there etc) and we all know Imam Ali (as) wouldn’t even kill his enemy if he was angry – so how can zanjeer be legitimate.
Similarly, if this is a commemoration, then i don’t understand – if the remaining contingent of the kaafla was here .. would we console them and hide from them the bloodshed of battlefield, or will we start beating and cutting ourselves with swords and knifes infront of them to further horrify them of the battle. Similarly, when Bibi Zainab (as) and others beat their heads or their chests after the battle, do you think people would have stood their and watched them or they would have stopped them and given them comfort? I honestly think this narration of bibi zainab (as) beating herself ir mis-used to justify beating .. and is very clear from the 9 Imams that followed Imam Hussain (as) that none of them practiced this.
Unfortunately, to stop this ritual in its track is not easy .. only more education and awareness will gradually have a positive result.
I know for sure there are organizations that invest thousands to promote this ritual and get younger kids involved (a direct analogy to how terrorists are trained at an early age when they do not understand the reality of things) – by all means, i’m not equating this to that – just saying that when a practice is introduced at an early age, there’s little a child can do to resist it or understand the reasoning behind it.
Lastly, if this was part of the religion, this would be equally applicable to women, but surprisingly due to the basic Islamic principles of the sanctity of a woman, hijab, body etc .. a female can not do it .. so suddenly everything we refute to allow male practice becomes valid to prohibit female practice.
May Allah guide the misdirected.
If so then What you called the activity of Waise Karni when he has broken his all teeth for Prophet (swt). Is it not tatbeer performed by Waise Karni? I think the rest of this we all know very well.
If the activity (teeth broken) of Waise Karni were not prohibited by prophet (swt) then why Zanzeer Zani would be prohibited. No idea I am not a scholar of Shia however our scholar could guide us on this.
Is there any hadith that mentions chest-beating?
Assalaamualaikum Brothers and sisters.
First of all i wanna tell you, We all are one Ummah of Prophet Muhammad(S.A.W) May Allah’s mercy and blessings be upon him.
Regarding the issue of tatbir, i wanna explain you all in brief and in detail that hurting yourself is forbidden in Islam. During the month of Muharram, some of our beloved brothers and sisters do Maatam in remembrance of the Martyrdom of Imam Husayn Ibn Ali(r.a) in such a way which was never performed by the members of Ahlul-Bayt.
i am giving you all the references which can tell you why it is haraam.
References:
1. Nahj Al-balagha part 3 page 745, Irshad 322.
Translation: When Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib(r.a) May allah be pleased with him, was going from one place, he saw some women doing “Maatam”, Mourning, crying, hurting ownself, at a certain moment the leader of that tribe came in. Hazrat Ali(r.a) was very upset with him and asked him that you even do not control these women. (i.e to stop them from doing this).
No.2 Farogh-e-kafi(Kitaab Al-Kafi)
Volume 1 Kitaab Ul Janaiz Chapter 78, Hadees 7, page 328.
Translation: “When Prophet Muhammad’s(S.A.W) son Tahir died, He stopped Hazrat Khadija from moaning and crying for the child and said, Dont you want to see him standing on the door of paradise?
No.3 Hayat Ul Quloob Volume 2, Chapter 62, Page 994.
Translation: Prophet Muhammad(S.A.W) said, “Four things will be there in my Ummah and one among them is moaning and crying which is prohibited.
No.4 Khisaal as sadooq, Bab 4, Page 109.
Translation: Allah will throw those people to hellfire who will join Majlis’es.
No.5 Hayaat Ul Quloob, Jild 2, Bab 63, Page 1008.
Translation: Prophet Muhammad(S.A.W) said to his beloved daughter Hazrat Fatima Uz Zahra(r.a), After my death, do not cry and do not harm your face. (i.e) Do not Moan neither hurt yourself nor cry.
No.6 Kitaab Al Irshaad Volume 2, Imam Husayn section, Page 322.
Translation: Imam Husayn(r.a) said to his Sister Hazrat Zaynab(r.a), “Sister i swear to you and i always keep my oaths that you must not tear your clothes, nor scratch your face, nor cry out with grief and loss when i am destroyed.
It is really sad that today the Ummah of the Prophet Muhammad(S.A.W) is divided into sects.
The references given above are from the book of the Shia people, May Allah forgive me, as creating sects in Islam is haraam.
We must say that We are Muslims, Our deen is Islam, We shouldnt be divided into so called sects like Sunni, Shia, Deobandi or Barelvi.
We must always stick to the Quran and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad(S.A.W).
It is very sad to hear that some of our brothers and sisters Curse Hazrat Ayesha(r.a) Who is the mother of all believers.
My dear Brothers and sisters i just want to lead you all to the right path, i just wanna make every statement and every hadith clear to you all, so that you may always stick to the Quran and hadith. I wanna make sure that we must be together and not be divided.
May Allah guide us to the right path, Ameen.
For any question related to Islam, you can contact me on my number +917666306929 or can email me at samirocks786@gmail.com
You will be explained in detail with the references and quotations In Sha Allah. All your questions will be answered.
JAZAK ALLAH
O harbinger of divine knowledge ! kindly also tell me the ‘Mamba’ or the root word, from where this abominable word comes?